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^ IM iiiiiiil ll I HIII'M 

1 Public Speaking 
I Manual 


By 

JOSHUA BRYAN LEE, A. M 

n 

Head of Public Speaking Department 
University of Oklahoma 



i 


|[ 

Pi 

I HARLOW PUBLISHING COMPANY 

( OKLAHOMA CITY 

OKLAHOMA 

1924 

























Copyright 1924 
By Harlow Publishing Co. 


JUL 19 i924 

©C1A801648 


PREFACE 


It sometimes happens that when an author writes a 
book, he is only adding one other to the already over¬ 
crowded shelf of books of that nature. 

The field of expression is well covered by thorough 
and able authors back to Darwin and Delsarte. The 
subjects of oratory and debate have been even more 
exhausted by men like Aristotle and Cicero. Plays 
and dramatic art have had their share of authors. Ex¬ 
temporaneous speaking and impersonation probably 
are more modern subjects but still many good volumes 
have been written on them. 

You say then, why should I write a book on Public 
Speaking. 

I answer, “Because there is a demand which no book 
on the market fills.” 

The following letter addressed to me will help in 
part to explain that demand: 

Dear Sir: 

I am teaching English but the superintendent said that it would 
be necessary for me to take charge of debate and expression work 
as well. I have done some work along that line but never spec¬ 
ialized in it and I am writing to you for help. We are in the High 
School Debating League and expect to enter the contests in read¬ 
ing and oratory. We also want to put on two plays in the spring. 

What I want to do is to start a class in public speaking—I be¬ 
lieve it would be best to have the class work cover the general 
principles of public speaking, that is, have it cover expression, 
plays, oratory and debate. Then I could give special coaching to 
those who entered the contests or took part in the play. But I 
want to offer a course that will be beneficial to a large number, be¬ 
sides those who take part in the contests. I want to offer a course 
that we can give credit for. 


IV 


Preface 


Now what I want you to do is to tell me what text book to use 
that covers the work mentioned, simply and systematically so 
that I can ^each it. I also want to know where I can get material 
like good readings, standard orations, model debate briefs, and 
suitable plays. If you can give me this information I certainly 
will appreciate it. 

I have received many such letters. I have received 
equally as many verbal requests of the same nature. 
There are great works prepared on expression, dramat¬ 
ic art, oratory and debate but they do not suit this de¬ 
mand. Therefore I am preparing this manual on pub¬ 
lic speaking, which is designed to be used as a text. It 
is planned to cover expression, extemporaneous speak¬ 
ing, impersonation, dramatic reading, plays, debate 
and oratory. It is a general course written with the 
hope of giving students an early view of the scope of 
the art of speech; also with the hope of helping stu¬ 
dents to find their talents; with the hope of inspiring 
a love for the classic and the artistic; with the hope of 
helping that person who does not wish to become a 
public speaker, but who wishes to be able to stand be¬ 
fore people when necessary, and address them; with 
the hope of encouraging dictionary study, which will 
lead to a more thorough scholarship; and also with the 
hope of developing leadership. 

There is a special need for such a book. The head 
of a great school of engineering, on being asked what 
subjects he recommended in connection with the course 
in engineering, gave English and public speaking. 

All business men recognize the need of public speak¬ 
ing. When the Y. M. C. A. at Oklahoma City recently 
offered a course in public speaking for 100 ex-service 
men, not 100 but 150 of the leading young business 


Preface 


v 


men of Oklahoma City enrolled. Yet state-adopted 
text books in public speaking are unknown. Why? 
For a class in high school a teacher would have to em¬ 
ploy at least six texts, one on expression, one on ora¬ 
tory, another on debate, etc. 

The demand is for a book that covers the whole field 
in a general way. 

The demand is for a book that contains a bibliog¬ 
raphy. One of the features of this book is that it con¬ 
tains as complete a bibliography as systematic search 
could compile. 

The demand is for a teachable book. In this book at 
the end of each chapter there is a list of things to do 
for practice work, and suggestions to the teacher. 

In this manual I have tabulated many references. 
One of the teacher’s ibig difficulties is to find selec¬ 
tions suitable for class work. No average sized text 
book could contain all of the material that is necessary 
for classroom work and at the same time have any 
room for the theory of the course; therefore, I have in¬ 
cluded several lists of suggested selections. I have also 
given at the end of the chapters, references to other 
authors on the subject of that chapter. 

Another feature of this volume is its elasticity. It 
is divided into four parts, so that it can be used for a 
four year course or a two year course, or a one year 
course. The book is a kind of manual, its many 
references, both to other texts and material, make it 
entirely sufficient for a four year course. On account 
of the different sizes of the high schools, some want to 


VI 


Preface 


offer a four year course in public speaking, and others 
only one. 

I am deeply indebted to my many friends for helpful 
suggestions and much needed encouragement. 

Josh Lee, 


Norman, Okla., 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


Preface _ i 

Foreword _ ix 

Expression. 

What is Expression _ 1 

The Means of Expression _ 9 

How Emphasis is Secured _ 33 

Suggestions on Cause and Effect _ 57 

Dramatic Art. 

Dramatic Reading _ 65 

Impersonation _ 73 

Plays _ 79 

Extempore Speaking and Debate. 

Extempore Speaking _ 113 

Debating _ 133 

Oratory. 

Dominant Figures in Oratory _ 157 

What is Oratory __ 176 

Parts of an Oration _ 199 

How to Write an Oration _ 206 

Development _ 210 

Oratorical Style _ 221 

Delivery of an Oration - 230 

The Analysis of an Oration _ 236 

Bibliography _ 244 



















































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FOREWORD 


The Power of Oratory 

The spoken word has always been man’s most potent 
means of communicating ideas. The hiss of the cave 
man expressed his emotions. The jargon of the can- 
ibal king swayed his followers. The harrangue of the 
Indian Chief decided the fate of frontier villages. 

The voice of the ancient prophets brought whole na¬ 
tions to their knees in sackcloth and ashes in supplica¬ 
tion to an angry Jehovah. Moses employed an orator, 
Aaron his brother, to speak to the people of Israel that 
he might lead them. Paul stood before Agrippa, and 
though chains clanked from his wrists and ankles, his 
eloquence caused the mighty King to tremble and admit 
to his prisoner, “Almost thou persuadest me to become 
a Christian.” 

Eloquence and leadership are synonymous. The ora¬ 
tor is the leader. Demosthenes was the first citizen of 
Greece; Cicero was the first citizen of Rome; Mirabeau 
was the champion of France; Lord Chatham was the 
Lion of England; Patrick Henry was the man of the 
hour in America, orators all. They were powerful in 
speech and mighty in leadership. 

The orator has it within his power to stir mobs to 
violence or to quell their outrages. The fire of elo¬ 
quence catches the combustible spirit of a howling rab¬ 
ble and causes its members to charge with naked hands 
a line of cold steel bayonets, or flames of eloquence leap¬ 
ing from the tongue of an able orator may consume 


IX 


X 


Public Speaking Manual 


the very agitation of their restless emotions. Brutus 
appeased, but Mark Antony hurled a whirlwind of 
passion into the midst of the same mob and set it in 
action against its own hero. Mirabeau spoke to the 
populace and they made a battering ram of human flesh 
and beat down the iron gates of the Bastille. Burke 
could storm the House of Commons and Daniel O’Con¬ 
nell could hold a mob in his right hand. 

At the battlefield of Marengo, heavy rains had 
thwarted the schemes of Napoleon and the well planned 
victory gave evidence to become a terrible defeat. 
Desaix, one of Napoleon’s generals, came sweeping 
across the field at the head of a column of cavalry, and 
halted near the eminence where stood Napoleon. In 
the corps was a drummer boy, a gamin whom Desaix 
had picked up in the streets of Paris, and who had fol¬ 
lowed the victorious Eagles of France in the campaigns 
of Egypt and Austria. 

As the column halted Napoleon shouted to him: 
“Beat a retreat!” The boy did not stir. “Gamin, beat 
a retreat!” The boy grasped his drumsticks, stepped 
forward and said: “0 Sir, I don’t know how! Desaix 
never taught me that. But I can beat a charge that 
would make the dead fall in line! I beat that charge 
at the Pyramids once, and I beat it at Mt. Tabor and I 
beat it again at the Bridge of Lodi, and Sir, may I beat 
it here?” What could be more eloquent than that? 
Thrilled not half so much by the martial strains of the 
drum as by the eloquence of the drummer the great 
army of Napoleon marched to another victory. 

The magic power of eloquence has raised armies and 
dispersed them. The gladiator, Spartacus spoke to his 


Foreword 


xi 


fellows and they arose in arms. General Lee said to his 
men, “Go home and make as good citizens as you have 
been soldiers,” and they went. Demosthenes addressed 
the people and they marched against Philip. Once when 
Attila, the Scourge of God, stood at the gates of Rome 
preparing to sack the Eternal City, Leo, the Bishop 
went out and stood before him and spoke such flamjing 
words of dissuasion that the mighty barbarian general 
gave up his hostile purpose. The eloquence of Peter 
the Hermit raised the mightiest wave of indignation 
Europe ever saw and rolled it against the infidels of 
the sacred sepulchre. The burning oratory of Bernard 
swept Europe like a storm and the second crusade spent 
its fury against the Saracens. The magnetism of Pat¬ 
rick Henry’s oratory drew an army unto the cause of 
liberty. How can we estimate the power of oratory? 

The speaker has always been the leader. People fol¬ 
low men, not measures. Bob Taylor beat his brother 
in his race for Governor because he could out-speak 
him, not because he could out-think him. The orator’s 
influence has not been weakened by the printed word 
but strengthened, because his speeches are published 
and reach vastly more people. But still it is the spoken 
word that is most powerful. It has the advantage of 
the magnetic presence, the kindling eye, the suggestive 
gesture, the thrilling voice, and the gripping person¬ 
ality. 

Who could listen to the polished Everett and not be 
charmed, who could hear the logical Calhoun and not 
be convinced? Who could sit under the spell of Wen¬ 
dell Phillips and not be stirred? Who could sit under 
the power of Henry Ward Beecher and not be moved, 


xii 


Public Speaking Manual 


or who could stand against the thunders of Daniel 
Webster? 

The power of oratory has raised armies, the power 
of oratory has bended and broken nations, the power 
of oratory has builded republics. 'The power of ora¬ 
tory has moulded governments, spread religions, and 
changed maps. 

Eloquence is powerful and the need of orators is 
great. The conquests of oratory are numerous and 
wonderful, but still there is vastly more for oratory 
to accomplish. 


PART I 


Expression 






EXPRESSION 

CHAPTER I. 

What Is Expression? 

“Expression is the outward manifestation of an in¬ 
ward activity.” It is physical and material in its result, 
but mental and spiritual in its origin. The lion that 
stands with his fore feet upon the body of his defeated 
foe and roars until the jungles echo his defiance, is 
giving outward expression to feelings that exist within. 
The song of the lark expresses the life within. Stroke a 
cat's back and it will show an outward manifestation of 
pleasure, but pinch its tail and the outward manifesta¬ 
tion changes because the inward feelings have changed. 
The inward thought or feeling must exist before there 
can be an outward manifestation. There must be an 
impression before there can be an expression. “Im¬ 
pression must precede and determine all expression.” 
It is impossible for one to express an idea which he 
does not have. Thus we conclude that all natural ex¬ 
pression has a mental or emotional origin. 

Muddy impressions mean muddy expressions. The 
student who tries to explain Newton's laws of motion 
at the same time he is thinking of football games, par¬ 
ties, automobile rides, etc., stammers, halts, and finally 
gives up. He comes to the conclusion that he never 
could make a good speaker, he says “I cannot express 
my thoughts.” The trouble is that he does not think 


(l) 


2 


Public Speaking Manual 


clearly and therefore he cannot speak clearly. The 
solution to his problem is concentration. By his will 
power he should force every other thought but the one 
he wishes to express, out of the field of consciousness, 
and then concentrate every ray of attention upon that 
thought. Then his impression will be so clear that he 
can easily express it. 

Again there is the person who is a clear thinker and 
yet cannot speak. In a written examination he shows 
that he is a clear thinker but when he stands before the 
class it all leaves him. It leaves him because another 
thought has crowded into the focal center of the field 
of consciousness. He is thinking about himself, he is 
wondering how awkward he looks to the others. His 
hands remind him of ripe watermelons dangling at his 
sides. He is self-conscious. This is one of the greatest 
hindrances to speakers. His task is to overcome self- 
consciousness and get used to facing an audience. Then 
when self-consciousness is gone, all of the mental and 
emotional powers can concentrate upon the one thought 
the speaker wishes to present. 

The thought may be clear, the impression may be 
vivid, and yet the expression is poor. Then the cause 
is physical and our training becomes more external. 
Sometimes the expression is hindered because of phys¬ 
ical conditions such as weak lungs, a thin voice, a crack¬ 
ed voice, stuttering, lisping, awkwardness, and stiff¬ 
ness. Then the remedy lies in drills and exercises that 
will restore such conditions to normal. 

Again the expression is hindered because of wrong 
habits and abnormal conditions preventing the voice 
and body from responding to the mental and emotional 


What Is Expression? 


8 


impulses. The foolish smile of the clown gives no clue 
as to what emotions might be tearing the heart strings 
of the man within. But such conditions are abnormal 
and come either through wrong habits or a strict self- 
discipline. Some persons allow themselves to grow 
into the habit of concealing their passions and their 
feelings behind a cold unresponsive nature, behind cal- 
culative movements and even tones. Others through 
laziness or lack of ambition drawl out words expressing 
both sorrow and joy in the same monotone. The solu¬ 
tion in this case is to encourage the physical channels of 
expression to respond to the mental and emotional im¬ 
pulses. 


EXERCISE 

Note : The following exercise is arranged like prose 
purposely, to help the student to read it for the mean¬ 
ing in it and not the rhyme alone. Study this so thor¬ 
oughly that you know the meaning contained in every 
word and phrase, then practice reading it aloud, your 
one purpose being to express the thought and feeling 
contained in the words. Then tell the whole story in 
your own words. 


H'ORATIUS 

Now, from the rock Tarpeian, could the wan burghers 
spy the line of blazing villages red in the midnight sky. 
The Fathers of the City, they sat all night and day, for 
every hour some horseman came with tidings of dismay. 
They held a council standing before the River-gate; short 
time was there ye well may guess, for musing or debate. 
Out spake the Consul, roundly: “The bridge must straight 


4 


Public Speaking Manual 


go down; for, since Janiculum is lost, naught else can 
save the town.” 

But the Consul’s brow was sad, and the Consul’s speech 
was low, and darkly looked he at the wall, and darkly at 
the foe. Their van will be upon us before the bridge goes 
down; and if they once may win the bridge, what hope to 
save the town”? 

Then out spake brave Horatius, the captain of the gate: 
“To every man upon this earth death cometh soon or late. 
And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for 
the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods? Hew 
down the bridge, Sir Consul, with all the speed ye may: I 
with two more to help me will hold the foe in play. In yon 
straight path a thousand may well be stopped by three; 
now who will stand on either hand, and keep the bridge 
with me?” 

Then out spake Spurius Lartius; a Ramnian proud was 
he: “Lo, I will stand at thy right hand and keep the bridge 
with thee.” And out spake strong Herminius; of Titian 
blood was he: “I will abide on thy left side, and keep the 
bridge with thee.” 

“Horatius,” quoth the Consul, “as thou sayest, so-let it 
be.” And straight against that great array forth went the 
dauntless three. 

Meanwhile the Tuscan Army, right glorious to behold, 
came flashing back the noonday light, rank behind rank, 
like surges bright of a broad sea of gold. Four hundred 
trumpets sounded a peal of warlike glee, as that great 
host, with measured tread, and spears advanced, and en¬ 
signs spread, rolled slowly towards the bridge’s head 
where stood the dauntless Three. The Three stood calm 
and silent, and looked upon the foes, and a great shout of 
laughter from all the vanguard rose.—But now no sound 
of laughter was heard among the foes. A wild and wrath¬ 
ful clamor from all the vanguard rose. But all Etruria’s 
noblest felt their hearts sink to see on the earth the 
bloody corpses, in the path of the dauntless Three. 

Was none who would be foremost to lead such dire at- 


What Is Expression? 


5 


tack; but those behind cried, “Forward!” and those before 
cried, “Back!” And backward now and forward wavers 
the deep array; and on the tossing sea of steel, to and fro 
the standards reel; and the victorious trumpet peal dies 
fitfully away. 

But meanwhile axe and lever have manfully been plied, 
and now the bridge hangs tottering above the boiling tide. 
“Come back, come back, Horatius!” loud cried the Fathers 
all. “Back, Lartius! back Herminius! back, ere the ruin 
fall!” Back darted Spurius Lartius; Herminius darted 
back; and, as they passed, beneath their feet, they felt the 
timbers crack. But when they turned their faces, and on 
the farther shore, saw brave Horatius stand alone, they 
would have crossed once more. But, with a crash like 
thunder fell every loosened beam, and, like a dam, the 
mighty wreck lay right athwart the stream; and a long 
shout of triumph rose from the walls of Rome, as to the 
highest turrettops was splashed the yellow foam. 

Alone stood brave Horatius, but constant still in mind; 
thrice thirty thousand foes before, and the broad flood be¬ 
hind; “Down with him!” cried false Sextus, with a smile 
on his pale face; “Now yield thee,” cried Lars Porsena, 
“Now yield thee to our grace.” 

Round turned he, as not deigning those craven ranks to 
see; naught spoke he to Lars Porsena; to Sextus naught 
spake he; But he saw on Palatinus the white porch of his 
home; and he spak.e to the noble river that rolls by the 
towers of Rome: “0, Tiber! Father Tiber, to whom the 
Romans pray, a Roman’s life, a Roman’s arms, take thou 
in.charge this day!” So he spake, and speaking sheathed 
the good sword by his side, and, with his harness on his 
back, plunged headlong in the tide. 

No sound of joy or sorrow was heard from either bank, 
but friends and foes in dumb surprise, with parted lips 
and straining eyes, stood gazing where he sank; and when 
above the surges they saw his crest appear, all Rome sent 
. forth a rapturous cry, and even the ranks of Tuscany could 
scarce forbear to cheer. 


6 


Public Speaking Manual 


But fiercely ran the current, swollen high by months of 
rain; and fast his blood was flowing, and he was sore in 
pain; and heavy with his armor and spent with changing 
blows; and oft they thought him sinking and still again 
he rose. Never, I ween, did swimmer, in such an evil case, 
struggle through such a raging flood safe to the landing 
place; but his limbs were borne up bravely by the brave 
heart within, and our good Father Tiber bore bravely up 
his chin. 

“Curse on him!” quoth false Sextus, “will not the vil¬ 
lain drown? But for this stay, ere close of day we should 
have sacked the town!” “Heaven Help him!” quoth Lars 
Porsena, “and bring him safe to shore; for such a gallant 
feat of arms was never seen before.” 

And now he feels the bottom; now on dry earth he 
stands; now round him throng the Fathers to press his 
gory hands; and now, with shouts and clapping, and noise 
of weeping loud, he enters through the River-gate, borne 
by the joyous crowd. 

Macaulay. 

Note: Suggested selections will appear all along 
through the book and the teacher should assign them to 
individual students to memorize for class work. Have 
the students speak as much as possible, keep a strict 
watch for incorrect pronunciation, poor articulation, 
and meaningless reading. 

A notebook should be kept on the outside readings 
and reports and discussions should be made on them. 

At the end of each chapter there is a list of suggested 
selections, also a list of references to other authors deal¬ 
ing with that particular chapter. Even a very scant 
library will more than likely contain some of these se¬ 
lections and some of these references. The selections 
are for supplementary work and the references are for 
outside readings. Your library should contain one of 


What Is Expression? 


7 


the following sets of books for supplementary work! 

The Speaker, by Pearson, Hinds, Noble and Eldridge, N. Y. 
Werner’s Readings and Recitations, Carruthers, Edgar S. Werner 
& Co., N. Y. 

Shoemaker’s Best Selections by Shoemaker, The Penn Publishing 
Co., Phila. 

Scrap Book Recitation Series by Soper, T. S. Denison & Co., Chi¬ 
cago. 


Suggested Selections 


Little Boy Blue, 

Eugene Field 

The Singing Lesson, 

Ingelow 

The Glove and the Lion, 

Leigh Hunt 

The Burial of Sir John Moore, 

Wolfe 

The Bible, 

Robert Hall 

The Sador’s Wife, 

Mickel 

The Incident of the French Camp, 

Browning 

The Village Schoolmaster, 

Goldsmith 

The Minstrel Boy, 

Moore 

Union and Liberty, 

Holmes 

The Erl-King, 

Goethe 

To a Waterfowl, 

Bryant 

Song of Marion’s Men, 

Bryant 

After Blenheim, 

Southey 

The Concord Hymn, 

Emerson 

The Skater’s Song, 

Peabody 

The Hunting Song, 

Scott 

Gaffer Gray, 

Scott 


Outside Readings 

The New Science and Art of Elocution, by Fenno, page 69-73. 
The Tone System, by Phillips, page 1-16. 

New Science of Elocution, by Hamill, page 19-23. 

Foundations of Expression, by Curry, page 9-21. 

Advanced Elocution, by Shoemaker, page 13-22. 

Elocution and Reading, by Everts, page 1-9. 


8 


Public Speaking Manual 


Practical Elocution, by Shoemaker, page 17-22-(112-140). 
The Psychology of Public Speaking, by Scott, page 7-105. 
Bell’s Standard Elocutionist, by Bell Brothers, page 1-35. 
The Technique of the Speaking Voice, Scott, page 121-123, 
Public Speaking, by Winter, page 29-32. 


CHAPTER II. 

The Means of Expression 

An idea that live£ in one brain is transmitted to 
another brain, the process is expression. A feeling 
that exists in one soul is transmitted to another soul, 
the process is expression. There are three channels 
through which these thoughts and feelings are trans¬ 
mitted. There are three means of expressing thoughts 
and feelings—(1) words, (2) tones, (3) gestures. 

WORDS 

First, thought is expressed by means of words. We 
read a book and get the thought of the author without 
seeing or hearing him. Words can be spoken in even 
unmodulated tones, and yet the words themselves will 
have a meaning. Therefore, since words constitute 
one means of expression, they are part of the speaker’s 
stock in trade. It is evident, then, that one of the 
first things to do in studying expression is to have 
a speaking acquaintance with a good vocabulary. 
Thoughts and words are intimately related. The word 
is the symbol representing the thought. We express 
thought, feeling, passion, sentiment, and emotion, 
through words. “Power, they certainly have. They 
are alive with sweetness, with terror, with pity. They 
have eyes to look at you with strangeness or with 
repose. They are even creative and can wrap a world 
in darkness for us or flood it with light,” said James 
Martineau. 


( 9 ) 


10 


Public Speaking Manual 


“Words are instruments of music: and ignorant man uses them 
for jargon: but when a master touches them they have unexpected 
life and soul. Some words sound out like drums; some breathe 
memories sweet as flutes: some call like a clarinet; some shout a 
charge like trumpets; some are sweet as children’s talk: others 
rich as mother’s answering back." 


Exercise 

Every student should have a note book, a dictionary, 
and a book of synonyms. Bring to class every recita¬ 
tion one word that is new to you, preferably chosen 
from your other studies. Be prepared to write that 
word on the board with its markings, definitions, use in 
a sentence and as many synonyms as you can find. All 
the members of the class should copy these words and 
learn them by the next recitation. These words should 
be reviewed from time to time and some of them 
should be asked for on examination. The importance 
of this exercise cannot be overestimated. 

1. Pronunciation. 

Elegance. A correct pronunciation of the vowel 
sounds makes for elegance and refinement in speech. 
A complete chart for pronunciation can be found in 
most dictionaries, but the following is a list of the 
most frequently mis-pronounced vowel sounds. 

Broad a (marked with two dots below) pronounced 
as in tall, is sometimes pronounced like short o; do not 
say “dotter,” for daughter, or “wotter” for water. 

Practice Pronouncing 

gaudy warrior brawl wharf quarter 

lawyer defraud laureate cauliflower caucus 


The Means of Expression 


11 


The short a as in hat and the broad a as in tall are 
sometimes substituted for the long Italian a , which is 
marked with two dots above, and pronounced like the 
a in harm. Half should not be prounounced with a 
short a or with a broad a. The correct pronunciation 
is between these two sounds. 

Practice Pronouncing 

aunt flaunt almond saunter laughter 

embalm daunt martyrdom becalmed calf 

The short Italian a which is marked with one dot 
above, is a sound just like the long Italian a, but it is 
shorter. Guard against pronouncing the a in ask 
like the a in that. 

Practice Pronouncing 

staff dancer chant master pastor 

class casket draught after mask 

The circumfex a which is marked with a roof above 
it is sometimes pronounced like long a. Do not pro¬ 
nounce the a in parent as the a in hay, but like the a 
in fair. 

Practice Pronouncing 

share chair declare square air 

prayer hair unaware prepare despair 

The waved e and i are marked with a waved mark 
above, and pronounced like the e in term or the i in 
birth. These are delicate sounds and when pronounced 
correctly are very pleasing to the ear. Many people 


12 


Public Speaking Manual 


pronounce this sound like the u in burn. Can you 
pronounce earn so that it can be distinguished from 
urn? Can you distinguish by your pronunciation sir 
from sur? 

Practice Pronouncing 

dirge mirth serge verge versatile 

germ verse sir ermine virtuous 

Long u which is marked with macron above is a 
dipthong, and is badly mispronounced by many people. 
It should be pronounced like the u in beauty. We 
never hear people say “booty” for beauty, but we do 
hear them say “dooty” for duty. Pronounce just the 
separate letter u. It is pronounced like a rapid blending 
of y and oo. No one would pronounce it alone as oo; 
then why pronounce it in a word as oo? Do not say 
“dooke” for duke. 

Practice Pronouncing 

nude tune tumult tutor revolution 

due tube neuter institute resolute 

Carelessness causes people to say “frum” for from 
and “wuz” for was, and to drop syllables. Practice pro¬ 
nouncing every syllable distinctly. A clean enuncia¬ 
tion is very pleasing. Dropping syllables comes either 
from slovenliness or haste. 

Practice Pronouncing 

patriotism citizenry belligerent candidate 

absolutely accurately adequately angularly 

literature articulately ubiquitous perspicuity 


The Means of Expression 13 

2. Articulation. 

Distinctness. An energetic articulation of the con¬ 
sonants makes for distinctness in speech. The final 
consonants are so often slighted that it is well for us 
to call attention to some of the frequent cases. Prac¬ 
tice pronouncing words like the following paying par¬ 
ticular attention to distinctness of the final consonants. 


heath 

kept 

swept 

dept 

scholarly 

death 

cold 

rolled 

sailed 

subject 

broth 

silk 

bulk 

trunk 

object 

hearth 

elm 

film 

helm 

lather 

thieveth 

pulp 

help 

scalp 

chasm 

breathe 

vault 

bolt 

shelves 

prism 

leather 

delve 

resolve 

hilt 

schism 


Practice saying the following rapidly, but always 
distinctly; do not mouth them or lisp them. 

And so beside the silent sea I sit and sigh for thee. 

A big black bug bit a big black bear. 

Susan sells sea shells by the sea shore. 

Theophilus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter, in 
sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles, thrust three 
thousand thistles thru the thick of his thumb. • 

Sober Seth sold sugar, starch, spices; Simple Sam sold 
saddles, stirrups, screws; Sagacious Stephen sold silks, 
satins. 

Betty Botter bought some butter, 

“But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter; 

If I put it in my batter, 

It will make my batter bitter. 

But a bit of better butter 

Will make my batter better.” 

So she bought a bit o’ butter 


14 


Public Speaking Manual 


Better than the bitter butter, 

And made her bitter batter better. 

So ’twas better Betty Botter 

Bought a bit of better butter. 

Peter Prangle, the prickly prangly pear picker, picked 
three pecks of prickly prangly pears from the prickly 
prangly pear trees on the pleasant prairies. 

Lucy likes light literature. 

Geese cackle, cattle low, crows caw, cocks crow. 

Fine white wine vinegar with veal. 

The word “articulation” means a correct joining to¬ 
gether of every part. To articulate a word every sound 
must be distinctly produced and accurately placed. 
It is a common fault with beginners to speak too 
rapidly. In doing this they omit some of the syllables, 
or run two or three of them together. How many times 
you have heard a beginner go before an audience, and 
hardly get before the audience until he starts rattling 
off words “like a house afire.” The people strain their 
ears for a time, but decide it is useless and settle back 
to wait for the finish. 

There are others who go slowly enough and strike 
a syllable here and there with sufficient force, but 
allow many syllables to trail out into unintelligible 
whispers. A speaker has no right to take up peoples’ 
time unless he has something to say and says it so 
that it can be understood. 

Much time should be spent drilling on articulation. 
Take plenty of time to give each syllable its share 
of breath and force. Just taste each separate syllable. 
Don’t be lazy with the lips and tongue and cheeks, 


The Means of Expression 


15 


move them into their proper places. Don’t “mouth” 
your words. Speak them with decision, clean and 
clear cut. When you say a word, don’t leave part of 
it still in your mouth but get it all out so your mouth 
feels like you had just brushed your teeth. 

“Once more: speak clearly, if you speak at all: 

Carve every word before you let it fall; 

Don’t, like a lecturer or dramatic star. 

Try over hard to roll the British R; 

Do put your accents in the proper spot; 

Don’t—let me beg you—Don’t say “How?” for “What?” 

And when you stick on conversation’s burrs, 

Don’t strew the pathway with those dreadful “urs.” 

Holmes. 

EXERCISE 

Memorize the following paragraph from Horace 
Mann’s Oration on “Education,” and deliver it with 
great care as to articulation. 

The Greek rhetorician, Longinus, quotes from the 
Mosaic account of the creation what he calls the sub- 
limest passage ever uttered: “God said, ‘Let there be 
light,’ and there was light!” From the center of black 
immensity, effulgence burst forth. Above, beneath, on 
every side, its radiance streamed forth, silent, yet making 
each spot in the vast concave brighter than the line 
which the lightning pencils upon the midnight cloud. 
Darkness fled as the swift beams spread onward and on¬ 
ward, in an unending circumfusion of splendor. Onward 
and outward still they move to this day, glorifying, 
through wider and wider regions of space, the infinite 
Author from whose power and beneficence they sprang. 
But not only in the beginning, when God created the 
heavens and the earth, did he say, “Let there be light!” 
Whenever a human soul is born into the world, its creator 


16 


Public Speaking Manual 


stands over it, and again pronounces the same sublime 
words, “Let there be light.” 

Suggested Selections 


Death of Paul Dombey, 


Dickens 

The South Wind and the 

Sun, 

Riley 

Cupid Swallowed, 


Hunt 

Hymn to Mont Blanc, 


Coleridge 

Toussaint L’Ouverture, 


Phillips 

The Raven, 


Poe 

The Storming of Mission 

Ridge, 

Taylor 

South Carolina, 


Hayne 


Isaiah, 40th Chapter, 12th to 27th verse. 


Outside Readings ; 

Natural Drills in Expression by Phillips, page 95-111. 

How to Develop Power and Personality in Speaking, by Kleiser, 
page 62-78. 

Choice Readings by Cumnock, page 1-16. 

Vocal Culture by Murdock, page 5-41. 

Philosophy of Expression by Brown, page 280-297. 

The Science and Art of Elocution by Fenno, page 75-84. 

Extempore Speaking by Shurter, page 80-84. 

Public Speaking by Stratton, page 37-70. 

Elocution and Reading by Brooks, page 21-31. 

Practical Elocution by Shoemaker, pa-ge 60-111. 

Bell’s Standard Elocutionist by Bell Bros., page 2-10. 

Principles of Public Speaking by Lee, page 13-36. 

Advanced Elocution by Shoemaker, page 95-168. 

Extemporaneous Oratory by Buckley, page 177-196. 

The Technique of the Speaking Voice by Scott, page 28-120. 

Public Speaking by Winter, page 14-19. 

TONES 

A second means of transmitting thought and feeling 
is by modulations of tones. This simply means changes 
of the voice, that is, (a) Change in Pitch, (ib) Change 


The Means of Expression 


17 


in Volume, (c) Change in Movement. When a man 
is angry the tone of his voice betrays that anger. A 
dog that cannot understand words can understand 
tones. If spoken to in angry tones, he will whimper 
and cower, while if spoken to in pleasant friendly 
tones, he will iprick up his ears and wag his tail in 
his show of mutual friendliness. The language of 
tones is universal. 

Of the three ways of expressing ideas, this is the 
most important to the student of Expression. The 
voice is capable of a high degree of training. Many 
students of music think nothing of spending six 
hours a day practicing. If one third that amount of 
time were spent on Voice Culture the result would be 
surprising. 

The foundation for good clear tones is correct 
breathing, which is nothing more than natural breath¬ 
ing; not habitual, but natural. So many people 
breathe in only the upper part of their lungs that it is 
necessary to set down here some exercises to secure 
deep breathing. These exercises if regularly practiced 
will not only improve the voice, but will cause the 
blood to flow more freely and keep the whole body in 
better physical condition. Many a cold can be warded 
off by deep breathing. 

Exercises for supporting the tone. 

No. 1. Stand erect, inhale slowly through the 
nose to full capacity of the lungs. Exhale slowly 
through the nose. Do this three minutes. 

Inhale slowly through the nose to full capacity of the 


18 


Public Speaking Manual 


lungs and exhale rapidly through the mouth. Do this 
several times. 

No. 2. Place the fingers on the pit of the abdomen, 
relax the muscles of the chest and abdomen and with 
the hand press the breath out of the lower part of the 
lungs, allowing it to escape through the nose. Inhale 
filling the lower part of the lungs without moving the 
chest and shoulders. Repeat several times. 

Do the same exercise only say (Ah) as the breath is 
forced out, say the alphabet. The effect should be ex¬ 
plosive. 

Retain the same position and try to breathe from the 
abdomen only. Look down to see that no other muscles 
move except the abdomen. Remove your hands and 
watch your abdomen and force yourself to breathe 
there instead of in the chest. 

No. 3. Inhale to capacity, hold the breath and raise 
and lower the diaphram with great force. Repeat this 
over and over for three minutes. 

You should take ten minutes every morning and 
night and practice these exercises. Lie flat upon your 
back and practice them. 

Exercises for freeing the tone . 

The purpose of this exercise is to allow the tone 
free easy passage. There are people who have a 
throaty tone, because the muscles of the throat con¬ 
tract and constrict the tone passage. Nervousness or 
self-consciousness often result in tight throats. A 
speaker will soon give out and his voice fail him if he 
is trying to speak with a tight throat. 

No. 1. Relax all the muscles of the throat, neck and 


The Means of Expression 


10 


mouth, inhale and force the breath out through the 
open relaxed passage of the throat by pressing the 
hand upon the abdomen. Relax even the muscles of the 
abdomen so that the force from the hand will send a 
column of air up through the throat. As the puff of 
breath strikes the vocal cords, don't make them but 
just let them say (Ah). Do this over and over, finally 
removing the hand and forcing the air up through the 
diaphragm but still keeping the throat and mouth re¬ 
laxed. 

No. 2. Do the same exercise as No. 1. only join 
several (Ahs) together until they make a sound like 
laughing. Then gradually change the mechanical ex¬ 
ercise into a hearty laugh, keeping in mind all the time 
that the throat must be relaxed. 

No. 3. Keep the passage relaxed as in the other 
exercises and start making the sound of (O) barely 
audible at first but with increasing volume. Let it be a 
continuous sound. Then form the sound into words 
“Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll!” 

Exercise for Developing the Tone. 

I wish to quote here a paragraph from the chapter, 
“Learning to Re-enforce the Tone,” by Katherine 
Jewell Everts in her book, The Speaking Voice, Harper 
& Brothers. 

“First, you must realize that so-called ‘talking through the 
nose’ is not talking through the nose at all, but rather failure to 
do so—that is, instead of letting the tone flood into the nasal 
cavity, to be re-enforced there by striking against the walls of 
the cavity, which act as sounding boards for the tone confined 
within that cavity, we shut off the cavity and refuse the ton® 
its natural re-enforcement. It takes on, as a result, a thin. 


20 


Public Speaking Manual 


unresonant quality which we call nasal, although it is thin and 
unpleasing because it lacks true nasal resonance. The only 
remedy lies in ceasing to shut off this cavity. Think the sound 
oo. Let the tone on which it is to be borne grow slowly in 
thought, filling, filing, and as it grows, flood the whole face. 
Let it press against your lips (in thought only as yet) feel your 
nostrils expand, your face grow alive between the eyes and the 
upper lip, that area so often inanimate, lifeless, even in a mobile 
animated countenance. Now let the sound come but let it follow 
the thought, flood the face, let the nostrils expand, feel the nasal 
cavity fill with sound: let it go on up into the head and strike 
the forehead and the eye-sockets and the walls of all the cavities 
so unused to the impact of sound, which should never have been 
shut out. Now begin with lips closed, a humming note, m-m-m. 
Let it come flooding into the face, until it presses against the 
Ups, demanding the open mouth. Now let it open the mouth into 
the (Ah). Repeat this over and over—m-ah. m-ah, m-ah. Don’t 
let the tone drop back as the mouth opens. Keep it forward 
behind the upper lip, which it has made full, and which playing 
against, it tickles until we must let the tone escape.” 

This exercise will increase the resonance and carry¬ 
ing power of the voice. 

Of course all of these exercises complement each 
other. When you increase the resonance you increase 
the volume etc., but the next exercise will bear directly 
upon range and volume. 

Go to the piano and strike a note that is about your 
conversational pitch. Take the pitch saying (Ah) and 
run up and down the key board as far as you can go 
both ways. Blend the “Ahs” together in an effusive 
utterance, then separate in an explosive manner, al¬ 
ways keeping in harmony with the instrument. 
Breathe from the abdomen, relax the tone passage, and 
open the resonance cavities. Don’t let the tones get 
harsh, but keep them round and mellow. 


The Means of Expression 


21 


Suggested Selections: 


Ring Out, Wild Bells ! 

Tennyson 

Roll On, Thou Deep! 

Byron 

Thou Too, Sail On! 

Longfellow 

O Tiber, Father Tiber! 

Macaulay 

The Cradle of Liberty 

Webster 

The Impeachment of Warren Hastings 

Burke 

Caesar, the Fighter 

Longfellow 

Official Duty 

Roosevelt 

Look Well to Your Speech 

Palmer 

King Robert of Sicily 

Longfellow 

The Revenge 

Tennyson 

A Tale of the Plains 

Roosevelt 

A Man’s a Man for a’ That 

Burns 

Jim Bludso, of the Prairie Belle 

Hay 

The Trial of Abner Barrow 

Davis 


Readings 

The Power of Speech, by Lawrence, page 3-9, also 39-60. 

Vocal Culture, by Murdock, page 1-3. 

The Speaking Voice, by Everts, page 3-30. 

The Science and Art of Elocution, by Fenno, page 73-75. 

Natural Drills in Expression, by Phillips, page 111-116, also 1-70. 
Advanced Elocution, by Shoemaker, page 16-35. 

Practical Elocution, by Shoemaker, page 35-68. 

Principles of Public Speaking, by Lee, page 36-56. 

Public Speaking, by Stratton, page 14-37. 

Elocution and Reading, by Brooks, page 44-47. 

Fundamentals of Speech, by Woolbert, page 143-183. 

Public Speaking, by Winans, page 497-513. 

Essentials of Extempore Speaking, by Mosher, page 179-181. 
Public Speaking, by Winter, page 1-12. 

The Technique of Speaking Voice, by Scott, page 28-120. 
Extemporaneous Oratory, by Buckley, page 139-150. 

Sources of Effectiveness in Speech Making, by Neil, page 329-378. 


22 


Public Speaking Manual 


GESTURES 

The third means of expression is action or gestures . 
The moving picture show is proof of what can be 
expressed through action alone. You can talk to a 
person and that person will agree or disagree with you 
and never say a word, but you know his thoughts by 
the posture of his body, the movement of his arms 
and the expression on his face. A man is angry; his 
hands close into fists, his jaw sets, his nostrils dilate, 
his brows knit. A man is proud; his shoulders square, 
his chin is uplifted, his chest swells. But it is dif¬ 
ferent with a good poker player. He can lose five 
hundred dollars without the bat of an eye or the 
twitching of a muscle. He has trained himself not to 
express his thoughts through muscular action, other¬ 
wise the loss would show in his face and even in his 
attitude. We conclude, then, that under normal con¬ 
ditions, thoughts and feelings that exist within are 
readily reflected through gestures. We learn too, that 
through wrong habits a stage can be reached as in the 
case of the poker player, where even the strongest 
passion gives no expression through muscular action. 
Sometimes self-consciousness or awkwardness prevents 
a person from expressing the inward activities through 
gesture. The purpose of training is first, to remove 
such abnormal conditions and second, to increase the 
natural ability to express inward feeling through out¬ 
ward action. The goal is to get the person’s muscular 
system to respond to the slightest mental or emotional 
impulse. 


The Means of Expression 


23 


Position on the Platform. 

This is a matter of choice, but that choice should be 
based on good judgment. As a suggestion; the speaker 
should stand a little to the front of the center of the 
space allotted to him. Some speakers stand so near the 
front of the platform they keep the audience uneasy 
lest they might fall off. Others stand so far back they 
keep the audience in hot water fearing they are going 
to bump into something. There is no need of either 
situation. The attention of the audience should not 
be divided between what the speaker is doing and what 
he is saying. What he does on the platform should 
emphasize what he says. He should shift his position 
enough to appear at ease, but not enough to seem 
nervous. He should not pace the platform like a rest¬ 
less Bengal tiger in a circus cage. If his audience 
forms a semicircle around him he should turn often 
enough to show that he recognizes both sides as a part 
of his audience. This turn should be governed largely 
by the breaks in the thought, which will keep the 
speaker from rotating from one side to the other with 
even regularity like an electric fan in a picture show. 

The Feet. 

There is no rule as to the position of the feet, but 
there are some suggestions that are very helpful. The 
speaker desires to appear dignified and commanding. 
He should not stand with his feet too far apart as 
though he has to prop himself to keep from tumbling 
over. The natural position is with one foot slightly in 
advance of the other and about two inches between 
them. 


24 


Public Speaking Manual 


As to where the weight of the body is, is governed 
entirely by the frame of mind. The following is 
taken from Leland Powers' Chart on Gestures. 

When the weight is on the back foot it expresses prostration, 
defiance or indifference. 

When the weight is on both feet it expresses respect, vulgar 
ease, or indecision. 

When the weight is on the advance foot it expresses suspense, 
attention, or explosion. 


DRILL 

No. 1. Place the hands on the hips, both heels 
together, keep the head up and the body erect and 
squat and ^rise in rhythm. 

No. 2. Do the same exercise on one foot. Do the 
same exercise on the other foot. 

No. 3. Take the natural position with one foot 
slightly in advance of the other, let the arms hang 
loosely at the sides. Rest the weight on the heel of the 
back foot and slowly shift the weight to the ball of 
the advance foot counting ten. Shift the weight back 
counting ten. Fold the arms behind the back and re¬ 
peat the exercise. Place the arms in different posi¬ 
tions and repeat the exercise. Place the back foot in 
advance and go through the same exercise. 

The Hands. 

A gesture of the hand should move from the shoulder 
and not the elbow. Many beginners on account of 
timidity are inclined to gesture from their elbows only; 
the result is a stiff, frightened appearance. The index 
finger is used in pointing when some very definite or 


The Means of Expression 


25 


specific thing is pointed out, as pointing out a particu¬ 
lar object from among others. But when the thing to 
be pointed out is not so definite, but refers to a direc¬ 
tion, or a group, or something in general, it is more 
graceful to use the hand with the little finger and the 
one next to it naturally and slightly folded and the 
thumb down. This is merely a suggestion; not a rule. 

The palm of the hand is the strongest part of it. 
The palm affirms, declares, invites, salutes, blesses, 
attracts. The back of the hand rejects, denies, repels, 
refuses. The pointing finger accuses, selects, defines, 
explains. 

There are three parts to a gesture of the hand: (1), 
the beginning, (2) the stroke, and (3), the return. 
The beginning of a gesture can be quick and impulsive, 
but the return should be more deliberate. When the 
stroke is given there is a slight rebound that gives 
rhythm and grace to the action. Usually gestures 
emphasizing the intellectual thoughts are in the same 
horizontal plane with the head. There are countless 
combinations of different positions of the hands and 
arms that make it impossible to classify them except in 
a very general way. Each one of these different com¬ 
binations has its own particular shade of meaning. 
But this great complexity is a storehouse of wealth to 
him whose muscles respond to his mind. 

Transition. It is often necessary for the speaker to 
pass from one gesture to another without returning 
the hand to the side. He finds that the scene or argu¬ 
ment requires one gesture after another in rapid 
succession. When the stroke of one gesture is finished, 
he goes right into the next gesture because he will be 


26 


Public Speaking Manual 


ready for the stroke of the next gesture before he has 
time to gracefully return his hand to his side and raise 
it again. He leaves his last gesture and turns toward 
the next just as the words begin to suggest the second 
thought. Do not let this paragraph lead to the con¬ 
clusion that every separate sentence or phrase requires 
a gesture. The speaker must be guided by his judgment 
as to where transition is necessary. 

DRILL 

No. 1. Devitalize the arm and swing it around like 
a wheel. This is to loosen up the shoulder joint and get 
the arm to moving from the shoulder. 

No. 2. Devitalize the hands and shake them as if 
they were tied to the ends of rags. 

No. 3. Raise and lower the arms slowly allowing the 
wrists to lead. Also move them in a horizontal plane 
from front to back, allowing the wrists to lead. 

The Face. 

The audience hangs upon the face of the speaker. 
There he registers all of the different passions and 
emotions. His brow darkens with a scowl or lights up 
with a smile. The eye is the most expressive of all the 
features. Through it, all of the passions and all of the 
emotions of the human heart express themselves. 
Emerson said, “The eyes are the windows of the soul.” 
At least we can look into a person's eyes and know his 
feelings. 

The almost closed eye expresses thought, weariness, 
or insolence. The narrowed eye expresses bad temper, 


The Means of Expression 


27 


calmness, or indifference. The wide eye expresses sur¬ 
prise, activity or stupidity. The mouth open expresses 
grief, pleasure, or surprise, and closed it expresses 
firmness, pleasure, or displeasure. 

DRILL 

Read over passages of widely contrasted thoughts 
and emotions and as you conceive a certain thought, 
think that thought so clearly that it just shines through 
your face. So to speak, devitalize your face and allow 
the muscles to he controlled entirely by the nerve fibres 
that have charge of that thought. 

The Torso. 

The attitude of the body gives poise to a speaker. 
A slouchy, dilapidated, run down attitude destroys 
one’s poise. Poise is that indescribable atmosphere 
about a person that gives him command. That atmos¬ 
phere is created by the way he holds himself, the way 
he stands; the origin of it is in the mind. He feels 
proud, it shows in his bodily posture. He feels honest, 
honorable and determined, it is very evident in his 
carriage. Abnormal conditions hinder this form of 
expression. The body leaning forward indicates in¬ 
terest. attention, attraction. The body bending for¬ 
ward is suggestive of shame, humility, or obedience. 
The body leaning backward expresses repulsion. The 
body rocking to and fro expresses weakness, or care¬ 
lessness. 

DRILL 

No. 1. Place the hands on the hips and rotate the 
body above the waist. 


28 


Public Speaking Manual 


No. 2. Take the soldier position and breathe deep, 
rising on the toes as you inhale and settling back as 
you exhale. 

No. 3. Lock the thumbs above the head and bend 
forward, keeping the knees straight and touch the 
floor with your fingers. 

There are Three Kinds of Gestures. 

(1) . The active gesture, expresses passion, senti¬ 
ment. feeling, emotion and thought. The active ges¬ 
ture is made as the result of an inward impulse. Be¬ 
cause of this, it is often difficult for the beginner to 
make his first gestures, because the impulse is so 
slight that it is lost in his confusion of self-conscious¬ 
ness. In a case like this the student should back up 
and get a new hold on the idea, get the thought so big 
and so vivid in his mind that it just naturally takes 
part of his body to help the voice express it. Earnest 
effort in this line will bring results. 

(2) . The descriptive gesture. The descriptive 
gestures are used to explain, to describe, to point out, 
the manner, position, or direction. This gesture also 
is made as the result of an inward impulse. But be¬ 
ginners do not have as much trouble making their first 
descriptive gestures as they do with their active ges¬ 
tures, because the descriptive gesture is something 
more concrete. It is easier for the student to show a 
direction by a gesture than it is for him to show an 
emotion by a gesture. 

(3) . The representative gesture. This is a mimic 
gesture. It is used in the impersonation of other 
people’s actions. On the surface, it appears that this 


The Means of Expression 


29 


is an external gesture, controlled entirely by the con¬ 
scious mind, but as the impersonator gets into his 
character the artificiality drops off. That is, when a 
student first begins to work on a character part he 
may find it necessary to, by conscious effort, move and 
sit and walk like the character he is impersonating; 
but as he gets the mental attitude of the character 
then his actions become more reflex and subconscious. 
The representative gesture, therefore can and should 
become the result of an inward impulse. 

If the student sympathizes sufficiently with the 
character he is impersonating to create the same in¬ 
ward impulses which caused the original character to 
act thus and so, those same impulses will cause him to 
act thus and so. That is to say if you are impersonat¬ 
ing an old man and are able to enter into the old man’s 
frame of mind to a considerable degree, the tendency 
would be for you to stoop over and walk with the 
feeble and unsteady gait of old age. 

While the other two gestures are acted by you for 
yourself, this gesture is acted by you for some one 
else. 

Seven rides for Gestures. 

(1) . A gesture should possess purpose. Meaning¬ 
less gestures, no matter how graceful, should never be 
used. 

(2) . A gesture should be positive—avoid vague¬ 
ness, it confuses. 

(3) . Gestures should not be too frequent. Gesture 
is for emphasis and if used too frequently there is no 
contrast between the important and the unimportant. 


30 


Public Speaking Manual 


(4) . Gestures should be dignified. Wild gestures 
are ludicrous. 

(5) . Gestures should accompany the word and 
not precede nor follow. 

“The stroke of the gesture and that of the voice 
should be simultaneous, otherwise, the forces are di¬ 
vided, the speech marred, and the strength of the move¬ 
ment wasted.” 

The action may commence long before the word 
requiring the gesture, but when the important word 
containing the idea is uttered the stroke of the gesture 
should accompany it. 

(6) . A gesture should be unified. If part of the 
body suggests one idea and another part suggests 
another, the force of the gesture is lost. The gesture 
should focus the whole body on the one idea. 

(7) . Gestures should be varied. The same ges¬ 
ture over and over grows monotonous. It is also tire¬ 
some to see the speaker gesture first with one hand 
and then with the other with even regularity. If 
gestures are governed by the thought they will have 
variety. 

Suggestions. 

Practice gestures before a mirror until you can 
make them gracefully. Strike different attitudes and 
hold them and study every line. Try to improve your 
posture by changing the position of your head, arms, 
feet, etc. Be sure that your attitude is always unified. 
For instance, don’t have a “Statute-of-Liberty” pose 
on your body and a Shylock expression on your face. 


The Means of Expression 


31 


Don’t put a Venus head on a Hercules trunk. Read 
lines that are expressive of different attitudes and take 
those attitudes. Study yourself carefully. Try to 
avoid self-conscious, stilted effects. 

Deliver a speech before the mirror and re-enforce it 
with gestures; make declarative gestures; make ges¬ 
tures using both hands; practice transition; use both 
descriptive and active gestures. 

It is all right to rest one or both hands behind you, 
or to slip the fingers between the vest buttons, or to 
rest one hand upon the desk or table. If you hold a 
card in your left hand, it should not prevent you 
from making gestures with that hand. 

Suggested Selections: 


In Our Fathers’ Day Talmage 

Cassius Against Ciesar Shakespeare 

The Spirit of the South Grady 

Something Rankling Here Webster 

Faith in the People Bright 

A Plea for Cuba Thurston 

Against War With Mexico Corwin 

The Murder of Lovejoy Phillips 


Readings 

The Science and Art of Elocution, by Fenno, page 42-45. 

New Science of Elocution, by Hamill, page 282-289. 

Philosophy of Expression, by Brown, page 15-89. 

Power of Speech, by Lawrence, page 199-207. 

How to Gesture, by Ott, page 1-99. 

How to Develop Power and Personality in Speaking, by Kleiser, 
page 104-124. 

Public Speaking, by Winter, page 33-43. 

Fundamentals of Speech, by Woolbert, page 83-143. 

Essentials of Extemporaneous Speaking, by Mosher, page 191-203. 
Public Speaking, by Winans, page 468-497. 


32 


Public Speaking Manual 


Elocution and Reading, by Brooks, page 74-84. 

Principles of Public Speaking, by Lee, page 100-139. 

Practical Elocution, by Shoemaker, page 141-159. 

Bell’s Standard Elocutionist, page 28-31. 

Advanced Elocution, by Shoemaker, page 171-278. 

The Technique of the Speaking Voice, by Scott, page 591-633. 
Extemporaneous Oratory, by Buckley, page 197-233. 

Sources of Effectiveness in Speech Making, bj Neil, page 238-323. 


CHAPTER III. 


How Emphasis Is Secured 

Warning: Notice the heading of this chapter is 
“How Emphasis Is Secured” rather than “How To Se¬ 
cure Emphasis.” It therefore is an analysis of speech 
rather than a rule for speech. Tone color, inflection, 
etc., are the results of certain mental impressions, 
therefore, do not try to get these results before you 
get the impressions that cause them. 

Emphasis means contrast. It means the standing 
of one thought out in relief of the others. One word 
is more important than its fellows and it is emphasized 
because of its importance. Emphasis does not always 
mean Loudness, in fact, that is only one way of empha¬ 
sizing a thought. Sometimes, a whisper is more 
emphatic than a shout. One word contains the whole 
idea, it is the key word, it should be emphasized. How 
does the voice show this relative value of words ? How 
is one word emphasized and another subordinated? 

By the modulations of the voice emphasis is secured. 
Modulation means change. Change of Pitch, change 
of Volume, change of Time. The modulations of the 
voice are governed by thought and feeling. The pitch 
of the voice is raised and lowered in accordance with 
the inward activities. The volume increases or de¬ 
creases in proportion to the inward impressions. The 
movement of the voice is governed by the same power. 
“The impression precedes and determines the expres¬ 
sion. 


( 33 ) 


34 


Public Speaking Manual 


Pitch means the key of the voice, that is, high or low. 
Bass . ' Sweet Portia, 

If you did know to whom I gave the ring, 

If you did know for whom I gave the ring, 

And would conceive for what I gave the ring, 

And how unwillingly I left the ring, 

When naught would be accepted but the ring, 

You would abate the strength of your displeasure. 

Portia. 

If you had known the virtue of the ring, 

Or half her worthiness that gave the ring, 

Or your own honor to contain the ring, 

You would not then have parted with the ring. 

Merchant of Venice. 


Readings 

Lessons in Vocal Expression, by Curry, page 266-244. 

Vocal Culture, by J. E. Murdock, page 227-239. 

Elocution and Reading, by Brooks, page 35-38. 

The Technique of the Speaking Voice, by Scott, page 478-495 
The Science of Elocution, by Hamill, page 270-277. 

The Power of Speech, by Lawrence, page 63-66. 

MODULATION AS TO PITCH 

1. Change of Pitch. 

The pitch of the voice is governed by the mind. 
When the voice changes pitch, it is the result of a 
change in the mind. In natural conversation the voice 
changes pitch with almost every word, the voice leaps 
upward and downward with perfect freedom. But 
when reading, the voice often runs along on a monoto¬ 
nous plane, and the reading becomes tiresome to the 
hearers. The difference is, that the reader is not think- 


How Emphasis Is Secured 


35 


ing the thought contained in the words he is speaking, 
while in the conversation the speaker is thinking every 
thought and the voice responds to the mental image and 
changes pitch with every change of thought, or feeling. 

It is impossible to give rules for the regulation of the 
changes in pitch. To say that high pitch expresses 
excitement or joy, or to say that low pitch expresses 
anger or sorrow is erroneous. Excitement, joy, anger 
and sorrow are given in all pitches of the voice. The 
fact is that the change in thought or feeling just 
naturally calls for a change in pitch. No matter what 
the pitch is at the time a new thought is received, the 
pitch will be changed from what it was. If one idea 
happens to be expressed in one pitch another idea 
contrasted to the first will be expressed in the opposite 
pitch, no matter whether that pitch be high or low. 
The only law is one of contrast. Opposite ideas are ex¬ 
pressed in opposite pitches. 

Uncontrolled emotions are usually expressed in high 
pitch. Controlled intense emotions are usually ex¬ 
pressed in low pitch. This is as near to a rule as we 
can get, and it is easily seen that this would have so 
many exceptions that it would not be very useful. The 
conclusion is that with a change of thought or feeling 
there comes a change of pitch. 

The lesson that we draw from this is that the student 
must strive to get the thought and feeling first and let 
the change in pitch be the natural result of the change 
in thought and feeling. Some authors tell where the 
pitch should be raised or lowered. But this would 
make the student mechanical and unnatural. 

In the following selections the student should strive 



36 


Public Speaking Manual 


to comprehend the complete meaning and with that 
meaning in the focal center of the consciousness give it 
to the class, first in his own language and then in the 
language of the author. The reader himself should 
forget about the change of pitch while he is giving the 
selection. The class, however, can observe how the 
reader's voice changes pitch with each change of 
thought or contrasted idea. 

Catiline's Defiance. 


’Conscript Fathers! 

I do not rise to waste the night in words; 

Let that plebeian talk; ’tis not my trade; 

But here I stand for right—let him show proofs— 

For Roman right; though none, it seems, dare stand 
To take their share with me. Ay, cluster there! 

Cling to your masters, judges, Romans, slaves! 

His charge is false;—I dare him to his proof. 

You have my answer. Let my actions speak! 

But this I will avow, that I have scorned, 

And still do scorn, to hide my sense of wrong! 

Who brands me on the forehead, breaks my sword. 

Or lays the bloody scourge upon my back, 

Wrongs me not half so much as he who shuts 
The gates of honor on me—Turning out 
The Roman from his birthright; and for what? 

To fling your offices to every slave! 

Viners, that creep where man disdains to climb. 

And, having wound their loathsome track to the top 
Of this huge smoldering monument of Rome, 

Hang hissing at the nobler man below! 

Come, consecrated lictors, from your thrones; 

Fling down your scepters ; take the rod and ax 
And make the murder as you make the law! 

Banished from Rome! What’s banished, but set free 


How Emphasis Is Secured 


37 


From daily contact with the things I loathe? 

“Tried and convicted Traitor!” Who says this? 

Who’ll prove it, at his peril, on my head? 

Banished! I thank you for’t. It breaks, my chain! 

I held some slack allegiance till this hour; 

But now my sword’s my own. Smile on, my lords! 

I scorn to count what feelings, withered hopes, 

Strong provocations, bitter, burning wrongs, 

I have within my heart’s hot cells shut up, 

To leave you in your lazy dignities. 

But here I stand and scoff you! here I fling 
Hatred and full defiance in your face! 

Your Consul’s merciful—for this all thanks; 

He dares not touch a hair of Catiline! 

“Traitor!” I go; but I return. This—trial? 

Here I devote your sacred senate! I’ve had wrongs 
To stir a fever in the blood of age, 

Or make the infant’s sinews strong as steel. 

This day’s the birth of sorrow! This hour’s work 
Will breed prescriptions! Look to your hearths, my 
lords! 

For there, henceforth, shall sit for household gods, 
Shapes hot from Tartarus!—all shames and crimes! 
Wan treachery, with his thirsty dagger drawn; 
Suspicion, poisoning his brother’s cup; 

Naked Rebellion, with the torch and ax, 

Making his wild sport of your blazing thrones; 

Till Anarchy comes down on you like night, 

And massacre seals Rome’s eternal grave! 

I go; but not to leap the gulf alone. 

I go; but when I come, ’twill be the burst 
Of ocean in the earthquake-rolling back 
In s.wift and mountainous ruin. Fare you well! 

You build my funeral piles; but your best blood 
Shall quench its flame! Back, slaves! I will return! 

— Shakespeare. 



38 


Public Speaking Manual 


Suggested Selections 


Visions of Belshazzar 

The Painter of Seville 

Bernardo Del Carpio 

How the Old Horse Won the Bet 

Idylle of the Period 

The Bells 

The Blacksmith’s Story 
The Death of Little Jim 
Maud Muller 
The Polish Boy 
Gabriel Grub 
Topsy’s First Lesson 


Susan Wilson 

Mrs. Menans 

O. W. Holmes 

G. A. Baker 

Edgar Allen Poe 

Olive 

Dickens 

Whittier 

Stephens 

Dickens 

Harriet Stowe 


Readings 

Lessons in Vocal Expression, by Curry, page 56-62 
The Power of Speech, by Lawrence, page 17-24 (33-35). 

Vocal Culture, by Murdock, page 124-141. 

The Speaking Voice, by Everts, page 45-51. 

New Science of Elocution, by Hamill, page 195-215. 

Imagination and Dramatic Instinct, by Curry, page 175-177. 

The Science and Art of Elocution, by Fenno, page 28-30. 

Essence of Extemporaneous Speaking, by Mosher, page 184-1S6. 
Elocution and Reading, by Brooks, page 48-63. 

Principles of Public Speaking, by Lee, page 53-55. 

The Fundamentals of Speech, by Woolbert, page 230-258. 

Vocal Expression, by Everts, page 256-265. 

The Technique of the Speaking Voice, by Scott, page 304-477. 
Extemporaneous Oratory, by Buckley, page 161-176. 

Sources of Effectiveness in Speech Making, by Neil, page 475-490. 

2. Inflection. 

Inflection is the changing of pitch during the emis¬ 
sion of a vowel sound. The change of pitch is made 
while the sound is coming out. It is called a slur in 
singing and an inflection in speaking. The mind gov- 


How Emphasis Is Secured 


3^ 


erns inflection as to its length, direction and abrupt¬ 
ness. 

There are two kinds of inflections, they are, rising 
and falling. The rising inflection expresses doubt, 
question or incompleteness. The falling inflection ex¬ 
presses conviction, decision, and finality. The rising 
and falling are sometimes combined, and called circum¬ 
flex inflection. This represents a combination of emo¬ 
tions. All correct inflections are governed by the mind. 
For instance in conversation one uses many inflections 
but they are natural and carry the intended meaning. 
But in the memorized speech it often happens that the 
speaker uses the wrong inflection, simply because the 
real meaning of the passage has not been grasped. 
If you wish to get an idea of the importance of this 
modulation of the voice called, inflection, see how many 
different meanings you can put on the word “yes.” You 
can say “yes” so that it means “no.” 

In reading the following selections keep in mind 
the meaning. Keep the tones well supported by deep 
breathing; keep them free from constriction and 
throatiness; and let the tones respond to the slightest 
impulse. So lose yourself in the meaning of the se¬ 
lection that the impulse will be genuine. 

Half a league, half a league 
Half a league onward, 

All in the valley of death 
Rode the six hundred. 

“Forward, the Light Brigade!” 

“Charge for the guns,” he said; 

Into the valley of death 
Rode the six hundred. 


40 


Public Speaking Manual 


“Forward, the Light Brigade!” 

Was there a man dismayed? 

Not though the soldiers knew 
Some one had blundered, 

Theirs not to make reply, 

Theirs not to reason why, 

Theirs but to do or die. 

Into the valley of death 
Rode the six hundred. 

The Charge of the Light Brigade. 

Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, 
dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the 
same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the 
same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and 
cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? 
If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we 
not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? 

Merchant of Venice 


Richelieu. (fiercely) 


Room, My lords, room, 

The Minister of France can need no intercession with 
the king 
Louis. 


What means this false report of death, Lord Cardinal? 
Rich. 

Are you then angered. Sire, that I live still? 

Louis. 

No: but such artifice— 

Rich. 

Not mine; look elsewhere, Louis! 

My castle swarmed with the assasins. 

Bar (advancing) 

We have punished them already. Huget is now in the 
Bastile. Oh! my lord, we were prompt to avenge 
you—we were. 

Rich. 

We? Ha. ha! you hear, 


How Emphasis Is Secured 


41 


My liege! What page, Man, in the last court grammar 
Made you a plural? Count, you have seized the hire¬ 
ling: 

Sire, Shall I name the master? 

Louis. Tush, my lord, 

The old contrivance; ever does your wit 
Invent assassins, that ambition may 
Slay rivals— 

Rich. 

Rivals, Sire, in what? 

Service to France? I have none. Lives the man 
Whom Europe deems rival to Armand Richelieu? 

Richelieu—by Sir Edward Lytton. 


Suggested Selection s 


“No Thank You, Tom,’ 

When the Train Comes In, 

A Similar Case, 

Hamlet’s Instruction to the Players, 
The Courtin’, 

The One-Hoss Shay, 

Pickwick in the Wrong Bedroom, 
Thanatopsis, 

Marmion and Douglas, 

The Vagabonds. 


Humorous Speaker, page 94. 
Humorous Speaker, page 86. 
Anonymous. 

Lowell. 

Shakespeare. 

Holmes. 

Dickens. 

Bryant. 

Scott. 

Trowbridge. 


Outside Readings 


Choice Readings, by Cumnock, page 89-98. 

Lessons in Vocal Expression, by Curry, page 168-201. 

The Power of Speech, by Lawrence, page 75-103. 

The Speaking Voice, by Everts, page 52-64. 

The Science and Art of Elocution, by Fenno. page 30-31 
New Science of Elocution, by Hamill, page 254-267. 

Advanced Elocution, by Shoemaker, page 35-47. 

Vocal Expression, by Everts, page 265-277. 

Sources of Effectiveness in Speech Making, by Neil, page 191-515. 





42 


Public Speaking Manual 


3. Tone Color. 

Tone color is harder to define than the other modu¬ 
lations. It is caused by imagination and feeling. It 
gives richness to speech. It is a delicate and refined 
touching of the vowel sounds, which gives the same 
effect to speech that highlight colors gives to a paint¬ 
ing. 

The voice has over-tones and resonance. The reson¬ 
ance of the voice is governed by the position of the 
vocal organs and the muscles that govern breathing. 
The position of these vocal organs and muscles are in 
turn governed by emotions. Therefore the emotions 
govern the resonance of the voice. Tone color is the 
result. 

The way to develop beautiful tone coloring is to let 
the feeling of the selection take possession of you. Let 
your imagination leap from one thought pinnacle to 
another. Read a great deal of poetry aloud; it en¬ 
hances the tone coloring. 

Hear the sledges with the bells— 

Silver bells— 

What a world of merriment their melody foretells! 

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, 

In the icy air of night! 

While the stars that oversprinkle 

All the heavens seem to twinkle 

With a crystalline delight: 

Keeping time, time, time, 

In a sort of Runic Rhyme, 

To the Tintinnabulation that so musically swells 

From the Bells, bells, bells, bells, 

Bells, bells, bells, 

From the jingling and tinkling of the bells. 


Poe. 


How Emphasis Is Secured 


43 


Suggested Selections 


Antony and Cleopatra 
The Old Clock on the Stairs 
The Gray Swan 
Mandalay 

The Burial of Moses 
The Hunters 
Guinevere 

The Victor of Marengo 


Lytle 

Longfellow 

Cary 

Kipling 

Mrs. Alexander 
Arnold 
Tennyson 
Anonymous 


Outside Readings 


Foundations of Expression, by Curry, page 159-169. 

Imagination and Dramatic Instinct, by Curry, page 167-175. 

The Speaking Voice, by Everts, page 55-82. 

Lessons in Vocal Expression, by Curry, page 218-223. 

Sources of Effectiveness in Speech Making, by Neil, page 550-566 


MODULATIONS AS TO VOLUME 


The volume of the voice increases and decreases with 
the emotional changes. This change of volume gives 
force to speech. 


Force 


There are five kinds of Force. 

1 . Suppressed Force. 

It is often the case that the most forceful way to say 
a thing is by suppressed force. When a thought re¬ 
quires the greatest force to express it, the speaker can 
usually best express it by lowering the pitch of his 
voice almost to the whisper and using the suppressed 
force. If the speaker tried to express some of the 
strongest emotions by an increased volume the effect 
would be ridiculous, but by using the suppressed force, 


44 


Public Speaking Manual 


it gives the suggestion that the speaker has still greater 
power in reserve. 

Judas Iscariot in his soliloquy expresses the depth of 
agony. 


The Thirty Pieces of Silver. 

Thou art not thirty pieces of silver, but thirty hot coals 
lifted from Hell’s oven to burn my soul! 0, bosom of 
Judas, burst asunder and let thy crime spill out. Thou 
cragged mountains, fall upon me and hide my sin, Earth 
engulf me, blackness of darkness swallow up my crime. 

Anonymous. 


2. Subdued Force. 

Subdued is that degree of force which ranges from 
the slightest sound which can be uttered to the milder 
tones of ordinary conversation. Gentle thoughts are 
usually expressed in the subdued force. The sublime, 
delicately beautiful and pathetic emotions that are so 
quiet and tender that they must not jar, find expres¬ 
sion through the subdued force. 

“Pair Annie blooms no more! 

And that’s the matter with your folks. 

See, this brown curl was kept for you; 

And this white blossom from her breast; 

And here—your sister Bessie wrote 
A letter telling all the rest. 

Bear up, old friend.” 

Nobody speaks; 

Only the old camp raven croaks, 

And soldiers whisper; 

“Boys be still; 

There’s some bad news from Grainger’s folks.” 

3. Moderate Force. 

This is used more than any other. It is the increase 


How Emphasis Is Secured 


45 


in volume that is used in ordinary conversation to em¬ 
phasize one thought slightly above the other. 

“And how did little Tim behave? asked Mrs. Cratchit, 
when she had rallied Bob on his credulity, and Bob had 
hugged his daughter to his heart’s content. 

“As good as gold,” said Bob, “and better. Somehow he 
gets thoughtful sitting by himself so much and thinks the 
strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, 
that he hoped the people saw him in church because he 
was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remem¬ 
ber upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, 
and blind men see.” 

4. Energetic Force. 

This is the increase in volume that most public speak¬ 
ers use in addresses. 

We say to you that you have made the definition of a 
business man too limited in its application. The man 
who is employed for wages is as much a business man as 
his employer; the attorney in a country town is as much 
a business man as the corporation counsel in a great me¬ 
tropolis; the merchant at the cross roads store is as much 
a business man as the merchant of New York; the farmer 
who goes forth in the morning and toils all day, who be¬ 
gins in spring and toils all summer, and who, by the ap¬ 
plication of brains and muscle to the natural resources of 
the country creates wealth, is as much a business man as 
the man who goes upon the board of trade and bets upon 
the price of grain; the miners who go down a thousand feet 
into the earth or climb two thousand feet upon the cliffs, 
and bring forth from their hiding places the precious 
metals to be poured into the channels of trade are as much 
business men as the few financial magnates who, in the 
back room corner the money of the world. We come to 
speak of this broader class of business men. 

W. J. Bryan . 


4b 


Public Speaking Manual 


5. Impassioned Force. 

This is used in plays and in the climax of fiery 
speeches. 


Coriolanus, (to the Roman Soldiers when repulsed.) 

You souls of geese. 

That bear the shapes of men, how have you run 
From slaves that apes would beat! Pluto and Hell! 

All hurt behind; back red and faces pale 

With flight and agued fear! Mend and charge home, 

Or, by the fire of heaven, I’ll leave the foe, 

And make my wars on you; look to it; come on! 

— Shakespeare. 


Suggested Selections 


The Three Bells 

Amy Robsart and Richard Vorney 
The Revolutionary Rising 
William Tell Among the Mountains 
The Dying Christian to His Soul 
The Revenge 

The Burgundian Defiance 

Fitz-James and Roderick Dhu 
A Plea for Cuba 


Whittier 

Scott, from ‘‘Kenilworth” 

Read 

Knowles 

Pope 

Tennyson 

McCarthy, from “If I Were 
King.” 

Scott 

Thurston 


Outside Readings 

New Science of Elocution, by Hamill, page 135-162. 

Vocal Culture, by Murdock, page 85-97. 

The Science and Art of Elocution, by Fenno, page 33-35. 
Advanced Elocution, by Shoemaker, page 74-78. 

Elocution and Reading, by Brooks, page 32-34. 

Practical Elocution, by Shoemaker, page 118-119. 

Principles of Public Speaking, by Lee, page 47-51. 

The Fundamentals of Speech, by Woolbert, page 183-213. 

The Technique of the Speaking Voice, by Scott, page 238-264. 


STRESS 

Force is modulated volume placed upon a sentence or 


How Emphasis Is Secured 


47 


a paragraph while stress is increased volume placed 
upon a sound. 

1. Initial Stress. 

Initial stress is where the emphasis is placed upon 
the first part of the sound. It expresses positive com¬ 
mand and determination. 

“Forward the light brigade. 

Charge for the guns” he said. 

2. Final Stress. 

Final stress is where the emphasis is placed on the 
final or vanishing part of the sound. It expresses an¬ 
noyance. 

I said No: Do you understand? 

3. Middle Stress. 

Middle stress is where the emphasis is placed on the 
middle part of the sound; and expresses reverence and 
solemnity. 

Roll on thou deep and dark blue ocean roll! 

4. Compound Stress. 

Compound stress is where the emphasis is placed on 
both the initial and final part of the sound. It ex¬ 
presses astonishment, surprise, sarcasm, and contempt. 

If ye are brutes; then stand here like fat 
oxen waiting for the butcher's knife. 

5. Thorough Stress. 

Thorough stress is where the emphasis is the same 
all through the sound. It expresses defiance, triumph 
and rapture. 

Ben Hur turned the first goal and the race was won. 


48 


Public Speaking Manual 


6. Tremulous Stress. 

Tremulous stress is where the emphasis is intermit¬ 
tent. It expresses sorrow, feebleness and tenderness. 
Dead; they are dead and gone. 


Suggested Selections 


Bruce’s Address 

The Battle of Waterloo 

Peroration of Speech Against Hastings 

Opening Scene from Julius Crnsar 

Elizabeth and Leicester 

Warren’s Address at Bunker Hill 

Richelieu’s Appeal 

Henry IV. and Hotspur from Henry IV. 


Burns 

Byron 

Burke 

by Shakespeare 
from Kenilworth by Scott 
by Pierpont 
by Bulwer 
by Shakespeare 


Outside Readings 

Vocal Culture, by Murdock, page 101-124. 

The Science of Elocution, by Hamill, page 162-195. 

The Power of Speech, by Lawrence, page 67-69. 

The Science and Art of Elocution, by Fenno, page 39-41. 
Elocution and Reading, by Brooks, page 38-43. 

The Technique of the Speaking Voice, by Scott, page 178-232. 

MODULATIONS AS TO TIME 

The time element is also important in securing em¬ 
phasis. The modulations of time have to do with the 
rapidity or slowness of pronouncing a single syllable, 
word or group of words. It also has to do with the in¬ 
terval of silence between words and phrases. 

Time bears the same relation to expression that 
space does to painting. In a picture to emphasize an 
object, it is brought to the foreground which takes 
more space than in the back ground. In speaking one 
gives more time to the important weighty thoughts 
than to the trivial. 


How Emphasis Is Secured 


49 


Movement. 

Movement is one of the modulations of time. The 
speaker goes fast or slow in proportion to the import¬ 
ance of, or trivialness of his thought. One of the best 
proofs that a beginner is not thinking the thoughts 
contained in the words he is uttering, is that he moves 
too fast. 

1. Slow Movement. 

The slow movement is used in the expression of 
gloom, melancholy, grief, pathos, sublimity, solemnity, 
grandeur, vastness, reverence, power and splendor. 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness 
was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God 
moved upon the face of the waters. 

And God said, ‘‘Let there be light:” and there was 
light. 

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God 
divided the light from the darkness. 

And God called the light Day and the darkness he 
called Night, and the evening and the morning were the 
first day. 

From Genesis. 

2. Very Slow Movement. 

The very slow movement expresses a greater degree 
of the same emotions as expressed by the slow move¬ 
ment. 

God of our fathers, known of old— 

Lord of our far-flung battle line— 

Beneath whose awful hand we hold 
Dominion over palm and pine— 

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, 

Lest we forget—lest we forget! 

From the Recessional 


50 


Public Speaking Manual 


3. Moderate Movement. 

The moderate movement is the usual rate of utter¬ 
ance in unimpassioned language. It belongs to com¬ 
mon narration, description and didactic thought. 

Insects generally must lead a jovial life. Think what it 
must be to lodge in a lily. Imagine a palace of ivory and 
pearl, with pillars of silver and capitals of gold, exhaling 
such a perfume as never arose from human censer. Fancy 
again the fun of tucking one’s self up for the night in the 
folds of a rose, rocked to sleep by the gentle sighs of dim¬ 
mer air, nothing to do when you awake, but wash your¬ 
self in a dew-drop, and fall to eating your bedclothes. 

4. Rapid Movement. 

Rapid movement is expressive of joy, gladness, gay 
thoughts, exhilarated emotions and humorous situa¬ 
tions. 

in 

Once, on a golden afternoon, 

With radiant faces and hearts in tune, 

Two fond lovers in dreaming mood. 

Threaded a rural solitude. 

Wholly happy, they only knew 
That the earth was bright and the sky was blue, 
That light and beauty and joy and song 
Charmed the way as they passed along. 

The air was fragrant with woodland scents; 

The squirrel frisked on the roadside fence; 

And hovering near them, “Chee, chee, chink?” 
Queried the curious bobolink, 

Pausing and peering with sidelong head, 

As saucily questioning all they said; 

While the ox-eye danced on its slender stem, 

And all glad nature rejoiced with them. 

Over the odorous fields were strewn 
Wilting windrows of grass new mown, 

And rosy billows of clover bloom 


How Emphasis Is Secured 


51 


Surged in the sunshine and breathed perfume. 
Swinging low on a slender limb, 

The sparrow warbled his wedding hymn, 

And balancing on a blackberry brier, 

The bobolink sung with his heart on fire,— 
“Chee, chee, chink! 

If you wish to kiss her, do! 

Do it, do it, you coward you! 

Kiss her! kiss her! who will see? 

Only we three! we three! we three!” 

From The Bobolink. 


5. Very Rapid Movement. 

People express haste, alarm, confusion, excitement, 
and fear with very rapid movement. 

Hark! from the hills, a moment mute, 

Came a clatter of hoofs in hot pursuit; 

And a cry from the foremost trooper said, 

“Halt! or your blood be on your head!” 

She heeded it not, and not in vain 

She lashed the horse with the bridle rein; 

So into the night the gray horse strode; 

His shoes hew’d fire from the rocky road: 

And the high-born courage that never dies 
Flash’d from his rider’s coal-black eyes; 

The pebbles flew from the fearful race; 

The rain-drops grasp’d at her glowing face. 

“On, on brave beast,” with loud appeal, 

Cried eager, resolute Jennie McNeal. 

Suggested Selections 


The Boys 

Brutus arid Cassius 
Prospice 

The Dreams of Clarence 
The Bells 

How the King Lost His Crown 
The Hat 

The Leap of Boushan Beg 


Holmes 

from Julius Csesar by Shakespeare 

Browning 

Shakespeare 

Poe 

Trowbridge 

Norman 

Longfellow 


52 


Public Speaking Manual 


Outside Readings 

Foundations of Expression, by Curry, page 261-273. 

New Science of Elocution, by Hamill, page 215-236. 

Vocal Culture, by Murdock, page 197-208. 

Lessons in Vocal Expression, by Curry, page 213-218. 

Practical Elocution, by Shoemaker, page 122-129. 

Elocution and Reading, by Brooks, page 64-67. 

Advanced Elocution, by Shoemaker, page 65-66. 

PAUSE 

Pause is a period of silence in which the speaker con¬ 
centrates upon the idea and selects the words for ex¬ 
pressing it. The greater the intensity of thinking, the 
longer will be the pause. The importance and weight 
of an idea determine the length of the pause because 
if the idea is of great importance it will require longer 
for the mind to lay hold of it. 

Every period of silence, however, is not necessarily 
a pause. It may be hesitation. Pause is due to the 
presence of thought while hesitation is due to the ab¬ 
sence of thought. 

1. Rhetorical Pause. 

Rhetorical pause is usually marked by punctuation. 
The purpose of this pause is clearness. For instance, 
take some selection and read it without regard to punc¬ 
tuation and you will notice that in some cases it will 
change the meaning and in others destroy it alto¬ 
gether. making a meaningless jumble of words. 

2. Oratorical Pause. 

The oratorical pause is a pause for force and im¬ 
pressiveness. It cannot be shown by means of punc- 


How Emphasis Is Secured 


53 


tuation. It gives the hearer the impression that he is 
hearing a new thought, because he beheld the mind in 
the act of creating that thought. A writer may punc¬ 
tuate so as to make the meaning clear, but he cannot 
punctuate so as to make the thought forceful. Some of 
the grandest ideas cannot be expressed in words. 

To be or not to be: that is the question: 

Brutus. 

It must be by his death; and, for my part, I 
Know no personal cause to spurn at him, 

But for the general, he would be crown’d: 

How that might change his nature, there’s the question: 
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder: 

And that craves wary walking. Crown him!—that;— 
And then, I grant, we put a sting in him, 

That at his will he may do danger with. 

The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins 
Remorse from power; and, to speak truth of Caesar, 

I have not known when his affections sway’d 
More than his reason. But ’tis a common proof 
That lowliness is young ambition’s ladder, 

Where to the climber—upward turns his face; 

But, when he once attains the upmost round, 

He then upon the ladder turns his back, 

Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees 
By which he did ascend: so Caesar may; 

Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the quarrel 
Will hear no colour for the thing he is, 

Fashion it thus; that what he is, augmented, 

Would run to these and these extremities: 

And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg, 

Which, hatched, would, as his kind, grow mischievous 
And kill him in the shell. 

From Julius Caesar. 
Suggested Selections 


Hannah Jane 


Locke 


54 


Public Speaking Manual 


An Order for a Picture 
The Daffodils 

Come Into the Garden,—Maude 
Selections from Enoch Arden 
The Death of the Flowers 
Crossing the Bar 

How They Brought the Good News 


Cary 

Wordsworth 


Tennyson 

Tennyson 

Bryant 


Tennyson 

Browning 


Outside Readings 


Lessons in Vocal Expression, by Curry, page 62-69. 
Foundations of Expression, by Curry, page 24-27. 

The Power of Speech, by Lawrence, page 119-120. 

Vocal Culture, by Murdock, page 188-197. 

The Science and Art of Elocution, by Fenno, page 38-39. 
Elocution and Reading, by Brooks, page 67-68. 


PHRASING 


Phrasing is the grouping of words around an idea. 
In natural conversation the speech consists of a num¬ 
ber of different groups of words gathered about dif¬ 
ferent ideas. The pause is what separates these groups 
from each other like the valley between two waves sep¬ 
arates the two waves. A whole group of words often 
represent but one idea. For instance, “The dancing 
brooklet” expresses only one idea, and for all purposes 
of speech the whole phrase is just the same as one 
word. Again in the following sentence, “Men may come 
and men may go but I go on forever,” we find the 
words divided into groups, with, each group represent¬ 
ing only one idea: “Men-may come-and-Men 

-may go-but I-go on-forever.” 

In natural conversation a little child will phrase cor¬ 
rectly. But, when even a college graduate undertakes 
to read a passage from a book, he often blunders over 









How Emphasis Is Secured 


55 


the words without regard to pause or phrasing. This 
is because the thought determines both the pause and 
grouping. In natural conversation the speaker is 
thinking what he is saying before he says it. His im¬ 
pression is preceding and determining his expression, 
but in reading he pauses and often does not get the 
thought until after the words have been uttered. It is 
easily seen, in that case, that the impression has not 
governed the expression because the expression came 
before the impression was received. 

The only safe rule that can be given for phrasing is: 
keep the thought in the foreground; never try to ex¬ 
press a thought before you have received it. Keep a 
clear conception of what you wish to express in the 
consciousness and the phrasing will take care of itself. 

Who hath measured the waters with the hollow of his 
hand, regulated the heavens with a span, and taken up 
the dust of the earth in a third measure, and weighed 
the mountains with a steelyard, and the hills with bal¬ 
ances? 

Isaiah, 40. 

There is a time in every man’s education when he ar¬ 
rives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imi¬ 
tation is suicide: that he must take himself, for better, 
or for worse, as his portion; that, though the wide uni¬ 
verse is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can 
come from him but through his toil bestowed on that plot 
of ground which is given to him to till. 

Emerson. 


Barefoot Boy 
Knee-Deep in June 


Suggested Selections 


Whittier 

Riley 


56 


Public Speaking Manual 


To a Skylark 
Fezziwig’s Ball 
The Blue and the Gray 
Betsy and I Are Out 
The Bugle Song 
Launching the Ship 


Shelley 

Dickens 

Finch 

Carleton 

Tennyson 

Longfellow 


Outside Readings 

Foundations of Expression, by Curry, page 111-123. 
Lessons in Vocal Expression, by Curry, page 73-80. 


CHAPTER IV, 


Suggestions on Cause and Effect 

In the foregoing chapters, we have gone into a thor¬ 
ough analysis of expression. We pointed out that an 
upward inflection of the voice indicates doubt or uncer¬ 
tainty, not in order that the student might consciously 
attempt to raise the voice to express doubt, but in order 
that he might understand that the result of doubt in the 
mind is a rising inflection. We have simply pointed 
out what the result of certain mental states will be. 
It would be doing it backwards to try to get the result 
without having the cause. It would be like trying to 
shingle a house before the foundation was laid,—it 
would be like trying to produce cinders before there 
was a fire,—it would be producing the result before 
the cause. But with a general knowledge of the cause 
and effect it will be easier to produce the cause. 

We see in the foregoing chapters that the cause is 
always an inward activity and that the result is an 
outward activity. Our problem then is twofold: 

First, to stimulate inward activity , 

Second , to encourage external responsiveness. 

HOW TO STIMULATE INWARD ACTIVITY 

Concentration. Rays of attention shoot off from 
the mind like rays of light and heat shoot off from the 
sun. By the will-power the rays of attention can be 
gathered into one spot. This spot is the focal center in 
(57) 


58 


Public Speaking Manual 


the field of consciousness. A person is called “scatter 
brain” when he cannot concentrate his attention. In 
the great astronomical laboratories there are lenses so 
powerful that they can concentrate so many rays of 
the sun in one spot that they will burn sheet iron. 
So can man, with his will power like the lens, con¬ 
centrate every ray of attention and burn right through 
the knottiest problem. 

A person can train himself to concentrate. At the 
beginning of the school year the student sits down at 
his table to prepare his first lesson for the year. He 
finds it difficult to get his mind upon it. But he forces 
other thoughts out of his mind and after days of such 
mental discipline he finds it easy to call all of his 
attention upon one idea. He has learned to concen¬ 
trate. The biggest thing in a whole education is to 
learn to concentrate. There is scarcely any limit to 
this process. After all, learning is not a matter of 
memory but a matter of concentration. If Shakes¬ 
peare could read over a whole page one time and then 
quote it word for word, it was not because he had a 
powerful memory, but because he could bring so many 
rays of attention to bear upon that page at one time. 

The problem for the student of expression is to 
train himself by self-discipline to form the clearest 
possible conception of the topic in hand. Read a 
passage and think it as you read it. Be sure you know 
the meaning of every word. Know as much concern¬ 
ing the setting as possible. Then read it again and 
again, each time making a more earnest effort to free 
your mind of every other thought except the one in 
that passage. Memorizing the words does not mean 


Cause and Effect 


59 


that you are concentrating upon the thought, in fact 
memorizing the words is one of the greatest enemies 
to concentration there is. If you have the words by 
memory it seems to take double effort to keep the mind 
focused upon the thought. In the beginning, work 
altogether for the thought. Visualize each mental pic¬ 
ture; add ray after ray of attention to it until it i* so 
bright and vivid and clear cut that when it is expressed 
it commands every modulation of voice and every ac¬ 
tion of the body, necessary to give it complete 
expression. 

When you read the word cow, concentrate sufficiently 
upon that idea and the imagination will add color to 
the cow, and size and shape and horns and all of the 
details to make a complete conception, then when the 
idea is expressed, the complete conception will be 
shown by the modulation of the voice. Concentration 
is volitional, that is, the student can will to concen¬ 
trate, but the modulations of the voice are spontaneous 
and involuntary. Pressure can be placed upon con¬ 
centration. We can force ourselves to concentrate 
but we cannot force ourselves to express. We must 
force our selves to think, visualize, concentrate, and 
encourage ourselves to express. 

HOW TO ENCOURAGE EXTERNAL 
RESPONSIVENESS 

You can encourage the growth of a plant but you 
cannot force it to grow. Just so with external respon¬ 
siveness,—you can encourage it, and in most cases it 
is necessary to some degree at least. This task is 
rather intangible and indefinite and therefore it is 


60 


Public Speaking Manual 


difficult to outline a complete plan for developing 
responsiveness. The best that can be done is to tell 
the general method of procedure, and then leave it to 
the individual initiative to '‘carry on.” 

First, be sure that the tone is well supported by 
deep breathing, that it is free from restricted muscular 
conditions and that it is full and round. Then read 
over a selection to yourself first and get the meaning. 
Concentrate upon it until the impression is strong and 
clear. Then read it aloud. You will find that when 
you read the words expressing grand, noble ideas, 
there will be a slight tendency of the voice to swell out 
somewhat bigger and stronger. Well, just let it do it. 
When you read words expressing merriment you will 
notice a tendency of the voice to bubble and tinkle in 
its response to the mental image of merriment. Just 
let it do it. When you read words expressing baseness 
and cowardice, you will notice an indescribable, unb¬ 
eatable pressure forcing the voice into a snarl or 
toward a beastly growl. Encourage that pressure. 

Take a passage to read and think to yourself that 
the audience does not understand the meaning in that 
passage. Then read it so that the meaning is just 
thrust at them. Force the meaning upon them. By 
the different modulations of the voice make the mean¬ 
ing so clear that even the little children can Understand 
it. In that manner you will draw out and develop 
responsiveness. 

The same is true of the actions of the body. If you 
read words expressing a patriotic idea there will be a 
tendency to square the shoulders, swell out the chest 
and lift up the chin. If we are trying to explain some- 


Cause and Effect 


61 


thing there is a tendency to raise *the hand in an 
explanatory sort of gesture. 

All that is necessary in this part of the training is 
to encourage the slightest impulse. The next time the 
impulse will be stronger. A warning is necessary here. 
Be sure the impulse is genuine and not imaginary, else 
you will find yourself with a host of unnatural modu¬ 
lations and gestures. 


Note 


The teacher should assign a different selection to 
each student in the class. If there are not enough in 
the book, resort to the list given at the end' of the 
chapter. Have the student study the selection care¬ 
fully: be sure that he knows the meaning of every 
word, then have him tell the meaning of the selection 
in his own words. Later in the recitation or in the 
next one, having him tell it again; notice if there is any 
variation. Then have him read it from the book two 
different times. At last have him memorize it and 
give it from memory. The teacher should watch very 
carefully to see that each time the meaning is con¬ 
trolling the expression. 

The teacher should study each student and assign 
to him the particular kind of exercise that he needs. 


Bibliography 


The New Science and Art of Elocution 

The Tone System 

New Science of Elocution 

Foundations of Expression 

Advanced Elocution 

Elocution and Reading 

Practical Elocution 


Fenn^ 

Phillips 

Hamill 

Curry 


Shoemaker 

Everts 

Shoemaker 


62 


Public Speaking Manual 


The Psychology of .Public Speaking 
Bell’s Standard Elocutionist 
The Technique of the Speaking Voice 
Public Speaking 


Scott 

Bell Brothers 

Scott 

Winter 


PART II 

Dramatic Art 

We shall treat Dramatic Art under three headings: 
first, Dramatic Reading, second, Impersonation, and 
third, Plays. The reader may impersonate his differ¬ 
ent characters, or he may merely suggest them, by 
posture and intonation. Just how far a reader goes 
in impersonating the characters in a reading is entirely 
a matter of his own judgment. For our purpose, how¬ 
ever, we shall consider all pieces where more than one 
character speaks, and all pieces requiring narration, 
description and explanation from the reader, as coming 
under the head of Dramatic Reading, and all mono¬ 
logues as coming under the head of Impersonation. 


(63 









































































. 






















































































































































CHAPTER V. 


Dramatic Reading 

Suggestion : This chapter is summed up in a 

few brief paragraphs, but it is meant to cover months 
of work. Each student should acquire a considerable 
repertoire, before leaving this chapter. The teacher 
should drill and coach each student on readings. The 
student should then make several cuttings from books 
or long stories and have the teacher criticize them and 
make constructive suggestions. 

PRESENTATION 

The Mind. Learning to present a dramatic reading 
is a mental process. The first thing that is necessary 
for the student to do when preparing to give a dram¬ 
atic reading is to know the meaning of the phraseology 
of the selection. Then he should learn everything pos¬ 
sible about the setting, the atmosphere. Know the 
story of the characters preceding and after the scene 
to be given. In short, learn everything possible that 
has a bearing upon the story to be read. This gives 
the student a sympathetic attitude toward the char¬ 
acters. He can then better interpret them. When the 
whole situation is thus absorbed, it comes more natural 
for the speaker to give meaningful modulations of the 
voice and correct interpretative gestures. 

Dramatic reading is different from Impersonation, 
as used here, and also from sight reading. In Imper¬ 
sonation you take on a complete likeness of the char- 
(65) 


60 Public Speaking Manual 

acter, his voice, actions, etc.; and you either assume 
or become the character, while in dramatic reading you 
suggest the character by attitude and voice. In 
sight reading you leave the differentiation of char¬ 
acters to punctuation and explanatory remarks, per¬ 
haps with a very slight suggestion in the voice, but 
in dramatic reading you change from one character to 
another. Hence the reader is required to change char¬ 
acters so often that it is well-nigh impossible for him 
to go into a complete impersonation of each of the 
characters. But by the power of suggestion, he may 
portray a scene of many characters. 

The reader should be conscious all the time, that 
he, as a third party, is telling the story. Thus his 
personality dominates the scene and his originality is 
given play. .He should never be overcome by emotion 
or lose himself in a character, because when he tries 
to change to the next character the result will be 
fatal. 

The Body. A reader must be graceful, and if the 
student is awkward, a rigorous practice of the drills 
laid down in the chapter on gesture will be found help¬ 
ful. Descriptive and representative gestures are fre¬ 
quently used in dramatic reading, but very few active 
gestures. Attitude and gesture count almost as much 
in dramatic reading as the modulation of the voice. 

In giving a scene where two or more characters 
appear it is a good plan to draw a stage and place 
your characters. This will help you to keep clearly in 
mind where each character is and what direction you 
should turn when impersonating that character. For 
instance, suppose there are three characters. One 


Dramatic Reading 


67 


should speak to the half right, one to the front, and 
the other to the half left. If there are more, you 
must place them somewhere between, because you must 
not turn your back to the audience. Your characters 
should keep the same direction unless it is shown by 
some action or explanation that a character has crossed 
over or in some other manner changed his position. 

It is very important, in fact necessary, that the 
audience know just which character is speaking, there¬ 
fore you should distinguish not only in direction, but 
posture and gesture. That same posture or peculiarity 
belonging to that character should be noticeable every 
time that character speaks. For example, suppose we 
have a scene where an old man, a little girl, and a 
soldier are talking. Place the soldier in the middle, 
the old man on the right and the little girl on the left. 
When the little girl speaks to the soldier she faces 
about firty-five degrees to the right and when she 
speaks to the old man she faces about twenty degrees 
to the right. Every time she speaks she has the same 
little childish actions, which are suggested by the 
reader. When she addresses either of the men she 
looks up because they are taller than she. 

When the old man speaks to the soldier he faces 
about forty-five degrees to the left, and looks up slightly 
if the soldier is taller than he. When he speaks to the 
little girl he faces about twenty degrees to the left 
and looks down. Every time he speaks he has the 
same stooped form and feeble movements suggested 
by the attitude of the reader. 

When the soldier speaks to the little girl he speaks 
to the front and a little to the left and looks down. 


68 


Public Speaking Manual 


When addressing the old man he faces to the front and 
a little to the right and slightly down. In case he 
addresses them both, then straight to the front. When¬ 
ever he speaks there is the same straight, manly, sol¬ 
dierly bearing evidenced in the attitude of the reader. 

By definitely placing the characters, the reader keeps 
the scene clearly in mind and therefore is able to make 
it clear to the audience. 

The Voice. To be a good dramatic reader, the stu¬ 
dent must either have or acquire a rich, full, free 
voice. This is also dealt with in a chapter under Ex¬ 
pression, where drills for the voice are given. 

The voice must be strong and capable of many 
changes and great range in order to suggest the dif¬ 
ferent characters. 

As in the example given of the little girl, old man 
and soldier, the reader might not be able to give a 
child’s voice, but there are certain childish inflections 
that suggest a child’s speech. The reader might not 
be able to impersonate an old man’s voice, yet there 
are certain inflections, changes of pitch and movements 
which are characteristic of old age, and by giving these 
a woman can give the suggestion of an old man talking. 
The reader might be a little girl, and yet, by her 
straight inflections, firm and decisive periods, give the 
suggestion of a soldier speaking. 

Everything concerning the voice in the chapter on 
expression applies here. 

REPERTOIRE 

Memorizing. Psychology points out two distinct 
ways of memorizing: the whole method, and the part 


Dramatic Reading 


69 


method. In the first, one memorizes by going over 
and over the whole selection until it is all committed 
simultaneously. The objection to this is that parts 
are more easily learned than others and that necessi¬ 
tates going over and over parts already memorized in 
order to learn certain difficult places. That is a waste 
of time. 

The part method is to learn lines or paragraphs, 
little by little. The danger of this is that since it has 
been learned piecemeal, it is in the mind a group of 
disconnected sentences or paragraphs, and the likeli¬ 
hood of forgetting is much greater than in the first 
method. 

The best way to memorize, however, is by a combin¬ 
ation of the two. Read the selection over about three 
times or more, and get it as a whole well fixed in the 
mind; get the complete thought, thoroughly digested; 
and connect up all of the logical steps developed in the 
piece. In these three or four readings, you will be sur¬ 
prised at the amount of phraseology that will be re¬ 
membered. Then take the part method and memorize 
the first paragraph or part of it, then the next and then 
repeat the first section and second together, thus form¬ 
ing associated ideas and holding the selection more com¬ 
pletely together. The last words of one paragraph 
will remind you of the first words of the next. Each 
time you learn a new section, reach back and repeat 
the preceding one, and occasionally go over all that 
you have learned. 

Nature of Readings. This discussion must of nec- 
cessity be very general, but a few suggestions here will 
cause the student to think on this point at least. The 


70 


Public Speaking Manual 


reader should know himself well enough to know what 
kind of selections he can do best. Find out what you 
are best in and stay with that particular style and 
perfect it. Oh, it is well enough to experiment in other 
lines, but not at the expense of your reputation as a 
reader. Girl readers who are splendid in child dialect 
often give people the impression that they are poor 
readers by trying something too heavy for them. On 
the other hand, readers of heavy dramatic selections 
often fail in attempting something humorous. The 
purpose is not to discourage you in developing your 
talents. If you have many talents, develop all of them, 
but the warning is to keep you from trying something 
for which you have no aptitude. In the classroom and 
studio is the place to experiment and locate talents. 
Do not give up too soon, for the best talents are often 
the slowest in the process of development. 

There is another factor to consider in the choice of 
selections, and that is the audience. Because you may 
like a reading is no proof that the audience will like 
it. There is not much to the idea that we should edu¬ 
cate the public by continually shooting over their heads. 
The public is a pretty good barometer as to whether a 
thing is good or not. 

There are so many good selections that there is no 
need for any reader to use mediocre ones. A poor 
piece artistically given is better than a good one poorly 
given, but a good piece artistically given is still better. 

Cutting Readings. Many readings are too long, and 
should be cut down. The explanatory parts can usually 
be eliminated because they are for sight reading and 
become unnecessary when the reader supplies the ex- 


Dramatic Reading 


71 


planation by actions and modulations of voice. Phrases 
like, “he said/’ and “laughingly remarked the old 
man,” become not only useless but hindrances when 
the reader, in a suggestive manner, impersonates the 
character. 

A certain amount of explanation is necessary, but it 
should be as brief as possible. When a whole scene 
is cut out it may be necessary to write a new line to 
make the meaning clear. It is good practice to take 
magazine stories and prepare them for readings. The 
following are addresses where readings can be ob¬ 
tained. 

Dramatic Reading Sources. 

Ivan Bloom Hardin Company, 3806 College Grove Ave., Des Moines, 
Iowa. 

Sanders-Milligan Manuscript Co., 4901 Morningside Ave. Sioux 
City, Iowa. 

The Speaker, Paul M. Pearson; Hinds, Noble and Eldridge, N. Y. 
The Acme Declamation Book, B. A. Hathaway; Hinds, Noble, 
and Eldridge, N. Y. 

Shoemaker’s Best Selections, Mrs. Shoemaker; The Penn Pub. 
lishing Co., Philadelphia. 

Scrap Book Recitation Series, Henry M. Soper; T. S. Denison 
and Company, publishers, Chicago. 

Werner’s Readings and Recitations, Jean Carruthers; Edgar S. 
Werner and Company, N. Y. 

Choice Readings, Robert M. Comnock; A. C. McClurg Co., Chicago. 
Handbook of Best Readings, S. H. Clark; Charles Scribners and 
Co., Chicago, N. Y., Boston. 

New Pieces That Will Take Prizes in Contests, Harriet' Black- 
stone, Macmillan Co., publishers, 64-66 Fifth Ave., N. Y 
Pieces That Have Taken Prizes, Binney Gunnison; MacMillian 
Company, 64-66 Fifth Ave., X. Y. 

Three Minute Delamations for College Men, by Harry C. Davis 
and John C. Gridgman, Harper and Brothers, N. Y. 


72 


Public Speaking Manual 


College Girls Three Minute Readings, Davis; Werner and Com¬ 
pany, N. Y. 

The Southern Speaker, Ross; Werner and Company, X. Y. 

Prof. H. S. Hallopeter, West Lafayette, Indiana, 

Note: There are many splendid readings. I will 
not give a list here, but I have given a list of manus¬ 
cript companies and publishers from whom readings 
can be secured. I suggest that you write for a cata¬ 
logued list of readings and make your selections from 
that. 

Outside Readings 

Vocal Expression, by Everts, page 1-245. 

The Psychology of Public Speaking, by Scott, page 49-135. 

Hints to Speakers and Players, by Filippi, page 1-144. 
Imagination and Dramatic Instinct, by Curry. 

The Philosophy of Expression, by Brown. 


CHAPTER VI. 


Impersonation. 

Suggestion: The teachers should take time and 
pains in working out this chapter on characterization. 
Make-up and costuming sometimes add to the interest 
of this work, but the student should not have to de¬ 
pend upon make-up for results. 

Impersonation is treated separately because it is, 
partially at least as the name suggests, imitation, and 
it is better to study it separately, keeping that in mind, 
than to confuse it with dramatic art in general. For 
instance, a student cannot impersonate a negro if he 
never heard negro dialect. The study of dialect and 
certain characterizations are more or less mechanical, 
and as the mechanical is just what we want to stay 
away from as much as possible in dramatic art, we 
propose to treat this subject separately, and where 
the mechanical is necessary, to tell the truth about it, 
and at the same time warn against going too far 
with it. 

All expression should be spontaneous. All true ex¬ 
pression is natural. You never learn to speak a for¬ 
eign language well until you learn to think in that 
language. When you are first learning the language, 
your process is very mechanical. At first your speech 
is stilted and stiff. Gradually, as you come to think in 
that language, your speech becomes easy and natural. 
Just so in impersonation: The goal to be striven for 
in this art is to be able to place yourself in the frame 


74 


Public Speaking Manual 


of mind of the character you hope to impersonate, and 
think in the same terms with that character. Thus the 
impersonation will ring true. But at the beginning 
as with the study of a foreign language you are con¬ 
fronted with the mechanics of the process. Merely sug¬ 
gesting a character, as in reading, is not impersonating 
the character. A grown man might use his natural 
voice and by the modulations of tone suggest a little 
child speaking. But suggestion and impersonation are 
different. To impersonate the child he would have to 
use the child’s voice. Placing himself mentally in the 
child’s place might cause him to give childish inflec¬ 
tions to his own voice. The same thing is true when a 
man impersonates a woman. He might give the correct 
inflections and thereby the suggestion of the woman as 
a result of his mental attitude, that would be spon¬ 
taneous and natural. But to really impersonate the 
child or woman he would have to use a falsetto voice, 
which would be a conscious and to a certain degree me¬ 
chanical effort. However, by constant practice and 
consistent training, he can reach the point where the 
mechanics fade away and he naturally uses the falsetto 
as he assumes the mental attitude of a child or woman. 

In preparing a monologue, follow the same instruc¬ 
tions as for dramatic reading, regarding the atmos¬ 
phere and setting. Try to assume the character you 
are impersonating. Do not lose hold of yourself, how¬ 
ever. Your mind must dominate the whole action. 
Your field of consciousness should be occupied with 
the character, but your subconsciousness must never 
lose sight of the fact that you are yourself and are 
merely impersonating a character. The minute you 


Impersonation 


75 


lose yourself completely in a character, you lose con¬ 
trol of the situation. 

Outside Readings 
Vocal Expression, by Everts, page 220-245. 

Dialects for Oral Interpretation, by Johnson, pages 3-39. 
Advanced Elocution, by Shoemaker, pages 87-91. 

Qualities of Voice. 

In characterization and impersonation it is neces¬ 
sary to use the different qualities of the voice and 
the different forms of utterance. It is fine practice 
to experiment on these different forms and qualities, 
because it gives voice control and flexibility. 

The qualities of voice can be divided as follows: 

I. Pure Tone— 

(1) Normal .Ordinary 

(2) Orotund . Enlarged 

(3) Pectoral.-.Deep hollow 

(4) Tremulous .-.Intermittent 

II. Impure Tone— 

(1) Aspirate .-.Breathy 

(2) Guttural .Throaty 

(3) Nasal .“Through the Nose” 

(4) Falsetto .High pitch 

1 . Pure Tone is just what it says it is. The breath 

is vocalized with the least effort and the least amount 
of friction on tHe vocal cords. It is the natural full free 
round tone. 

(1) Normal tone is the ordinary conversational 
tone used to express ordinary sentiment. It is used in 
descriptive and didactive speech. 

(2) Orotund tone is an enlargement of the pure 










70 


Public Speaking Manual 


tones, made by the head and chest giving full reso¬ 
nance. Noble ideas and lofty sentiments are expressed 
in this tone. 

(3) Pectoral tone is a deep, hollow tone used to ex¬ 
press weird sentiment, as in impersonating Marley’s 
ghost, when he speaks to Scrooge, in Dickens’ “Christ¬ 
mas Carol.” 

(4) Tremulous tone is an intermittent utterance 
of the other pure tones, and is used to express grief, 
reverence, and infirmity. 

II. Impure Tone is just what it says it is. The 
breath is restricted in making the tone. 

(1 ) Aspirate tone is the whispered voice. 

(2) Gutteral tone is the restricted, throaty tone, 
used in the expression of great passion. 

(3) Nasal tone is what is commonly called talking 
through the nose, as a matter of fact it is the result 
of forcing the breath into the nasal cavity and destroy¬ 
ing the resonance there. It is used in impersonation 
and characterization. 

(4) Falsetto tone is a high-pitched head tone used 
in impersonation and characterization. 

Forms of Voice. 

Forms of Voice means the mode of utterance. There 
are three forms of voice: 

(1) Effusive utterance , which is a soft, even flow 
of the vowel sounds in such a manner as to give the ef¬ 
fect of fusing together. 

(2) Expulsive utterance, which is the normal form 
of speaking as used in ordinary conversation. 

(3) Explosive utterance, as it suggests, is an ex¬ 
plosion of the vowel sounds, as used in oratory. 


Impersonation 


77 


Outside Readings 


Elocution and Reading, by Brooks, page 44-47. 

Principles of Public Speaking, by Lee, pages 36-56. 

Advanced Elocution, by Shoemaker, page 48-64. 

The Science and Art of Elocution, by Fenno, page 25-33. 

The Science of Elocution, by Hamill. 

Note: You can get monologues and dialect readings from the 
list given under Dramatic Readings. There are also collections 
of monologues published by the T. S. Denison Company, and the 
Elridge Entertainment House. 


DIALECT 


It is very important that an impersonator be pro¬ 
ficient in the dialects of the different characters he 
impersonates. 

Note: It is best that the class take one dialect at 
a time and master it before taking up another. Each 
student should learn at least two different selections 
in each dialect. 

Characteristic gestures should be worked out along 
with the dialects. 


Suggested Selections : 


Cuddle Doon (Scotch) 

Last May a Braw Wooer (Scotch) 

The Twa Courtin’s (Scotch) 

The Bride (Negro) 

OF Joshway and de Sun (Negro) 

In the Morning (Negro) 

Higher Culture in Dixie (Negro) 

Irish Mother (Irish) 

Mr. Dooley on the Gripp (Irish) 

Mr. Dooley on Comforts of Travel (Irish) 
Borrowing a Pie (Irish) 

Views on Labor (Italian) 


Alex. Anderson 
Robt. Burns 
David Kennedy 
Lillian Bell 
Joel C. Harris 
Paul L. Dunbar 
Dorothy Dix 
Elene Foster 
Dunne 
Dunne 

Chas. B. Loomis 
Joseph Kerr 


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Public Speaking Manual 


Da Mericana Girl (Italian) 

Da Veera Leetla Baby (Italian) 

A Dog Story (German) 

Sockery Joins a Lodge (German) 

Cohen on Telephone (Yiddish) 

David Harum’s Horse Trade (Yankee) 

Togo and Baseball (Japanese) 

Yonny Visits Coney Island (Swede) 

Naughty Zell (Child) 

Who’s Afraid (Child) 

Note : Books number 21 and 38 of Werner’s set contain only 
Dialect Selections. Another book of dialect pieces is Gertrude E. 
Johnson’s “Dialects for Oral Interpretation,” The Century Co., 
353 Fourth Ave., New York. 

Books containing only monologues, which are good for Imper¬ 
sonations, most of the companies listed on page 71. 


T. A. Daly 
T. A. Daly 
John T. Brown 
H. W. Wood 
Joe Hayman 
E. N. Westfall 
Irwin 
Wayburne 
Griffin 


CHAPTER VII. 

Plays 

(Suggestion: The students should give scenes from 
plays, in class. Make the experiment of having a com¬ 
plete organization that works smoothly.) 

SELECTING THE PLAY. 

After an organization decides to give a play the 
first question that arises is, “What play?” In answer¬ 
ing that question, it becomes necessary to consider: 

First, what is the purpose of giving the play? Is it 
to develop the talent? Is it to raise money? Is it to 
extend the popularity of the organization? Or is it a 
combination of all of the above? If the purpose is pri¬ 
marily for a display to develop talent, then a play 
should be chosen that gives a good opportunity for a 
display of the actor’s talents. That means a play that 
is made by the acting of the characters, and not by the 
situation. One that depends on the acting and not on 
the plot to “put it over” is what is needed. It may be 
either comedy, drama, or tragedy. 

If the purpose is to raise money, it should be some¬ 
thing of a popular nature. Ancient plays are not us¬ 
ually very popular. A comedy usually has more at¬ 
traction than any other kind. In considering this pur¬ 
pose it is best to keep in mind the advertising end. 
That is, some play with a title that will draw and be 

easy to advertise. While, if the purpose is to 'make 

(79) 


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a hit’ the success of the production must be kept con¬ 
stantly in mind. 

Second, the number in the cast will have something 
to do with the choice of a play. Of course, some male 
parts can be taken by girls, but it is well-nigh impos¬ 
sible to disguise one sex sufficiently to deceive the au¬ 
dience. If you have a large organization, and desire 
to give them all parts, you can sometimes solve your 
problem by adding characters. A little originality 
can find many places where a maid, or a chauffeur, 
or a number of citizens or soldiers can enter. Musical 
comedies are especially desirable from that standpoint, 
because the choruses furnish opportunities to use all 
of the members of the organization. On the other 
hand, if the membership is small, characters can be 
omitted by merely changing the lines a trifle. Or 
characters can double, that is, a boy could be a gar¬ 
dener in the first act and a doctor in the third, etc. 

Third, the ability of the characters should be con¬ 
sidered carefully. If their ability is mediocre, try not 
to choose a portentious play. If the ability is above 
the average, try to evade melodramatic plays, but se¬ 
lect something that will display their talents to good 
advantage. If they are weak, select a play where the 
situation or plot will ‘carry the play over.’ 

Note: A list of plays with explanations is given in the ap¬ 
pendix. It will he very helpful in selecting a play. Also a list 
of Play Publishers, a list of Scenery and Costume Houses, and a 
list of books on Producing Plays, will be found in the appendix. 

SELECTING THE CAST. 

The director should first be decided upon. More de- 


Plays 


81 


pends upon the director than upon the cast itself. 
Therefore, a competent director must be chosen. 
Sometimes it is necessary to go entirely outside of the 
organization and employ a director. At any rate, get 
a competent person for the direction of the production. 

The rest of it is the director's battle. He should be 
given complete control in selecting the cast. If there 
is more than one candidate for each part, the selection 
can be made by means of try-outs. The director should 
be the final judge. However, he can ask several other 
competent judges for help in choosing, but their word 
should be nothing more than advisory. If the director 
knows the members of the organization, a tryout 
should be unnecessary. 

A good way to conduct the tryouts is to set a time 
and place and have the candidates to prepare a scene or 
part of a scene, including the part they wish to play, 
tf they care to memorize the lines, that is all right, 
but not necessary. It is sufficient to have a good 
reading of the lines. Two characters should be chosen 
for each part, a first and a second, or a character and 
his under-study. 

Looks as well as ability, must be considered. Often 
if the person looks the part he is to play he will be 
a bigger success than a more talented person who does 
not look the part. It is also necessary to consider the 
size and looks in pairing characters to play opposite 
each other. It would not do to have a little, short 
boy, for the leading man, and a tall, Amazon type of 
girl for the leading lady unless just such a grotesque 
situation is sought. 

Voice, too, should be considered in selecting the 


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cast. In character parts, the person should either 
have a voice that fits the character, or have sufficient 
control of his voice to be able to impersonate the char¬ 
acter. The leads should have good, clear voices. It 
ought not to be necessary for them to speak in unna¬ 
tural voices. 

The personality of the person must also be consid¬ 
ered. A person with no personality, no matter how 
much he looks the part, or how good a voice he may 
have, could not play the part successfully. Of course, 
personality is hard to define, but we know when we 
meet it and we know when we meet the absence of it. 

Of course, then, native ability or talent, is to be 
considered in selecting the cast. The ability is the 
main consideration. The ability to really act, to be 
the character in the imaginary situation, to interpret 
that character by modulation of tone and by action, so 
well that the audience will not have the feeling that 
they are listening to some one play that character, but 
that they are listening to that character, should always 
be the main consideration. 

REHEARSING. 

Place. If possible, rehearsals should be held on the 
stage where the play is to be given. If this is not con¬ 
venient, then the director or stage-manager should se¬ 
lect a room and mark off the stage with chalk as near¬ 
ly the same size and shape of the real stage as it is 
possible. Entrances can be designated by two chairs, 
one on each side of the entrance. When the charac¬ 
ters enter they should enter between the two chairs. 
The stage manager should get every property possible 


Plays 


83 


for the first rehearsals. By practicing with the prop¬ 
erties and the same size and shaped stage, with en¬ 
trances all the same, there will be less confusion when 
the play is rehearsed on the real stage. 

Time. The director can call the rehearsals at such * 
times as he may think best. It is desired, however, to 
have at least two long rehearsals each week, and more 
if possible. The quicker a play can be gotten up, usual¬ 
ly the better it will ‘go off.’ If a play is dragged out, 
the players lose interest and the play gets stale to 
them before it is produced. Of course, in amateur 
clubs and schools it is difficult to demand strict 
and punctual attendance at rehearsals, but if the club 
is large enough the director should use those members 
who will attend conscientiously. That is one place 
the director must be a despot, or else he will have no 
success with his play. If time permits, he should have 
one three-hour rehearsal every day, until the play 
is produced. A good many directors set the date for 
the play and then the members of the cast know that 
they have to be ready by that time. Otherwise the 
work is likely to drag. 

STAGE TERMS. 

At the first rehearsal the director should explain 
the stage directions and technical stage expressions. 

In the following I have given the definition of terms 
as given by Mr. Harry Osborne in his booklet, “How to 
Stage a Play,” and have made a few additions. 

Many of the terms used on the stage and found in play 
manuscripts are more or less technical and peculiar to 
the theatre and may be puzzling to the amateur. We 


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have, therefore, compiled a list of the more common 
terms used, and arranged them in alphabetical order. 

ASIDE: Lines or words which only the audience is 
supposed to hear. They are but little used in modern 
plays. 

BOX SCENE OR SET: A scene where the sides are 
closed in like the walls of a room. 

BUSINESS: The things a player does, as distinguished 
from the lines which he speaks. Business is often done 
simultaneously with the speaking of a line, or is used 
as a form of by-play to fill in. Picking up a book, lighting 
a cigar, arranging flowers, etc., is referred to as busi¬ 
ness. 

CALL: An official notice issued by the stage-manager 
or director, notifying the players of rehearsals or any 
other matter pertaining to the performance. 

CAST: The members of the company, that is, the 
players who are taking part in the performance. 

CHARACTER PARTS: Roles in which a player repre¬ 
sents an odd or striking type of character. As distin¬ 
guished from ‘straight’ parts, it means dialect parts, old 
men or women, eccentric parts, etc. 

CLEAR: The stage is clear when there is no one on 
the scene. The stage director or manager uses this ex¬ 
pression when he wants the stage free of everyone not 
concerned in the scene. 

CLIMAX: The strongest scene or turning point in the 
play. In a four-act play it usually comes at the end of the 
third act. In a three-act play near the close of the second 
act. There is no rule. 

CUE: A signal or warning for a speech or action, or, 
in fact, anything that transpires on the stage. The word 
implies a pre-arrangement as opposed to what is im¬ 
promptu. 

DOWN: Toward the footlights. 

DRESSING THE STAGE: Referring to both the actors 
and to the furnishings of the stage. The way they are 
grouped or arranged to make an effective picture. 


Plays 


86 


FAKE OR FAKING: An actor fakes when he has 
forgotten his line and has to improvise. 

FAT: A part or role is said to be fat when it offers 
good opportunities for the actor to reveal his ability. 

FEEDER OR FEEDING: A role which is secondary 
in importance. When properly played it creates oppor¬ 
tunities for the actor playing opposite. 

FLIES: That part of the stage theatre above the stage. 

GAG OR GAGGING: Introducing words or jokes not in 
the play. Not to be tolerated under any circumstances. 

THE HEAVY: The actor who plays the part of the 
villain or any sinister character in the play. 

INGENUE: A style of character portrayed in which 
artlessness, simplicity and ingenuousness predominate. 

JUVENILES: Young people in the play, usually the 
young lovers. 

LEFT: The actor’s left as he faces the audience. 

LINES: The words or speeches of a part. 

MUGGING: Making faces for the purpose of creat¬ 
ing laughter. It is bad acting. 

OFF: Meaning back or to one side of the scene which 
is visible to the audience. 

ON: A person is on the scene when he is visible to 
the audience. 

PRACTICAL: In stage directions a window or door 
or a piece of property used in the play is referred to as 
practical, meaning that it is to be used as in real life. 
It must ‘work.’ 

PROPERTIES: All articles used in the play either on 
or off the scene. 

RANTING: Speaking too loud, or over-acting a part. 

READING LINES: Does not necessarily mean read¬ 
ing from script, but more often giving them from me¬ 
mory. The director will say “read those lines so as to 
convey this meaning.” 

RIGHT: The actor’s right as he faces the audience. 

RINGING IN: The signal to the orchestra to begin 
the overture. 


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RINGING UP: The signal for raising the curtain. 

RUN: The number of consecutive performances of a 
play. Also an inclined plane or runway extending from 
the wings to the stage. 

SCENE PLOT: A list of the scenery required in the 
play. 

SET: The stage prepared for an act, that is, set with 
scenery. 

SET PIECE: A piece of fixed scenery. A house, rock, 
tree, etc. 

SIDES: Typewritten pages of the play. If a part 
consists of twenty typewritten pages, that character has 
twenty “sides.” 

SOLILOQUY: A speech in which the actor is supposed 
to think aloud. Little used in modern plays. 

SOUBRETTE: A lively, frolicsome role for a young 
woman. 

STRIKE: To take down and remove the setting of a 
scene or act. 

STRAIGHT: A character is played straight when it 
is done without eccentricity. A straight part is normal, 
conventional role. 

SUPERNUMERARIES OR SUPERS: Extra people used 
in the play to represent the mob, soldiers, etc. 

TAG: The last line of the play. 

THINKING PART: A part without lines to speak. 

THROWING LINES: Prompting an actor who has 
forgotten his lines. 

UP: Away from the footlights. To be up in a part 
is to know it thoroughly. 

UTILITY: A small part usually given to beginners. 

WAIT: A stage wait is a delay in the performance, 
caused by an actor failing to enter at the right time or 
when something fails to take place which should take 
place. It never should be allowed to occur. 

WINGS: The sides of the stage not visible to the audi¬ 
ence. This is the modern meaning. In the old method 
of settings, wings were upright pieces of scenery. 


Plays 


87 


COACHING. 

“Blocking Out:” If it is possible, you should get 
a printed copy of the play for each character. In case 
the stage manager is not a member of the cast he should 
have a copy. The first rehearsal is taken up with 
“blocking out” the play. The director should take 
his place directly in front of the stage. The characters 
should read their lines and make their entrances and 
exits and go through their business as explained in the 
copy. However, the copy rarely ever has sufficient 
stage directions and therefore it becomes necessary 
for the director to add these directions, which should 
be written in the margin of the prompt copy and each 
individual character should write the directions that 
apply to him in the margin of his copy. For instance, 
the copy says a character enters right and later he has 
business of adjusting books on a table on the left cen¬ 
ter cf the stage. Just when and how he should cross 
over is not in the text, and is left to the director to say. 
This is called “blocking out.” When the whole play 
has been blocked out the prompt copy is then ready. 

At the second rehearsal the characters should be able 
to go through their business and read their lines with 
considerable smoothness. Then the director should 
begin to insist upon their memorizing their lines. 

Separate Scenes : As the play moves along and the 
characters have a good knowledge of the play as a 
whole, the director should have the players re¬ 
hearse certain scenes separately. Two or three char¬ 
acters will have a scene together. They can rehearse 
separately. Love scenes are especially hard to get so 


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they appear genuine and therefore require extra 
work. The main rehearsals should be on one act at a 
time. That is, the director will assign, for instance, 
the second act for the next rehearsal. Then concen¬ 
trate all study on that act. Where the director inter¬ 
rupts the players to coach them on how to read their 
lines and act, the one act will take practically the whole 
rehearsal. 

After the play is pretty well along two acts can be 
taken at one rehearsal, and finally the whole play. It 
is very important that the whole play be rehearsed at 
several rehearsals before the dress rehearsal. This 
gives it that unity and coherence in the minds of the 
actors which might be lost if they are deprived of these 
rehearsals on the whole play. 

Grouping: Perhaps no two directors would have 
the same grouping in the same play, because there are 
no set rules. There are, however, principles that gov¬ 
ern stage groups, and directors might be correct and 
yet different. The same law of proportion that gov¬ 
erns the work of a painter as he groups characters and 
objects in his picture, governs the stage. If we see 
a painting with all of the objects crowded into one 
corner, we say the composition is poor. Or, if the ob¬ 
jects are too mechanically even and balanced we say 
it is not artistic. Just so in stage grouping. This 
must be left to the taste and eye of the director. 

Acting : Everything else that is done is merely 
leading up to the acting. Of course, volumes have been 
written on this subject, but we merely mean to touch 
a few of the high-lights here. After a member has 
been chosen for a part, then the rest is mostly up to 


Plays 


89 


him, as to just how much he will get out of that part. 
Often a minor part can be so well-acted that it over¬ 
shadows the leading parts. As soon as the player gets 
his part, he should set himself to see how much he can 
get out of it. If possible, surprise the director. Study 
the part from every angle. Learn all you can about 
the character. If it is a true or historical play, then 
study the history of the character. Read everything 
that will give a sidelight on his nature. If it is a ficti¬ 
tious character, then, after careful thought and study, 
put your interpretation on that character. Keep the 
character, and your interpretation, clearly in mind 
through every scene, or else you will “get out of your 
character.” If you have a “character part” where it 
becomes necessary for you to impersonate the charac¬ 
ter, then get off to yourself and experiment on just 
what voice you think best suits that character. Exper¬ 
iment on your actions until you get your character well 
outlined in your mind. Then set yourself to get the 
mental attitude of that character. Once you get that 
mental attitude the biggest battle is over, because that 
attitude will largely govern your voice and actions. As 
long as you keep that mental attitude there is little 
danger that you will get “out of your character.” The 
naturalness with which this is done determines the 
success of the player. If he reads the lines, like they 
are printed lines, and as if he has them memorized, he 
makes a failure. Blit if he reads them like he is really 
in that situation and they are his own words, then he 
will succeed. 

An actor must be understood. If he can not make 
the audience understand his words, he had better try 


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Public Speaking Manual 


to enter the “movies.” Although a player is to repre¬ 
sent a character in natural conversation, he must en¬ 
large that conversational style a little and articulate 
distinctly. Some over-do that, however, and preach 
their lines. This destroys the naturalness of the 
scene. Sometimes in dialect parts it becomes doubly 
hard to retain the dialect and at the same time 
be distinctly understood. But the same law holds,— 
if you cannot be understood you are a failure. The 
best actors and actresses often speak in very subdued 
tones, and are distinctly understood. Of course, the 
house has something to do with it, but do not lay the 
blame to the house too readily. Nine times out of ten 
the trouble is with the speaker. It is not the loudness, 
but the distinctness, correct phrasing, and good arti¬ 
culation, that bring success in this part of the work. 

The actor often must turn his back to the audience, 
but there is nothing wrong with that if he is sure 
he can be heard. The voice comes out in a cone- 
shape, and carries best in the direction the speaker is 
facing. The director should so arrange the stage 
grouping and business that, when one character is 
speaking, no other character will be between him and 
the audience. He should also arrange so that when 
one character has a long speech, he should occupy 
a central or commanding position on the stage. These 
rules, of course, are only general, and are not to be 
too rigidly adhered to. 

Dress Rehearsal : This usually comes the night be¬ 
fore the presentation of the play to the public. The 
director should insist on a complete rehearsal, make-uip, 
costumes, properties, lighting effects, off-stage 


Plays 


91 


noises, and everything that goes with that particular 
play. Many of the players will want to leave some¬ 
thing off, but if they are allowed to, they will leave 
something off, unintentionally, the next night. The 
dress rehearsal should be a perfect 'performance. The 
director should not interrupt the play, but let it go on, 
and make slight suggestions afterwards. He should 
not attempt any great change so near the final per¬ 
formance. If the cast wants pictures made, they 
ishould have the photographer there on the night of 
the dress rehearsal. 

Outside Readings 

Hints to Speakers and Players, by Rosina Filippi. 

How to Stage a Play, by Harry Osborne, page 80-130. 

How to Produce Amateur Plays, by Barrett H. Clark. 

SCENERY. 

In olden days players staged without scenery. Grad¬ 
ually a rough suggestion of scenery came into use. 
But today scenery has reached a very high degree of 
development. Scenery adds a great deal to the play. 
In fact, some of the modern plays that are marked suc¬ 
cesses would soon die without the aid of scenery. The 
modern playwright writes his play with the use of 
scenery always in mind. 

Many clubs and schools have very little scenery. 
Some have none at all. This chapter is for them, more 
than for those organizations that have well-equipped 
stages. In a majority of the schools we find, first, a 
very gaudy curtain, covered over with ugly, unsightly 
box-car advertisements. The whole effect is anything 
but pleasing. It jars and grates upon esthetic tastes. 


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It would be a great improvement to take such a cur¬ 
tain down and use two wagon sheets. Neither is ne¬ 
cessary, however. The plain curtain, painted in some 
soft color which harmonizes with its surroundings, 
would improve the appearance of the auditorium. 

The same person who persuaded the school to have 
the front curtain made into a billboard, in return for 
the advertising space, painted some scenery, that is, a 
back drop and a set of wings, and usually the front 
curtain'is a fair sample of such a person's artis¬ 
tic tastes. The rest of the scenery is usually not 
much of an improvement over the curtain. As a re¬ 
sult the club that starts in to give an artistic per¬ 
formance on a stage, is under a handicap to begin 
with. No artistic atmosphere is created by the scen¬ 
ery. The players would do well to revert to olden 
days and use no scenery. But scenery can and should 
greatly strengthen the play. 

As in dress, simplicity is the rule in stage setting. 
Scenery, to be artistic, must be simple. If you have, 
say, a gaudy set of woodland scenery, get some soft 
gray paint and make the whole scene gray. It would 
be better to represent a woodland scene than the other. 

A club can make much of its own scenery. Ask the 
manual training department to make the frames for 
the panels, of light-one-inch strips, the size desired. 
Then cover the panels with cheese cloth or burlap or 
some other suitable material. (The particular kind 
of set desired will determine the kind of cloth to be 
used.) The soft colors, just plain, make good inter¬ 
iors. The art department can assist in making artis¬ 
tic panels. Beaver board is also very useful in making 


Plays 


93 


scenery. It can be used for panels, for fireplaces, for 
rock ledges, for making houses, and such. There are a 
few scenery firms where scenery paper can be ob¬ 
tained. This is very convenient. All that is neces¬ 
sary then is to build the frame or panel and stick the 
paper on it. 

The following firms furnish scenery: 

Samuel French, 28-30 W. 38th St., New York City. 

Knight Scenic Studios, 140th Street & Walton Ave., New York City. 
O. L. Story Company, 21 Tuft Street, West Somerville, Mass. 
Columbia Scenic Studios, Columbia, South Carolina. 

Beaumont, 230 West 46th Street, New York City. 

Universal Scenic Artist Studios, 626 State Lake Building, Chicago. 
Batik Scenery, 47 West 49th Street. New York City. 

STAGE EFFECTS: 

The following is Chapter XIV, How to Stage a Play, 
by T. S. Denison Company. Reproduced by permission 
of the publishers. 

MECHANICAL EFFECTS. 

“Mechanical Effects are rather dangerous in an am¬ 
ateur production without well-trained stage crews to 
produce them. They should be avoided except as they 
are made essential by the lines and business of the play. 
Make out a list of the effects required, and if possible, 
take it to a stage carpenter for consultation. He will 
either let you use some of his appliances, make them for 
you, or show you how. If you are obliged to rely upon 
your own resources entirely, the following suggestions 
may be of service. 

RAIN: Knot ten or twelve pieces of cord to the ends 
and tie the opposite ends to a handle, making a sort oif 
cat-o’-nine-tails. Play the knotted ends of the whip on a 
piece of heavy paper pasted over a frame, and you will get 


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Public Speaking Manual 


the effect of pattering rain. Or a rain box may be made 
from an ordinary cheese box by nailing cleats at about 
six inch intervals around the inside. Then make an axle 
in the center with a handle attached to turn it with. Af¬ 
ter putting in a quart of dried peas, seal the ends with 
heavy paper. When revolved rapidly, a good effect of 
a rain storm is obtained. 

WIND: The effect of wind is made by blowing on a 
shrill whistle and letting the sound die away gradually. 
Follow this by rubbing together two pieces of very fine 
sandpaper. 

THUNDER: Thunder is produced by shaking a piece 
of heavy tin or thin sheet iron which has been suspended 
by a cord. 

LIGHTNING: Prepared “Stage Lightning” may be 
purchased of a dealer in theatrical supplies. Secure an 
ample supply and follow directions closely. A flashlight 
will make a good effect. 

APPROACHING HORSEMEN: Use a cocoanut shell 
sawed evenly into two parts or hollow out two wooden 
blocks and fasten straps onto the backs of them to slip 
the hands through. Rap these lightly on the floor in im¬ 
itation of the rhythmical beat of a horse’s hoofs with a 
crescendo and diminuendo effect to indicate whether he 
is leaving or approaching. 

SNOWSTORM: Sift a quantity of finely cut white 
paper through a coarse wire netting. This netting forms 
the bottom of a long narrow box which should extend 
from one side of the stage to the other. Suspend this box 
from the flies with ropes at each end, having another 
rope down into the wings by which the box may be swayed 
back and forth. Coarse salt may be sprinkled on the hats 
and shoulders of characters who enter and this must be 
brushed off promptly after they are on. 

GLASS CRASH: Have a basket partly filled with old 
china which may be dropped or shaken at the proper 
time. 

WATER SCENES are difficult and should be avoided 


Plays 


95 


if possible. A very good effect may 'be obtained by the use 
of a moving picture machine played upon a suitable back¬ 
ground. The old device of shaking a blue cloth from 
one side of the stage to the other is so old and obvious 
that it may cause merriment when it is not wanted. Give 
your property man a list of cues for each effect to be 
produced and have your stage manager rehearse him 
thoroughly. 

DEPARTING TRAIN: This effect is obtained, first, 
by the tolling of a bell containing a clapper, followed by 
beating a wire switch against a sheet of tin or a tin 
stove pipe which produces a sound similar to the exhaust 
or escaping steam of an engine getting away. This 
switch is composed of a dozen or more wires a foot and a 
half to two feet long, bound together at one end and hav¬ 
ing the other end radiate to a circumference of about 
one foot in diameter. The ends of the switch striking 
the tin in succession produce, at a distance, a peculiar 
hissing sound. Toll the bell slowly four or five times, 
and then beat the tin slowly. Increase the rapidity of 
the blows and at the same time diminish the volume un¬ 
til the sounds die away. For an approaching train use 
only a whistle but do not use the whistle for a departing 
train, as it is best to let the audience forget about the 
train after they have heard it leave. 

Outside Readings 

Hints to Speakers and Players, by Filippi, page 131-140. 

How to Stage a Play, by Harry Osborne, page 29-39. 

How to Produce Amateur Plays, by Barrett H. Clark. 


MANAGEMENT. 

A play should be a complete organization. The di¬ 
rector is in charge and has absolute authority over 
everything, but it is impossible for him to look after 
everything in person, so he must assign certain parts 


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Public Speaking Manual 


to certain persons and hold them responsible for same. 
Of course, I am outlining here the ideal toward which 
every club should strive when it produces a play. In 
the professional theatricals, this plan is followed out 
even more rigidly than laid down here. 

Stage Manager : The Stage Manager takes his or¬ 
ders from the director. He is more responsible for 
everything going off right than is the director. The 
director is supposed to have finished his work when 
rehearsals are over. The rest of it is up to the stage 
manager. He is to see that the prompter is on the 
job, that the characters are ready for their entrances, 
and that the curtains go up and down on time. He 
must see that the lights are flashed right, that the or¬ 
chestra starts and stops when it should, that the prop¬ 
erties are in their places, that the off-stage noises are 
made on time, etc. He is responsible for the play. 
The characters take their orders from the stage man¬ 
ager, that is, as to places, entrances, cues, etc., (but 
not as how to act). 

Property Man : Of course, the stage manager could 
not do all of this at once, and therefore he has a man 
for each job. The property man is responsible for 
all properties. It is his business to see to it that every 
property is in its place on the stage before the curtain 
goes up. He must have every property ready offstage 
for the characters when they are supposed to carry 
them on to the stage. After the performance he is 
responsible for the care of all properties. In short, 
everything that pertains to “props” comes under his 
responsibility. He takes his orders from the stage 
manager. 


Plays 


97 


Scenery Man : The stage manager usually is scenery 
man, but if he chooses to appoint another for that 
place and hold him responsible, it is well. The scenery 
man is to set the stage, that is, the scenery, furniture, 
rocks, trees, etc. It is his business to change the 
scenery. When a change is being made the scenery 
man is boss of the stage. He can enlist the aid of the 
other stage hands in shifting scenery. (When the 
play is being rehearsed, if you have a competent scen¬ 
ery man, you can leave the construction of the scenery 
to him). 

Electrician : Nowadays most of the plays have so 
many electrical effects that it becomes necessary to 
have one man especially to look after the lights. Every¬ 
thing pertaining to wiring, lighting, flashing, pulling 
switches, etc., comes under his responsibility, and he 
handles it. He takes orders from the stage manager. 

Prompter: A great responsibility rests upon the 
prompter. He should sit in a wing just off-stage, 
close to the switchboard, where he can communicate 
with the curtain boy. He should follow every line and 
be ready to prompt any character. He should see that 
the characters get their entrance cues and enter on 
time. He should see that curtains are called on the 
right line, that lights are run right, that offstage 
noises go off on schedule, etc. In fact, he prompts 
not only the actors, but the curtain boy, prop man, elec¬ 
trician, and everyone who needs it in order to make 
things go off smoothly. The stage manager should 
stand right by the prompter during the performance. 

Curtain Boy : While this is a simple duty, yet it is 
very important. Many a good scene has been entirely 


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Public Speaking Manual 


ruined by a poor curtain. There is just a certain time 
and way that every curtain should come down. If the 
curtain is too slow, the psychological moment is past, 
and the effect is spoiled. The curtain should be just 
exactly right. It is disheartening to the director and 
the cast to work hard to get a certain climax, and then 
have it messed by a poor curtain. If this job is left 
to first one and then another, safe to say it will not 
be done right. 

Advertising Manager : A good man should be 
chosen for this, because often it requires applied 
psychology and much boosting to get a crowd. Not 
only that, but often the way a play is advertised has 
a great deal to do with the way in which it is received. 
The method of selling tickets by a personal campaign 
is a sure fire method. It is one of the best ways of 
advertising, too. You are certain to have a crowd if 
the advance sale of tickets has been good. 

MAKE-UP. 

(Suggestion: The teacher should have the class 
practice making up for the different characters. It 
will be interesting work and very helpful. The teacher 
should criticise and grade them). 

Note: The following suggestions are taken from 
well-known actors. 

It is a matter of no little difficulty to make up a strong 
character part for small auditoriums. The spectators 
are so close to the actors that the dark, heavy lines, so 
necessary in a large theatre, would appear grotesgue. 
Therefore, when making up for the drawing room stage, 
if it should be necessary to line the face, as in old age, 


Plays 


99 


use the gray lining pencil and shade the face lightly. In 
no case should much paint be applied, and wrinkles should 
be lightly drawn. 

The make-up outfit need not be extensive. Indeed, the 
following articles will be ample for all ordinary purposes: 

A box of grease paints, containing two flesh tints and seven 
lining colors. 

Light and dark face powder. 

A box of Dorin’s rouge. 

A box of ruddy rouge for weather-beaten characters. 

Burnt cork for negro parts. 

Assorted crepe hair for beards. 

A bottle of spirit gum, for attaching beards. 

A cake of cocoa-butter, for removing paint. 

' Two or three powder puffs, artists’ stomps, mirror, brush and 
comb. 

Wigs can be purchased or hired for the occasion. They 
need not be worn except in character parts, or where it 
is necessary to simulate baldness. 

OLD MAID. “Old Maids” require the conventional 
‘corkscrew’ ringlets, while the rouge should be self-evi¬ 
dent. High coloring is necessary in nearly all low comedy 
parts, as such roles are necessarily comic. 

GERMAN. German characters are usually made up 
fair, with red cheeks and blonde hair. The same rule 
applies to all Northern races; but the Southern type, 
French, Spanish, Italian, etc., are invariably made up 
dark. 

DUDE. A “dude” should be smooth-shaven, with light 
eye-brows, and no rouge whatever is used. The light 
flesh tint should be applied to the face and neck, unreliev¬ 
ed by any color, which will give to the countenance that 
dull, expressionless look, so typical to these creatures. 

VILLAIN. The orthodox “stage villain” is made up 
dark, with black moustache and hair, the latter being 
usually powdered about the temples. 

DRUNKARD. The make-up for a drunkard must be 
done with care, lest it be overdrawn. A chronic toper 


100 


Public Speaking Manual 


should have a “rum-blossomed nose,” heavy eyes (made 
by shading the lower eyelids) tumbled hair and an un¬ 
shaven, unwholesome appearance. But when a man is 
not a confirmed “bummer” the make-up must not be glar¬ 
ing. In such cases drunkeness must be indicated by the 
actions, the thick speech, unsteady gait, excessive gaiety 
or would-be dignity, telling the story. 

OLD AGE. When you are about to make up for an old 
man, wrinkle your face. You will then observe that the 
hollow of the wrinkles is dark in appearance, and that be¬ 
tween the dark wrinkles the flesh stands or bulges out 
and appears particularly light. Carry this principle out 
by lining the hollow of the wrinkles with grey lining pen¬ 
cil (if a small stage) or a brown lining pencil (if a large 
stage) and paint the bulge of the flesh with a light shade 
of flesh color grease paint, then smooth your face, and 
take your finger and blend the lining together, in order 
that the lines may not be too distinct. 

Never line with a black pencil, for black lines are too 
apparent. 

If a person making up for old age has a naturally dark 
skin, do not use any dark lining, but simply use light flesh 
color for the bulge effect, thereby allowing the dark flesh 
to represent the hollow effect of wrinkles. 

If you have a youthful subject, with eyes full of 
youthful vigor, either attempt to whiten the eyelashes or 
draw a white line around the eyelash as close as you can. 

If a person has slight eyebrows a false, bushy eyebrow 
will aid very much in producing age; or if the natural 
eyebrow is heavy, whiten it with white grease paint and 
comb it so it will fall downward, or comb it against the 
grain to give it a bushy effect. It is also a difficult matter 
to make a young person look old without a whisker of some 
kind, hence this is almost indispensable. 

Another aid in making a young person look old is to 
use a wig partly bald, if it is no more than what represents 
a high forehead. It aids greatly in giving character. 

If your subject has whiskers of any kind on his face, 
they can be made gray with white grease paint. If the 


Plays 


101 


natural whiskers are light in color (unless you wish to 
make them perfectly white) it is necessary to darken 
them first by applying what is called “Mascaro.” This is 
a water cosmetic and is applied with a brush. When this 
has dried, streak it with white grease paint to the desired 
shade. 

Powder on whiskers has no effect without first putting 
on white grease paint, to give it body and to hold the pow¬ 
der as without the grease paint the powder will all drop 
out. 

It is always well to use white powder after using white 
grease paint on whiskers, in order to soften and destroy 
the greasy effect. 

The effect of sunken eyes and cheeks is best produced 
by using Gray Powder on the parts you wish to give a 
sunken effect, and then by painting the cheek-bones with 
a light flesh grease paint, blending the flesh into the 
dark powder to avoid abrupt lines. The hollows in the 
neck of old persons can be produced in the same manner. 

The fingers on the hand may be made to look long and 
thin by darkening between the fingers and knuckles, and 
then drawing a light flesh line across the tops of the fing¬ 
ers and knuckles. Then use the gray lining pencil to em¬ 
phasize the veins on the hand. 

Another aid is to paint the lips a flesh color in order to 
take the youthful color from them. 

One very imporant matter in making up is the blending 
of the line across the forehead of a bald wig. It is easily 
done with a little care. Have the line of the wig high 
enough on the forehead so that when you wrinkle your 
forehead it will not move the wig. Then warm your stick 
of flesh-color paint over the light until it runs, take it 
away and let it partly congeal again, as it will thus come 
off with more body, and then use the fingers of one hand 
in drawing down toward the eyes the skin of the forehead 
while you are rubbing the flesh color grease paint across 
the edge of the wig. putting the paint on as thick as you 
can. Then let the forehead skin go back to its natural posi¬ 
tion. Now take your finger and graduate the paint you 


102 


Public Speaking Manual 


have put on, somewhat upon the bald of the wig, and 
on cne forehead down to the eyebrows. That will make it 
all one color. But you will observe there is too much 
sameness in color to match your face, and it is expression¬ 
less, besides staring out boldly in color and looking un¬ 
natural. The next thing to do would be to draw your lines 
for wrinkles on the forehead if you propose having any. 
Do this as directed before. After this has all been 
done, take your hare’s foot and give little dabs of rouge 
here and there all over the flesh color, and then powder 
over the whole with Blonde Powder until you have made 
the part you have painted flesh color to match the rest 
of the skin of the face. 

When you have done all the foregoing with a wig, then 
comb it as if it were your own hair; but use no oil or 
grease of any kind on the wig, as it cannot be taken out 
without ruining the wig. 

If the wig is too large, so that the line of the bald does 
not lie to the forehead, lay plaits in the sides or the back 
of the wig until you get it to lie to the forehead. 

JUVENILE. In producing a juvenile make-up, the first 
thing to do is to take a light flesh-color grease paint, 
rub stick lightly over the face, and blend it smooth with 
the ends of the fingers, but be careful not to get to<} 
much on, as it will take all the expression from the face 
and give it the appearance of a mask. Then apply the 
rouge or red for the cheeks on the cheek bone, carry¬ 
ing it towards the nose, not down the side of the face, 
except to graduate it. If you get it only on the cheeks 
or side of the face, it may have a tendency to give you« 
the effect of hollow cheeks, whereas if you have more 
of the light flesh color showing on the sides of the face 
it will have a tendency to make the face look full and 
plump. Then with a black pencil draw a fine line un¬ 
der the lower eyelash, as close to it as you can, and ? little 
beyond in the outside corner, holding the eye wide open 
while doing it. This will have the effect of making the 
eye look large and brilliant 

Then if the lips have much color, define their line 


Plays 103 

with Ruby-lip rouge lightly, for, if it is done too much, it 
will make the mouth look black. 

If, when you have put the flesh grease paint on the face 
the neck and ears look a different color, do not put grease 
paint on them, as it will soil the clothes, but use powder, 
which you can also use over the grease paint on the face 
to deaden any gloss or greasy effect. 

MIDDLE AGE. For a middle-aged person, for a found¬ 
ation, use Flesh Grease Paint (if the face be young), use 
a slightly gray wig with a high forehead, and whiskers of 
some kind. Paint simple “crows’ feet” in the corners (out¬ 
side) of the eyes, and emphasize the lines from the side 
of the nose to the corner of the mouth. 

Do this with a gray lining pencil for the hollow, and 
light flesh color for the bulge effect. 

Of course rouge is necessary on the cheeks, except 
where you wish to give a sickly look. 

Leave the eyebrows dark or darken them if they are 
weak. 

IRISH CHARACTER. For an Irish character (if there 
is no mustache) paint the whole upper lip, from the nose 
down, including the upper half of the mouth, with a light 
flesh color grease paint. This makes the lip look large 
and prominent. 

Then take the dark-red lining pencil and paint the lower 
lip somewhat, and extend it in the corners, making the 
mouth as wide as you like, and drawing the corners down¬ 
ward a trifle; then draw a brown line from the side of 
the nose almost up to the eyes down to the jaws and blend 
it with a reddish flesh on the outside; then make the flesh 
as red as you like all over with a ruddy rouge. Draw a 
red line around the eyelashes, and be sure and stick on 
some bushy eyebrows and have them almost meet in the 
center. 

If you get the make-up too strong, you can soften the 
effect by putting (yellow) powder over the whole with a 
puff. 

If you wish to make a pug nose, you can do it either 
with nose putty, which you can paint flesh color or red, 


104 


Public Speaking Manual 


whichever you choose; or it can be done by painting a 
dark line across the bridge of the nose, then painting the 
end a light flesh color, extending nostril forward with 
black paint; or by using a hollow wax nose. 

EXPOSED CHARACTERS. For persons leading a life 
of exposure, like sailors, farmers, tramps, cowboys, etc., 
use dark flesh grease paint for the effect. 

CHARACTERS. For characters the make-ups are in¬ 
numerable. The only hints to give are: That lines drawn 
downward on the face give a dejected look, while lines 
running upward or outward will give a pleasant look. If 
you draw the corners of the mouth down it will give a 
morose look. If you draw the corners up, it will give a 
jolly look. A stern or ugly look is produced by drawing 
two black lines between the eyebrows. 

CHINAMEN. For Chinamen use Chinese color grease 
paint or yellow powder for foundation; destroy the natur¬ 
al eyebrows with Chinese color grease paint; then paint a 
black one to run slightly upward toward the outside. Paint 
a small black line downward toward the nose on the in¬ 
side of the eye; then a small black line extending from the 
centre of the lower eyelash to the outside corner of the 
eye and for about a half inch beyond, but upward toward 
the temple. Draw a light flesh line underneath this and 
a little beyond the black; then puff the whole make-up over 
with (yellow) Powder. It will also be well to paint the 
lips with Chinese grease paint to take the color from 
them. It is not necessary to carry the paint for founda¬ 
tion color beyond the jaws. 

NEGROES. For negroes it is simply necessary to ap¬ 
ply prepared cork with a hare’s foot, to spread it smooth, 
and to keep the hands clean. If the person has whiskers 
on the face, it is best to blacken these first with a tooth¬ 
brush, blacking the skin underneath the hair at the same 
time. If you desire to have the eyes large and brilliant 
leave a little edge of the white skin to show around the 
eyes. If a grotesque or large mouth is desired, do not ap¬ 
ply the cork for the space you wish to leave for the mouth, 
and when the cork is dry paint the mouth with red grease 


Plays 


105 


paint and draw with black grease paint a line from the 
corner of the mouth to meet the black on the cheeks. This 
will make the mouth look large and broad. Blacken the 
outside of the hands only; the inside of a negro’s hand is 
light. 

For an aged negro, line the face with white grease paint 
when the black is dry, then whiten the eyebrows and whis¬ 
kers with white grease paint. 

A light-colored negro can be made by applying different 
shades of brown grease paint. Then blacken the eye¬ 
brows, and draw a black line around the eyes close to the 
eyelashes to make the eyes look black. 

The whole will come off very readily by using common 
laundry soap and a sponge with hot or cold water. 

INDIANS. For an Indian use Indian color grease paint, 
blacken the eyebrows and draw a black line with black 
grease paint around the eye, close to the eyelash. Then 
use carmine, white and black crayons for war paint in any 
manner to suit the fancy. 

If a wig does not quite cover your hair, color the parts 
that show or protrude beyond the wig lines with grease 
paint to match the color of the wig. 

STATUARY AND CLOWNS. In making up for these 
use Clown white, which is applied with finger, and pow¬ 
der it with White powder, when you will have a perfectly 
white skin. 

IN GENERAL. Any kind of a nose or chin can be made 
with “nose putty,” which is shaped in the form desired 
with the fingers; then place it on the parts, working the 
edges off to nothing with the fingers; then painting it with 
flesh color grease paint. The putty will adhere of itself. 
It can also be used for warts or lumps on the face any¬ 
where. 

For filling out the cheeks the best thing to do is carry 
something agreeable in the mouth on both sides to make 
the cheeks puff out. Any outward application is a failure, 
as it makes the cheeks expressionless. 

Any kind of make-up which may have turned out too 


106 


Public Speaking Manual 


strong or coarse, can be softened by applying Yellow 
Powder over it with a puff. 

Small mustaches and side-whiskers can be covered over 
by using masks which can be had at any wig maker’s. 
First brush the mustache aside as much as possible, put 
spirit gum around the edge of the mustache, on the face 
and on the upper lip, then stick the mask to the gum as 
smoothly as possible; when this is dry take flesh color 
grease paint, hold it over the light to soften it, and while 
it is still soft paint the mask flesh color. 

The grease paint will stand out too bold in color of it¬ 
self, wherefore it will then be necessary to give it dabs 
of rouge to match the rest of the face, and then powder 
the whole with Yellow Powder to soften the high colors. 
As the mask will cover the upper lip, it must be painted 
with lip rouge in order to regain the lines of the mouth. 
The same process is applicable to side-whiskers. 

Whiskers on the face can be made any color to match 
a wig with grease paint of the same shade as the hair of 
the wig. The paint is softened over a light, rubbed over 
the surface of the whiskers and then combed in. If a 
very blonde effect is desired on a dark whisker, it is best 
to color it white with grease paint (white) first, and then 
apply Yellow Powder with a puff over the white grease 
paint. 

The teeth can be made to appear missing by applying 
black wax. Work it soft with the fingers, then spread 
it over any single tooth, or the whole of the teeth. It will 
not come off with saliva, yet it can be removed easily with 
a cloth. 

The best thing to remove make-up of any kind (except 
cork) is cold cream. Rub it on the whole face until the 
face is quite greasy. Allow it to remain on the face in 
that way for three or four minutes, then wipe it off with 
a cloth. Do not wash the face until you have cleansed it 
thoroughly. 


Plays 


107 


COSTUMES. 

(Note: Suggestions by Harry Osborne, in How to 
Stage a Play, published by T. S. Denison and Com¬ 
pany, reproduced here by permission of publishers.) 

The question of dress is an important one in all dra¬ 
matic entertainments, and should never be left to chance 
or caprice. 

The costumes must be correct as to time and place, and 
moreover, must be in harmony with each other. 

If fancy dresses are worn they must be in accord with 
the supposed date of the play, and also with the locality. 
A Louis Quatorze costume would be as absurd in a mod¬ 
ern play as would a tennis suit in “Macbeth”; and a hunt¬ 
ing suit, though entirely correct for Gus in “The Woman 
Hater,” would be outlandish at a dinner party. 

Pay special attention to time and place. Note careful¬ 
ly the season of the year in which the action of the play 
occurs. If it be winter, then the character should be 
warmly clad, and anyone entering directly from the street 
must wear an overcoat or wrap; if the action takes place 
in summer, then light and appropriate dresses must be 
worn. 

Oddity in dress is allowable with most low comedy or 
character parts; but a servant in a family of fashion must 
dress quietly, no matter how farcical his lines may be. 

Characters are required to dress according to their sta¬ 
tion in life. A maid-servant may blossom like the rose, 
when she has her “day out”; but when on duty, she must 
not outshine her mistress. Amateurs are proverbially 
careless in this respect, and the effect is often ludicrous. 

Decayed gentlemen and other run-to-seed characters 
are always shabbily genteel in dress. They cling to their 
dilapidated Prince Alberts and rusty silk-hats, even 
though they have neither collars nor cuffs. 

The get-ups of that sweet creature, the dude, are mere¬ 
ly foolish exaggerations of the prevailing mode. In 
dressing such a role the actor may give his fancy free 


108 


Public Speaking Manual 


play, as it would be almost impossible to burlesque such a 
part. 

National costumes vary so widely that it would be im¬ 
possible to describe them within the limits of this article. 
Certain traits may be observed: A comic Dutchman with¬ 
out his pipe, or Irishman without his “bit of a sthick,” 
would scarcely be recognized. 

Negro characters, especially in farces, may be allowed 
almost any latitude in the way of dress. The sons of Ham 
delight in loud, glaring colors, jumbled together in the 
most absurd manner, without the least idea of harmony. 

Ladies should not wear costumes which are becoming 
only, but their dress should harmonize in color. A decided 
brunette would not, of course, wear a blue dress, nor 
would a golden blond appear in red. White is very ap¬ 
propriate for a young girl, but a lady playing an elderly 
role should invariably wear dark, or at least quiet colors. 

No two ladies should appear together in similar shades 
of any strong color, as they are never complimentary and 
one would spoil the effect of the other. • 

Contrast the colors as much as possible, and always 
blend shades so that a pleasant and artistic effect may be 
produced. 

FIRMS WHO FURNISH MAKE-UP AND COSTUMES 
Esser Brothers, 322 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh. 

Hooker-Howe Costume Company, 30 Main Street, Haverhill, Mass. 
A. Rothe, 611 Washington St., Boston. 

F. P. Baxter, Hanover St., Boston. 

Hayden Costume Company, 7S6 Washington St., Boston. 

Salt Lake Costume Company, 64 Exchange Place, Salt Lake City, 
Utah. 

Charles Chrisdie & Company, 41 West 47th St.‘, New York City. 
Tams Costume, 1600 Broadway, New T York City. 

Miller, Costumer, 236 South 11th St., Philadelphia. 

Eaves Costume Company, 110 West*46th St., New York City. 
Harrelson Costume Company, 910 Main St., Kansas City. Missouri. 
James C. Fischer & Sons, 255 South 9th, Philadelphia. 

The Trademore Company, Toledo, Ohio. 


Plays 


109 


Campmann Costume Works, So. High St., Columbus, Ohio. 

T. S. Denison & Company, 623 So. Wabash Ave., Chicago. 

Wm. Beck & Sons, 115 Vine St., Cincinnati. 

Chicago Costume Works, 116 N. Franklin St., Chicago. 

Theo. Lieben & Sons, 807 Main, Kansas City, Missouri. 

Fritz Schoultz Company. 58 West Lake St., Chicago. 

Schmidt Costume Company, 920 North Clark St., Chicago. 

Carl Kettler Wig Company, 36 West Washington St.. Chicago 
Charles Meyer, 1-3 East 13th Street. New York City. 

The Following is a List of Books on How to Make Up: 
Costumes & Scenery for Amateurs, Henry Holt & Co., 19 W. 44th 
St., New York. 

Forbisher’s Make-up Book, Walter H. Baker Company, 9 Hamilton 
Place, Boston. 

Hageman’s Make-up Book, Dramatic Publishing Co., 542 S. Dear¬ 
born St., Chicago. 




















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PART III 


Extempore Speaking and Debate 



































































































































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CHAPTER XII. 


Extempore Speaking 

Dr. Southwick, Head of the Emerson College of 
Oratory of Boston, has said “There are three things 
necessary to become a speaker. First, there must be 
the urge. The student must desire to become a speaker. 
Second, there must be a model,—not that the student 
shall ape that model, but that he should hear those 
whom he knows to be successes at speaking, so that 
he may see how they do it. Third, there must be drill. 
The student may understand the science of speech, 
but he must also acquire the art of applying that 
science.” Dr. Southwick has summed up in a nutshell 
the whole story of speech-making. 

Of course, to be a greater speaker it is necessary to 
have a deep desire which continually urges one on. 
But there are many who never expect to become great 
orators, and yet they keenly feel the need of the abil¬ 
ity to stand before people and address them. And 
they, too, may reach a reasonable degree of proficiency 
through a study of the principles of speech-making 
and rigorous drill in the practice of these principles. 

Suggestion : The teacher should assign speeches 
for study and require the students to analyze them and 
memorize the choice paragraphs. The student should 
also be required to apply the theory of this chapter as 
he proceeds, by writing and delivering speeches. 

Some books that contain many good speeches for 
study are: 


114 Public Speaking Manual 

Patriotic Eloquence, Fulton & Trueblood, Chas. Scribner’s 
Sons, N. Y. 

How to Master the Spoken Word, Lawrence, A. C. McClurg Co., 
Chicago. 

Eorms of Public Address, Baker, Henry Holt & Co., New York. 
After Dinner Speeches, Wood, T. H. Flood & Co., Chicago. 

Outside Readings 

Extempore Speaking, by Shurter, page 1-17. 

The Fundamentals of Speech, by Woolbert, page 1-12. 

The Rhetoric of Ortary, by Shurter, page 167-190. 
Extemporaneous Speaking, by Pearson & Hicks, page 43-47. 

The Essentials of Extempore Speaking, by Mosher, page 138-148. 
The Making of an Oration, by Brink, page 169-172. 

The Power of Speech, by Lawrence, page 144-147. 

IMPROMPTU SPEAKING 

This means speaking on the spur of the moment, 
speaking without any warning or preparation. Sooner 
or later every person will be caught in such a situa¬ 
tion. In a case like that, the first thing to do is to 
think of the last thing you are going to say. If two or 
three jokes or happy thoughts occur to you at once, 
save the best to close on. If an impromptu speaker 
finishes strong he usually makes a favorable im¬ 
pression. 

If the speaker called upon has built many speeches 
he will have several plans for speeches in his mind and 
usually these forms will be applicable to the occasion. 
There are a few divisions under which all questions 
naturally fall. For instance, the divisions of mental , 
moral and physical, will fit many subjects. Likewise, 
Social, Economic , and Political are natural divisions 
for many subjects. Then, by knowing several such 
outlines, as soon as a subject is assigned to a speaker 


Extempore Speaking 


115 


he can apply one of the outlines to it and the nature 
of the divisions will often suggest a line of thought. 

Never talk ‘just to be talking.’ If you are called 
upon for an impromptu speech and only one thought 
presents itself to you, express that thought and sit 
down. If nothing occurs to your mind at the time, 
thank the chairman for the opportunity and sit down. 

EXTEMPORE SPEAKING 

This does not mean, as is often supposed, speaking 
without preparation,—that is, impromptu speaking. It 
means speaking without having the speech committed 
to memory. It means that the subject has been thought 
out, but the phraseology has not been chosen. The 
speaker has decided what points he will deal with in 
his speech and how, he will develop them, but he has 
trusted to the inspiration of the moment to supply him 
with words and sentence structure for the expression 
of those thoughts. 

There are various degrees of preparation between 
extempore speaking and the formal address. Just 
where one ends and the other begins is hard to say: 
The following are the most generally accepted di¬ 
visions : 

(1) The plan of thinking on the whole subject and 
committing nothing to memory or to paper, but speak¬ 
ing entirely off-hand. 

(2) The method of jotting down notes and speaking 
from them. 

(3) The method of writing out the speech, and not 
committing it, but speaking from notes. 


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(4) The method of writing out the Introduction 
and the Conclusion and perhaps other important para¬ 
graphs and memorizing them, and the outline. 

(5) The plan of writing out and memorizing the 
whole speech. 

The last is perhaps the ideal method, providing the 
speaker has the knack of delivering it with all of its 
original freshness. But time does not always permit 
of such careful preparation, and so the speaker must 
be the judge as to which method of preparation he 
will follow. It is reasonable to believe that a person 
can construct better sentences and choose better 
phraseology at his desk, when he has plenty of time, 
than he can on the spur of the moment. Therefore, 
we get this guiding star: Work as near toward the 
fifth method as time permits. 

Outside Readings 

Public Speaking, by Winter, page 43-50. 

Public Speaking, by Stratton, page 278-290. 

The Rhetoric of Oratory, by Shurter, page 15-55. 

Extemporaneous Oratory, by Buckley, page 130-139. 

Public Speaking, by Winans, page 385-423. 

Extemporaneous Speaking, by Pearson & Hicks, page 5-9. 
Principles of Public Speaking, by Lee, page 274-319. 

Fundamentals of Speech, by Woolbert, page 38-55. 

Extempore Speaking, by Shurter, page 18-70. 

WHEN TO STOP 

In a college debate the speakers are timed, and must 
stop when the chairman raps. In the formal oration 
the speech is memorized, and when it is delivered the 
speaker stops. But in other forms of speech, the 


Extempore Speaking 


117 


speaker has the liberty of weaving in new thoughts all 
along and of speaking as long as he wishes. Many 
otherwise good speakers make the fatal error of not 
knowing when to stop. They seem to know every¬ 
thing but one, and that is when to cease speak¬ 
ing. It is very discourteous where there are other 
numbers to follow on the program for a speaker to 
go over his time. Lincoln said, “I don’t care how much 
you say if you say it in a few words.” A speaker never 
loses by stopping before his time is up, but he does 
lose in trying to become immortal by being eternal. 

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE AUDIENCE 

Again the judgment of the speaker must guide him, 
in determining what subject matter to use. Profes¬ 
sor Scott, in his book on the Psychology of Public 
Speaking, points out that when we experience a sound, 
sight, taste, odor, or feeling, it forms an image. Later 
that image is called to mind by suggestion. The pro¬ 
cess is called imagination. The imagination is crea¬ 
tive,—not that it makes new images, but it takes part 
of one and adds it to another, thus creating new com¬ 
binations. The speaker must be able, by suggestion, to 
call forth those images and combinations of images. 
But the (point for the student of public speaking to 
note is that the speaker cannot call forth an image 
that does not exist. In other words, if the hearer has 
not had such an experience he has no image of such an 
experience. For instance, the speaker begins to de¬ 
scribe a dish of big luscious strawberries with some 
of mother’s rich cream over them, and most every 


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hearer’s mouth will begin to water, because practically 
all have experienced eating such a dish. But let the 
same speaker describe a dish of roast snails and it 
would mean very little to the hearers because very few 
people ever ate roast snails. The speaker must come 
within the listener’s experience. This is one secret to 
the fact that some speakers have a more popular ap¬ 
peal than others. Many chautauqua listeners are 
bored because the lecturers fail to speak of things that 
have come within the listeners’ experiences. Other 
chautauqua lecturers speak of things that have come 
within the audience’s experience, so often, that the 
images are very vivid; and the speech therefore very 
appealing. 

Outside Readings 

Extempore Speaking, by Shurter, page 144-154. 

The Psychology of Public Speaking, by Scott, page 161-187. 
Effective Speaking, by Phillips, page 27-78. 

Public Speaking, by Winans, page 50-175. 

Extemporaneous Oratory, by Buckley, page 18-123. 

The Essentials of Extempore Speaking, by Mosher, page 162-170. 

THE GENERAL PURPOSE OF THE SPEECH 

Once a stranger stopped a man on the road and asked 
him, “Where does this road lead to ?” 

The man answered, “Where do you want to go?” 

But again the stranger persisted, “Where does this 
road lead to?” 

“My friend,” replied the other, “this road leads to 
any place in the United States.” 

Just so with a speech. The speaker must know his 
destination if he wishes to arrive there. He must 


Extempore Speaking 


119 


have a purpose when he starts out. The speaker’s 
purpose may be either one of the following: 

(1) To Instruct : The general purpose of the class¬ 
room lecture is to instruct. Clearness would be a means 
to that purpose. The army officer lecturing to his men 
has instruction for his purpose. 

(2) To Entertain : The general purpose of the 
chautauqua lecture is to entertain, in a majority of 
cases. The end of the lyceum lecture is entertainment. 
Of course, there are exceptions in both cases-. Usually 
the after-dinner speaker has entertainment for his 
main objective. 

(3) To Move: Most speeches have action for their 
general end. The purpose cf the preacher is to move 
to action. The purpose of a political speech is action. 
The lawyer asks the jury for action. Even a eulogy 
has action for its ultimate purpose. By eulogizing a 
great man’s noble characteristics the speaker hopes 
that his hearers will emulate them. Even a dedica¬ 
tion speech has for its ultimate aim, action. The peo¬ 
ple are urged to re-dedicate their lives to great pur¬ 
poses and great principles. 

THE SPECIFIC OBJECT OF THE SPEECH 

You must not confuse the General Purpose with 
the Specific Object. The Specific Object is that parti¬ 
cular thing which the speaker wishes to accomplish. 
His General Purpose may be to move the audience to 
action but his Specific Object would be whatever par¬ 
ticular action he wished to bring about, that is, 
whether he wished to get votes, raise money, inspire 
industry, or whatever specific action he wished to 


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cause the audience to take. The General Purpose 
might be to instruct but the Specific Object would be, 
“to explain the system of co-operative stores.” 

Where the General Purpose is to entertain we can¬ 
not give a fair example because speeches that are 
made primarily for the purpose of entertaining are 
so different in structure from the others and from 
each other that each one is in a class to itself. The 
General Purpose of entertainment governs the make¬ 
up of such speeches much more than the Specific Ob¬ 
ject. However many very entertaining speeches have 
action or instruction for their purpose, and use enter¬ 
tainment as a means to such ends. In these cases the 
speeches would have Specific Objects as illustrated 
above. 

Outside Readings 

The Making of an Oration, by Brink, page 48-52. 

Public Speaking, by Winters, page 19-26. 

Effective Speaking, by Phillips, page 17-27. 

Sources of Effectiveness in Public Speaking, by Neil, page 122-134. 

THE DIVISIONS OF THE SPEECH 

(1) The Introduction. When a speaker first 
steps before his hearers he has their attention. They 
hang upon his lips for his first words. He can go a 
long way toward making himself, in the introduction. 
On the other hand, he can go further toward breaking 
himself. Many extempore speakers write out and 
memorize the introduction and conclusion. The im¬ 
portance of the introduction is evident. The purpose is: 


Extempore Speaking 


121 


1. To establish friendly relations between speaker 
and audience. If any hostility exists toward the 
speaker he should try to remove it in the introduction. 
If he is an absolute stranger he should attempt to in¬ 
gratiate himself in the hearts of his hearers. A good 
method to do this is to tell a joke at the speaker’s ex¬ 
pense. 

2. To establish a relationship between the audience 
and the subject. Perhaps the audience has little in¬ 
terest in the subject until the speaker shows them how 
vital it is to them. 

3. To state clearly the purpose of the speaker. 
There are very few exceptions where it is advisable 
to keep the audience in the dark as to the purpose of 
your speech. It should never happen as it did in the 
case of the old negro, who said “Dat sho’ was a pow’ful 
suh’mon.” 

“What did the minister preach about?” 

“I don’t know, suh. He nevah said.” 

The speaker should make it clear at the outset what 
he intends to accomplish unless in an exceptional case, 
like that of Mark Anthony, for instance, in his speech 
before the Roman populace. 

His real purpose was to set the mob in action against 
Brutus and his followers, but he stated to the hearers 
that his purpose was to deliver a funeral oration. 
Thus some times the speaker chooses not to reveal 
his real object at first, so he uses a substitute. 

The Salutation. Never be guilty of omitting the nec¬ 
essary salutation. The person who introduces the 
speaker is usually the chairman, or the toastmaster. 
Whatever title he may hold, the person presiding should 


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ba recognized. In a formal debate, for instance, the 
chairman should rise to introduce the speaker and 
remain standing. The speaker should rise and address 
the chairman before moving toward the platform. 
Then, after the chairman recognizes the speaker, the 
chairman should resume his seat and the speaker 
should proceed to the place from which he is to speak. 

Then, he should recognize such distinguished guests 
or personages as might be present or any special or¬ 
ganization or class deserving such recognition, followed 
by recognition of the rest of the audience. Some salu¬ 
tations are: 

“Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,” 

“Mr. Chairman, Fellow Citizens,” 

“Mr. Speaker, Fellow Congressmen,” 

“Mr. Toastmaster, Knight Templars, Ladies and 
Gentlemen,” 

“Sir Commander of the Legion, General Pershing, 
Fellow Legionnaires, Friends All.” 

“Mr. President, Seniors, Patrons, Ladies and Gen¬ 
tlemen,” etc. 

The Personal Introduction. This is a good rule to 
follow: Never make apologies. In fact, it often shows 
bad taste. Gratitude should be expressed for a kindly 
introduction, for the honor conferred by the invita¬ 
tion to speak, etc. However, care must be taken not 
to violate good taste by overpraise or over-humility. 
An excellent example of the personal introduction is 
the following from the speech of Henry W. Grady (a 
Southerner) delivered before the New England So¬ 
ciety : 

“Let me express to you my appreciation of the kind- 


Extempore Speaking 


123 


ness by which I am permitted to address you. I make 
this abrupt acknowledgment advisedly, for I feel that if, 
when I raise my provincial voice, in this ancient and 
august presence, I could find courage for no more than 
the opening sentence, it would be well, if, in that sentence, 
I had met in a rough sense my obligation as a guest, and 
had perished, so to speak, with courtesy on my lips and 
grace in my heart. Permitted through your kindness to 
catch my second wind, let me say that I appreciate the 
significance of being the first Southerner to speak at this 
board, which bears the substance, if it surpasses the 
semblance, of the original New England’s hospitality 
(applause) and honors a sentiment that in turn honors 
you, but which in my personality is lost, and the compli¬ 
ment to my people made plain.” 

The General Introduction. When the occasion, and 
not the speaker, is the important consideration, the 
introduction is formal and begins with general truths 
concerning the occasion and proceeds to the specific 
occasion. This form begins with universal truths that 
lead to the specific subject. 

The following is a good example of the general 
introduction. It is the introduction to a Prohibition 
oration by Mr. Earl H. Haydock of the University of 
Southern California, which won first honors in the 
National Contest of 1914 and in the Western Interstate 
Contest of 1913. 

“Every form of life has its foe. Plants have their par¬ 
asites. The fowls of the air, the fish, in the sea,’ all crea¬ 
tures of Earth wage an endless conflict for existence. 
Man is pursued by enemies, from the wild beasts to the in¬ 
visible germ. 

“The history of nations is a story of the struggle of 
good and evil. A nation falls because it has institutions 
sucking at its life blood. Not all Athenians were morally 


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degenerate, not all Romans were black at heart, but 
enough were bad to rot the core of national life, and 
when the testing time came they were ‘weighed in the 
balance and found wanting.’ ” 

Then from the general he goes into the specific by 
applying these truths to the liquor traffic. 

The Text or Illustrative Introduction. The preacher 
uses a quotation of Scripture or a Bible story to in¬ 
troduce his sermon. A story or quotation may be used 
to introduce the subject. This is very effectively ex¬ 
emplified in the introduction used by George William 
Curtis in a commencement address delivered, at Brown 
University, June 20th, 1882: 

“There is a modern English picture which the genius 
of Hawthorne might have inspired. The painter calls 
>.t, ‘How they Met Themselves.’ A man and a woman, 
haggard and weary, wandering lost in a somber wood, 
suddenly meet the shadowy figures of a youth and a 
maid. Some mysterious fascination fixes the gaze and 
stills the hearts of the wanderers, and their amazement 
deepens into awe as they gradually recognize themselves 
as once they were: the soft bloom of youth upon their 
cheeks, the dewy light of hope in their trusting eyes, ex¬ 
ulting confidence in their springtime feelings and spring¬ 
ing step, themselves blithe and radiant with the glory of 
the dawn. Today, and here, we meet ourselves. 

The happiest introduction, when the occasion per¬ 
mits (there are certain solemn, dignified or formal oc¬ 
casions where it would be out of place) is the joke or 
anecdote, providing the story is applicable. When told 
just to be told it boomerangs the speaker. Be careful 
not to use stale jokes, and above all, do not tell an old 
joke as a personal experience. 

A humorous lecturer was invited to a neighbouring 


Extempore Speaking 


125 


city to speak at a banquet given by the Rotary Club. 
The Club members met him at the station, took him 
for a car ride and a game of golf and entertained him 
royally. That evening when he arose to speak he said: 

“I came down here with the idea that I was to enter¬ 
tain you, but you have turned the tables and entertained 
me so wonderfully that I’m as puzzled as to which is the 
entertainer and which the entertained as the old negro 
who went fishing down on the Mississippi river. He 
threw his hook in and sat down on the bank. Under the 
effect of the warm sunshine he soon went to sleep. Pres¬ 
ently a great big old mud-cat came along and took bait, 
pole, negro and all right into the river two fathoms deep. 
When the negro came up he spurted the water out of his 
mouth and said, “What ah wants to know, is dis nigger 
fishin’ or is dat fish a niggerin’?” 

(2) The Body. This, of course, is the speech 
proper, and the chapters that apply to the speech ap¬ 
ply to the body. But it is desirable to drop three 
suggestions under this heading: 

First, have few main headings or main divisions. 
It is more forceful to have three main points well de¬ 
veloped than to have several poorly developed. Further, 
experiments in psychology show that the average per¬ 
son does not hold more than five points in his mind 
after hearing a speech. 

Second, follow the law of climax and so arrange 
your points that they get stronger as the speech pro¬ 
gresses. 

Third, keep in mind the four laws of memory, viz., 


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Public Speaking Manual 


(1) Primacy. The first impression is a lasting 
one; therefore place a strong point first. 

(2) Frequency. People remember something that 
occurs frequently. Therefore, emphasize your import¬ 
ant thoughts by repeating them. 

(3) Intensity. Also make your good points im¬ 
pressive by using strong illustrations. 

(4) Recency. Try to arrange your outline so that 
your best thought comes last, for the most recent im¬ 
pression is also a lasting one. 

(3) The Conclusion. Just as the Introduction is 
important because of its position at the beginning of 
the speech, just so is the conclusion important because 
of its strategic position at the end of the speech. Many 
speakers, in preparing a speech, trust to notes for all 
of the speech, except the introduction and the conclu¬ 
sion, showing the importance placed upon these parts 
of the speech. 

There are two general ways of closing a speech: 

First, by the Summary. The summary is a reitera¬ 
tion of the thoughts presented in the body, sometimes 
boiled down and presented in epigrams for the con¬ 
clusion. 

Second, the Appeal, which is usually eloquently 
worded and fervently delivered. This kind of a con¬ 
clusion may be a poem closing the thought presented in 
the body, or it may be an impressive illustration, clinch¬ 
ing the whole thought presented in the body, or it 
may simply be an eloquent appeal to the audience for 
the carrying out of the purpose presented in the main 
speech. 

Do not let these divisions mislead you, because they 


Extempore Speaking 


127 


are only general and one conclusion might contain 
them both. It may be a summary, and then have an 
appeal also. They are merely divided to help you in 
analyzing a speech. The following are applicable il¬ 
lustrations : 

“Sir, I will detain you no longer. There are some parts 
of this bill which I highly approve; there are others in 
which I should acquiesce; but those to which I have now 
stated my objections to me appear so destitute of all 
justice, so burdensome and so dangerous to that interest 
which has steadily enriched, gallantly defended, and 
proudly distinguished us, that nothing can prevail upon 
me to give it my support.” 

—Daniel Webster, *The Tariff 1824. 

“There is an opinion that parties in free countries are 
useful checks upon the administration of gO"v ernment, and 
serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within 
certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a 
monarchial cast, patriotism may look with indulgence if 
not with favor upon the spirit of the party. But in those 
of the popular character, in governments purely elective, 
it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural 
tendency it is certain there will always be enough of 
that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being 
constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by 
force of public opinion to mitigate and assuage it. A 
fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance 
to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warm¬ 
ing, it should consume.” 

—George Washington : Farewell Address , 1796. 

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with 
firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let 
us strive to finish the work we are in; to bind up the 
nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the 
battle, and for his widow and his orphan—to do all which 
may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among 
ourselves, and with all nations. 

Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural . I 860 . 


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Public Speaking Manual 


“In conclusion, let me remind you, Ladies and Gentle¬ 
men, that in advocating industrial courts similar to that 
of Kansas we are simply defining, on the one hand, labor’s 
rights and duties to the public; and, on the other hand, 
capital’s rights and responsibilities to the public. We 
are opposed to capital ruling in this country, and we are 
opposed to labor ruling in this country. In short, we 
stand opposed to class domination. The Bolsheviki idea 
in Russia is based on the rule of a class, namely, the work¬ 
ing class. If democracy means anything it means the rule 
of the majority without regard to class. The nearest ap¬ 
proach we have to Bolshevism in the United States is di¬ 
rect action brought to bear on the public by a class either 
through the strike, the lockout, or monopolistic profiteer¬ 
ing. I tell you, Ladies and Gentlemen, in all earnestness 
and sincerity, if we go much further towards the name¬ 
less horrors of class domination through violence and 
direct action then we can write above the portals of this 
Republic the words of the immortal Dante inscribed above 
the gates of purgatory, ‘Abandon hope, ye who enter 
here.’ ” 

—Judson G. Francis, Texas University, in Texas-Columbia Inter¬ 
collegiate Debate, March 4th, 1921. 

Outside Readings 

Effective Speaking, by Phillips, page 172-180. 

The Rhetoric of Oratory, by Shurter, page 55-92. 

Principles of Public ^peaking, by Lee, page 262-267. 
Extemporaneous Speaking, by Pearson and Hicks, page 23-42. 
Public Speaking, by Stratton, page 70-120. 

The Making of an Oration, by Brink, page 14-32. 

Essentials of Extempore Speaking, by Mosher, page 10-31. 

HOW TO GATHER MATERIAL 

Always be on the alert for beautiful figures of speech, 
bold analogies, striking similes, and impressive illus¬ 
trations. When you decide to speak on a subject, think 


Extempore Speaking 


129 


it over and over until you have exhausted your own 
storehouse of material and knowledge on the subject, 
all the while letting your imagination run free, and 
jot down the freshest, newest thoughts and phrase¬ 
ology. It is a good plan for a speaker to have two or 
three notebooks and add to them from time to time. 
When you are traveling, note freaks and wonders of 
nature that could be used to illustrate some point. 

Bob Taylor, former Governor of Tennessee, in the 
last speech delivered as a United States Senator, de¬ 
livered the following: 

“Mr. President, I despise sectional jealousy, I abhor 
sectional animosity, but I do believe in sectional pride 
and sectional patriotism. I do not fall out with the East 
for believing that the aurora borealis is the reflection of 
the fires of Eastern furnaces and factories, nor with the 
West for believing the sunset glow is the reflection of 
Western fields of grain; and why should they fall out 
with me for entertaining the opinion that the Milky Way 
is only the picture on the sky of the rice and cotton fields 
of Dixie?” 

Also have a notebook to collect fine phrases from 
literature. Cull them out and make them a part of you. 
Collect choice gems iof verse, and epigrams. 

Then have another notebook in which to keep inter¬ 
esting true stories of human adventure, or even myths. 
All of these form a valuable storehouse of material for 
speech building. Go so far as to have another note¬ 
book for good jokes. 

In addition to the notebook start an index system 
of filing, and clip all periodicals. A simple method is 
as follows: Get five ordinary letter files and label 


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them Biography, Science, Politics, Religion, Social, 
etc. (You can get as many as you need.) Then file 
your clippings in these, either according to the author 
or title or thought. By the time you have done this for 
three or four years you will have a valuable collection 
of clippings. 

Outside Readings 

The Essentials of Extempore Speech, by Mosher, page 83-100. 
Extemporaneous Speaking, by Pearson & Hicks, page 17-22. 
Extemporaneous Oratory, by Buckley, page 33-35. 

The Making of an Oration, by Brink, 53-57. 

Public Speaking, by Stratton, 121-142. 

Public Speaking, by Winans, 369-380. 

Extempore Speaking, Shurter, page 71-89. 

The Rhetoric of Oratory, by Shurter, page 202-206. 

Suggestion : The teacher should have the students 
make daily four-minute speeches on topics of the day. 
Also have make-believe banquets, appoint a toastmas¬ 
ter and have after-dinner speeches, or have a make- 
believe congress or convention. 

Bibliography 

Extemporaneous Speaking, Pearson & Hicks, Hinds, Noble & Eld- 
redge, New York. 

The Making of an Oration, Brink, A. C. McClurge & Co.., Chicago. 
Public Speaking, Stratton, Henry Holt & Co., New York. 
Extempore Speaking, Shurter Ginn & Co., New York, Chicago, 
Boston. 

How to Master the Spoken Word, Lawrence, A. C. McClurg 
& Co., Chicago. 

The Principles of Public Speaking, Lee, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 
New York. 

Extemporaneous Oratory, Buckley, Eaton & Mains, New York. 

The Rhetoric of Oratory, Shurter, The MacMillan Company 
New York. 


Extempore Speaking 


131 


The Essentials of Extempore Speaking, Mosher, The MacMillan 
Co., New York. 

The Power of Speech, by Lawrence, Hinds, Noble & Eldredge, 
New York. 

Public Speaking, Winter, the MacMillan Company, New York. 
The Psychology of Public Speaking, Scott, Northwestern Uni¬ 
versity, Chicago. 

The Fundamentals of Speech, Woolbert, Harper & Brothers, 
New York. 

Public Speaking, Winans, The Century Company, New York. 
Effective Speaking, Phillips, The Newton Company, Chicago. 


CHAPTER IX. 


Debating. 

(NOTE: The purpose of this division of the book is 
to give a general knowledge of debating. Many fine 
books have been written on this subject and I have 
tabulated them so the student can use them as references). 

PHRASING THE PROPOSITION 

The first thing in debating is to select a good propo¬ 
sition. It should be interesting, well-balanced, worthy 
of consideration, and well-phrased. Here are a few 
guides for wording the proposition. 

1. The proposition should he debatable. It is not 
debatable if it is obviously true or obviously false. It 
is not debatable if it cannot be proved approximately 
true or false. 

2. The proposition should not employ ambiguous 
terms. The debate should never be a quibble over the 
meaning of terms used in the proposition. The simpler 
the proposition is stated the better. 

3. The proposition should embody only one central 
idea. Try to avoid using the word and. For instance, 
in the proposition, Resolved, that the United States 
should annex Cuba and the Philippines. The affirma¬ 
tive might prove that Cuba should be annexed, but 
fail to prove that the Philippines should be. 

4. The proposition should give to the affirmative 
the burden of proof. It should be a plain affirmative 
statement. Negative words are confusing and should 
be avoided. The affirmative is the aggressor trying 


( 132 ) 


Debating 


133 


to change something from its present status. There¬ 
fore it should have the burden of proof. 

Suggestion. The teacher should assign a number 
of propositions poorly stated and have the class phrase 
them and hand them in, discuss them in class and 
select the best worded ones. 

A LIST OF PROPOSITIONS: 

(1) The United States should establish a system of 
unemployment insurance similar to that in use in Eng¬ 
land. 

(2) The Federal government should appoint a com¬ 
mission to determine the price of foodstuffs. 

(3) The United States should acquire and operate 
ships as a means of increasing our merchant marine. 

(4) The Federal government should exempt Ameri¬ 
can ships engaged in coastwise trade from paying Pana¬ 
ma Canal tolls. 

(5) Presidents of the United States should be nomi¬ 
nated by direct primary. 

(6) The President of the United States should be 
elected by direct vote of the people. 

(7) The President of the United States should be 
elected for a term of six years and be ineligible for re- 
election. 

(8) The standing army of the United States should 
be increased to five hundred thousand men. 

(9) The United States army should be strengthened 
by the establishment of a military reserve of at least one 
million men. 

(10) The United States should abandon the Monroe 
doctrine. 

(11) The political union with Cuba would be for the 
best interests of the United States. 

(12) The United States should permanently retain the 
Philippines. 

(13) The United States should immediately give the 
Philippines their independence. 


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Public Speaking Manual 


(14) The Federal government should acquire and op- 
perate the coal mines of the United States. 

(15) In the State of-, all cities having at 

least ten thousand inhabitants should adopt the Des 
Moines system of government. 

(16) The recall of State and local judges by popular 
vote is desirable. 

(17) The right of suffrage should be limited in the 

State of-by an educational test. 

(18) Free trade should be established between the 
United States and the Philippines. 

(19) The Chinese should be excluded from the Philip¬ 
pines. 

(20) The United States should admit all raw material 
free of duty. 

(21) Postmasters should be elected by popular vote. 

(22) The State of-should abolish the 

death penalty. 

(23) The United States should establish an old-age 
pension system similar to the one in operation in Eng¬ 
land. 

(24) The plea of insanity should not be available as 
a bar to punishment for crime. 

(25) All counties in-- should adopt a com¬ 

mission form of government. 

(26) There should be national laws governing mar¬ 
riage and divorce. 

(27) High license is preferable to prohibition. 

(28) Military tactics should be taught in the public 
schools. 

(29) Secret societies are a detriment to public schools. 

(30) No prizes should be offered in public schools. 

(31) The practice of furnishing free text-books to 
pupils in public schools should be abolished. 

(32) American colleges should admit students only 
on examination. 

(33) Intercollegiate athletics should be abolished. 






Debating 


135 


(34) The education of the American negro should be 
industrial rather than liberal. 

(35) For the average student the small college is pre¬ 
ferable to the large college. 

(36) Greek-letter fraternities are a detriment to Am¬ 
erican colleges. 

(37) Education in all States should be compulsory to 
the age of sixteen. 

(38) Freshmen should not be debarred from intercol¬ 
legiate athletic contests. 

(39) The honor system of holding examinations should 
be adopted in all colleges. 

(40) The-Legislature should refuse 

State aid to all colleges maintaining Greek-letter frater¬ 
nities. 

(41) The United States should enter the League of 
Nations. 

(42) Parliamentary Government should be adopted by 
the United States. 

(43) The policy of the Open Shop should be established 
throughout the United States. 

(44) The several states should establish courts of in¬ 
dustrial relations similar to that of Kansas. 

(45) Immigration to the United States should be pro¬ 
hibited for a period of five years. 

Outside Readings 

Practical Argumentation, by Pattee, page 14-29. 

Essentials of Argument, by Stone and Garrison, page 10-27. 
Argumentation and Debate, O’Neil, Laycock, Scales, page 13-32. 
Argumentation and Debating, by Foster, page 3-12. 

The Principles of Argumentation, by Baker, page 32-69. 

Principles of Public Speaking, by Lee, page 320-323. 

ANALYZING THE PROPOSITION 

The debate is often won or lost in the analysis of 
the proposition. Lincoln's power as a debater lay in hia 



136 Public Speaking Manual 

almost uncanny ability to put his finger on the main 
issues and support or overthrow them. Analysis is 
the most important step in debating. Analyzing a 
proposition means selecting the main issues, picking 
out the key arguments, choosing the fundamental 
points on which the proposition rests. It means sum¬ 
ming up all the arguments for or against a proposition 
in a very few clearly worded statements. 

The different texts agree that the best way to arrive 
at these main issues is to arrange the conflicting argu¬ 
ments for and against a proposition in two columns, 
placing all the arguments under as few headings as 
possible and thus arriving at the main arguments for, 
and the main arguments against. 

At the first, the student will have a large number 
of arguments on each side, but by close examination, 
he will find that these will all logically come under 
some two or three terms, as “Economically,” or “Polit¬ 
ically,” etc. Then all of his other arguments become 
sub-arguments, supporting these main issues, the sup¬ 
port of which means the support of the proposition, 
and the overthrow of which means the overthrow of 
the proposition. 

The following is an example of how the speaker 
narrows the question down to the main issues: 

“Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: We do not 
deny that there have been certain benefits derived from 
immigration in the past; therefore, any argument of the 
negative involving the achievements of early immigration 
is aside from this question. We admit that there was a 
time when the benefits derived from immigration were 
greater than the evils, but there are conditions that have 
changed the situation: First, the type of immigrant has 


Debating 


137 


changed. Second, our country is more thickly settled. 
Third, there is an emergency at the present time in our 
country. 

“Therefore, we maintain that at the present time the 
evils accruing from immigration are greater than the 
benefits, and that immigration should therefore be pro¬ 
hibited for a period of two years. The statement of this 
question clearly indicates an emergency, because it states 
for a two year period. Please remember that it is not 
incumbent upon the affirmative to show that immigra¬ 
tion should be permanently prohibited. It may happen 
that conditions will so change at the end of this two year 
period that it would be wise to allow the foreigner to come 
to our shores again. On the other hand, it may be that 
conditions will be such as to make it wise to continue the 
exclusion policy. However that may be, as to what shall 
be done after the expiration of this two year period, is 
a question for another debate. We merely propose to 
deal with the two years immediately before us. 

“We wish once more to advance our contention in this 
debate, and that is that the evils accruing from immigra¬ 
tion at the present time are greater than the benefits, and 
therefore immigration should be prohibited from the U. S. 
for a period of two years for the following reasons: First, 
immigration at the present time is a political danger; 
second, immigration at the present time is a social men¬ 
ace; and third, immigration at the present time is an ec¬ 
onomic burden/’ 

(John F. Butler, First Affirmative Speech, Texas-Oklahoma Uni¬ 
versities debate, 1922. on question of prohibition of immigration.) 

Suggestion : Have the class select the issues from 
a number of propositions; discuss them in class. 

Outside Readings 

Practical Argumentation, by Pattee, page 84-101. 

Essentials of Argument, by Stone and Garrison, page 28-50. 
Argumentation and Debate, by O’Neil, Laycock & Scales, page 
42-67. 


138 


Public Speaking Manual 


Argumentation and Debating. Foster, page 13-61. 

Principles of Argumentation, by Baker, page 70-82. 

BRIEFING THE PROPOSITION 

The brief is the backbone of a debate. It is the 
framework. However, it differs from an outline in 
some respects: 

Note: These rules apply to the brief proper. 

“(1) The ideas in the brief should be arranged in 
the form of headings and subheadings. 

“(2) Each heading and subheading should be in 
the form of a complete statement. 

“(3) Each heading and subheading should contain 
but a single statement. 

“(4) The relation between the headings and sub¬ 
headings should be indicated by means of margins, 
and letters, numbers, or other symbols.” 

SPECIMEN BRIEF. 

RESOLVED, that Courts of Industrial Relations similar 
to that of Kansas should be adopted by the various states: 

BRIEF FOR THE AFFIRMATIVE 
INTRODUCTION: 

1. History of the Question. 

A Government has advanced from the use of 
brute force to the use of law and order. 

B Industrial warfare is the only strife that is not 
settled in courts. 

C. The coal famine of 1919 caused the people of 
Kansas to look about for a remedy and the 
Kansas Industrial Court was the result. 


Debating 


139 


II. Extraneous Matter. 

A. The manner of adopting the court has nothing 
to do with this debate. 

The question is one of advisability. 

III. Definition of Terms. 

A. The question means courts similar to the Kan¬ 
sas Court, and not identical with it. 

B. A short explanation of the Kansas law. 

IV. The Cause for Immediate Discussion. 

A. The number of strikes and lockouts in the last 
few years. 

B. The increasing amount of industrial strife. 

C. The demand for a solution. 

D. The failure of other plans. 

V. Special Issues. 

A. Is the court practicable? 

B. Is the court desirable? 

PROOF OR BRIEF PROPER : 

I. The Court is practicable, for 

A. It is similar to other courts that deal success¬ 
fully with more complicated matters than 
wages, hours and living conditions. 

B. There are no provisions in it that cannot be en¬ 
forced, for 

(1) . The government has enforced laws more 
far-reaching than this. 

C. Its existence precludes the necessity of en¬ 
forcement in many cases. 

D. It removes the cause of industrial strife, for 

(1) It guarantees reasonable working hours. 

(2) It guarantees a fair return to capital. 

(3) It guarantees good working conditions. 

(4) It guarantees a fair living wage. 

E. It has been successful in Kansas for 

(1) It has minimized strikes. 

(2) It has maintained the continuity of indus¬ 
trial enterprise. 


140 


Public Speaking Manual 


F. It will apply successfully to other states, for 

(1) The principle is sound, and the application 
is only a matter of degree. 

(2) It has succeeded in highly industrial¬ 
ized sections of Kansas. 

II. It is desirable, for 

A. It is beneficial to capital, for 

(1) It saves the cost of strikes. 

(2) It saves the cost of’lockouts. 

(3) It eliminates sabotage, resulting from la¬ 
bor’s failure to win a strike. 

B. It is beneficial to labor, for 

(1) It saves the cost of time lost in strikes. 

(2) It saves the laborer from the unhappiness 

of hate resulting from strikes. 

(3) It guarantees justice to the laborer, for 

a. It guarantees good working conditions. 

b. It guarantees reasonable hours. 

c. It guarantees a fair living wage. 

d. It protects against lockouts. 

e. It protects labor from the despotism of the 
strike, for 

x. The laborer may work when he wishes. 

y. The laborer may quit when he wishes. 

(4) It guarantees the laborer the democracy of 
government, for 

a. Any individual may file a claim in the 
court. 

C. It is beneficial to the public, for 

(1) It guarantees the continuity of production, 
for 

a. It minimizes strikes. 

b. It minimizes lockouts. 

c. It establishes a tribunal for settling dis¬ 

putes without hindering industry. Both 
parties are anxious to settle disputes, for 

x. The law requires settlement to be made 
from the time of filing of a case. 


Debating 


141 


d. The awards are based on justice instead 
of brute force. 

CONCLUSION: 

I. The Kansas Industrial court is practical, in that 

A. It is similar to other courts that deal success¬ 
fully with more complicated matters than dis¬ 
putes over wages, hours, and working condi¬ 
tions. 

B. There are no provisions in it that cannot be en¬ 
forced. 

C. Its existence precludes the necessity of en¬ 
forcement in many cases. 

D. It removes the cause for industrial strife. 

IT. It is desirable, in that 

A. It is beneficial to capital. 

B. It is beneficial to labor. 

C. It is beneficial to the public. 

THEREFORE, Courts of Industrial Relations simi¬ 
lar to that of Kansas should be adopted by the 
various states. 

BRIEF FOR THE NEGATIVE 

RESOLVED, that Courts of Industrial Relations 
similar to that of Kansas should be adopted by the 
various' states. 

INTRODUCTION : 

A. The Negative does not deny that there is a 
demand for some solution to the Industrial 
Problem. Then any argument of the Affirma¬ 
tive to show that there is a demand for some 
solution has nothing to do with this debate. 
That is not the question we are to debate. 

B. There is but one question, and that is: Are 
there weaknesses in the Kansas Court that de¬ 
mand its rejection? To this we answer: 
There are two weaknesses in the Court, either 


142 


Public Speaking Manual 


of which is sufficient to demand its rejection, 
for 

(1) Any law that is unjust should not be 
adopted. 

The Kansas Industrial Court Law is un¬ 
just. 

Therefore, the Kansas Industrial Court 
Law should not be adopted. 

(2) Any law that is impracticable should not 
be adopted. 

The Kansas Industrial Court Law is im¬ 
practicable. 

Therefore, the Kansas Industrial Court 
Law should not be adopted. 

These, then, are our two contentions: 

Special Issues: 

I. The Kansas Industrial Court Law is unjust. 

II. The Kansas Industrial Court Law is impracticable. 

PROOF OR BRIEF PROPER : 

I. It is unjust, for 

A. It violates the right of contract. 

B. It destroys the force of collective bargaining. 

C. It is impossible for a judge to be expert in four 
industries. 

D. Political Appointees usually favor Capital. 

E. It is powerless to enforce its own decrees. 

F. It takes away the right to strike. 

II It is impracticable, for 

A. It does not remove the cause of strife, for 

(1) Class hatred cannot be removed by legisla¬ 
tion. 

(2) It does not equally divide the proceeds of 
industry. 

B. It is difficult to imprison workmen in as large 
numbers as usually strike, for 

(1) Jail facilities are not sufficient. 

(2) It costs the government to feed them. 


Debating 


143 


C. It would be impossible to collect a fine of $1,000 
from each workman, for 

(1) Few workmen have that much money. 

D. Either enforcement or lack of enforcement 
have attendant evils that defeat the purpose 
of the law, for 

(1) If the workers are imprisoned, it defeats 
the purpose of the law, for 

a. It breaks the continuity of operation. 

b. It causes distress in workmen’s families. 

c. It arouses public sentiment against the law. 

d. It causes workmen to set themselves 
against society. 

(2) If the law is not enforced, it is useless. 

(3) If the laborers are forced to go back to 
work against their will they will resort to sa¬ 
botage. 

E. The Court has failed in Kansas, for 

(1) A thousand violated the law in Kansas and 
escaped punishment. 

F. The law would be an even greater failure in 
industrial states, for 

(1) Kansas is essentially an agrarian state. 
CONCLUSION: 

I. The Kansas Industrial Court Law is unjust, in that 

A. It violates the right of contract. 

B. It is impossible for a judge to be expert in four 
industries. 

C. Political appointees usually favor Capital.. 

D. It takes away the right to strike. 

II. The Kansas Industrial Court Law is impracticable, 
in that 

A. It does not remove the cause of strife. 

B. It would be difficult to imprison workmen in 
as large numbers as usually go on strike. 

C. It would be impossible to collect a $1,000 fine 
from workmen. 


144 


Public Speaking Manual 


D. Either enforcement or lack of enforcement 
have attendant evils that defeat the purpose 
of the law. 

E. The Court has failed in Kansas. 

F. The Court would be an even greater failure in 
industrial states. 

THEREFORE, the various states should not adopt 
Courts of Industrial Relations similar to that of 
Kansas. 

Suggestion: Have the class study these briefs 
carefully and then brief a number of other proposi¬ 
tions. Their briefs should be carefully corrected and 
returned. 

Outside Readings 

Practical Argumentation, by Pattee, page 165-189. 

Essentials of Argument, by Stone & Garrison, page 51-60. 
Argumentation & Debate, by O’Neil, Lay cock, Scales, page 42-67. 
Argumentation & Debating, by Foster, page 62-91. 

Principles of Argumentation, by Baker, page 83-165. 

PRESENTING THE PROPOSITION. 

The arguments should be simple and straight to 
the point. Many make the fatal mistake of winding 
around and around, rather than going straight to the 
point. 

The style of a debate speech should be argumentative. 
It can almost truthfully be said, that every paragraph 
should begin with a ‘because’ and end with a ‘there¬ 
fore.’ So many beginners prepare an oration with 
a general argument running through it. But a debate 
should show its outline; in fact the corners should stick 
out like knuckles, in order to “take the hide” when it 
strikes. The points should be definite and the evi- 


Debating 


145 


dence should support the point under which it is ar¬ 
ranged. 

Another grave mistake often made by debaters is in 
failing to show the application of every argument to 
the proposition. Each argument should be closed with 
an application, showing how that particular argument 
furthers the main proposition. 

In a matched debate it is desirable even among veter¬ 
an speakers to have most of their phraseology selected. 
Would it be reasonable to believe that Napoleon manu¬ 
factured powder at Marengo, or moulded cannon balls 
on the battlefield of Austerlitz? Because a speech is 
prepared is no reason why it should ibe inflexible. The 
speaker should never be a slave to the word, but should 
train himself to be able to use the opponents’ phrases 
right back at them and never lose the train of his own 
speech. He should be able to leave out a paragraph 
if necessary and take the next one up and go on. He 
can do that if he is depending upon the outline ffor 
memory, but if he is depending upon the words, he 
neither gives the right meaning to the words, nor is 
he sure that some word might not elude him and there¬ 
by throw him off entirely. 

In debates involving from two to three on a side, 
the first affirmative speaker should prepare his main 
speech for the full time allotted, but the other speak¬ 
ers should make their speeches from two to five min¬ 
utes short, and thereby leave time for a short rebuttal 
to the speakers who precede them. It sounds stilted 
to hear a speaker follow an opponent and not say a 
word in answer to his arguments, but to take uip 
his speech with cold precision and proceed with: 


146 


Public Speaking Manual 


absolute indifference to the arguments advanced 
by his opponent. Of dcurse, a complete answer can¬ 
not always be given in that time, but the speaker 
should at least deny the arguments and refer them to 
his rebuttal or to a colleague who will answer them. 
Then, too, it often happens that while an argument is 
red hot it can be more effectively answered and in less 
time than to wait till it cools and then have to take 
time to repeat it. 

A speaker should be able to take a memorized speech 
which is a direct answer to the speech of his opponent, 
change the words slightly, add a phrase here and there, 
and make it sound as though he were making it as he 
proceeded and give a fine effect. That, then, is effec¬ 
tive debating. 

There are two distinct styles of delivery in debat¬ 
ing. One is the slow, deliberate, sledge-hammer 
style, and the other is the rapid-fire, machine gun 
style. The others come between these two. There 
are both styles of speakers, and both styles are effec¬ 
tive. It has been said that most young speakers speak 
too rapidly, but that is not the trouble. It is possible 
for a speaker to speak as rapidly as he can trip the 
words off his tongue and yet be distinctly heard and 
thoroughly understood. The trouble lies in the head 
of the speaker; that is, in his mental process. If he 
were thinking the thought expressed in the words 
is saying, the audience would get that thought too, but 
he is not doing that. His mind is a total blank so far 
as the argument is concerned. His mind is occupied 
with following right along the lines of his speech. He 
: is a slave to the word. To him the words are primary 


Debating 


147 


and the meaning is secondary. Should he reverse that 
order, then his meaningless chatter would be alive, 
fresh, and full of meaning. 

Outside Readings 

Essentials of Argument, by Stone & Garrison, page 142-221. 
Argumentation and Debate, by O’Neil, Laycock, Scales, page 249- 

343 and 430-444. 

Argumentation and Debating, by Foster, page 260-274. 

The Principles of Argumentation, by Baker, page 343-373. 

Public Speaking, by Winans, page 185-348. 

REBUTTAL. 

It seems that debating could be improved if more 
time were given to rebuttals. The rebuttal is the real 
test of the speaker. There he is left to his own initia¬ 
tive, his own sentence structure, selection of words, 
etc. 

Rebuttal should be prepared as carefully as the con¬ 
structive argument; that is, in sections, so to speak. 
The debaters who have studied the question thoroughly 
know the opposing arguments, therefore, they should 
prepare answers to those arguments. But above all 
things, do not use them unless those arguments have 
been advanced by the opposition. 

Listen carefully to the first opponent and you can 
get the main points of the opposition. Upon those 
points they will rest their case. Pay particular at¬ 
tention to the evidence used to support those main is¬ 
sues. Then you have their whole line of argument. 

The rebuttal speaker should summarize those points 
and show that their opponents rest their case on them, 
and proceed to knock them down like ten pins. Then 


148 


Public Speaking Manual 


he should summarize his own arguments and show 
where the opponents have not answered them, and re¬ 
enforce arguments which have been weakened. 

Each rebuttal speaker should have a summary of his 
own argument prepared and use it if time permits. 
Many debates are lost, not because the points have not 
been supported, but because the whole case has not 
been linked up and set clearly before the judges. 

The last rebuttal speaker should by all means sum¬ 
marize the arguments advanced by his side, and if 
time allows, as suggested above, summarize his op¬ 
ponents’ arguments, and by comparison of the two 
cases, show how his have been maintained and the op¬ 
ponents’ have (been overthrown. 

Outside Readings 

Practical Argumentation, Pattee, pages 190-227. 

Essentials of Argument, by Stone and Garrison, page 115-128. 
Argumentation and Debate, by O’Neil, Lay cock, Scales, page 344- 
3G6 and 420-429. 

Argumentation and Debating, by Foster, page 189-242. 

Public Speaking, by Stratton, page 242-257. 

THE COUNTER-PROPOSAL. 

The theory of debate is that it is a comparison of 
the merits and defects of two propositions. 

Take this proposition for example: “Resolved, that 
the United States should adopt a parliamentary form 
of government.” The debate rests on this syllogism: 

(Major premise) Whatever is an improvement over 
the present form of government should be adopted in the 
United States. 

(Minor premise) The parliamentary form of govern- 


Debating 


149 


ment would be an improvement over our present form of 
government. 

(Conclusion) Therefore, the parliamentary form of gov¬ 
ernment should be adopted in the United States. 

The debate resolves itself into a comparison of the 
respective merits of the two systems of government, 
parliamentary and presidential, as applied to the Unit¬ 
ed States. 

The Negative must either uphold the present sys¬ 
tem or propose an entirely new scheme. If they propose 
a new scheme, they thereby assume the affirmative's 
burden of iproof, and must defend the new proposal 
against the attacks of the affirmative. The debate 
then becomes a comparison of the merits and defects 
of parliamentary government and whatever new 
scheme the negative offers. The counter-proposal 
must differ from parliamentary government in more 
respects than it resembles it, or the negative will be 
practically arguing the affirmative side of the debate. 
At least, they will be begging the question. When a 
counter-proposal is offered it should be treated just as 
though the negative have the affirmative side of the 
question, that is, they (the negative) should explain 
the new plan and then uphold it throughout all of their 
speeches. 

On the other hand, if the negative speakers offer 
no counter-proposal, they must defend the present sys¬ 
tem, because to defeat the proposed system leaves 
things as they originally were, which is in effect de¬ 
fending the present system. In other words, if they 
offer no counter proposal but defeat the parliamentary 
form of government, that leaves the presidential form 
still in use in the United States, which is in effect, that 


150 


Public Speaking Manual 


the negative have defended the presidential form of 
government. So, after all, it has resolved itself into 
a comparison of the merits and defects of the two sys¬ 
tems. 

In the question, “Resolved, that the Kansas Indus¬ 
trial Court is the best method of settling industrial 
disputes, the affirmative invites “all comers,” and yet 
the negative, in ord^r to make an effective denial, 
must select one other method and stay with it and 
show where it is superior to the Kansas Industrial 
Court. So, again, we have a comparison of the merits 
and defects of two propositions. 

NEW ARGUMENT. 

There is a difference between New Argument and 
New Material. New Argument means additional 
points, while New Material means additional evidence. 

All arguments should be advanced in the main 
speeches; that is the purpose of main speeches; to sup¬ 
port argument already advanced. No well-coached 
team will leave an argument until the rebuttal and then 
bring it up. It is poor debating because the complete 
chain of argument should be connected up in the main 
speeches in order to give a completeness to the ease. 
Then, too, it is unsportsmanlike to bring up new argu¬ 
ment in rebuttal. It looks as though the debater 
feared to submit that argument to the test of having 
it answered, especially if it comes in the last rebuttal. 
If the last rebuttal speaker brings up new argument 
he is taking an undue advantage of his opponents. 

Now, understand, you can bring up new material 


Debating 


151 


in the rebuttal; in fact, it is expected that rebuttal 
speeches are to be partly composed of new material, 
either re-enforcing arguments that have been weak¬ 
ened by the opponents, or else overthrowing argu¬ 
ments that have been advanced by the opponents, or 
heaping up a preponderance of evidence in favor of 
arguments that have already been advanced. 

Sometimes teams agree that no new material shall 
be presented in the last rebuttal. That is all right 
when the teams agree to it. That makes the final re¬ 
buttal a review or summary of the debate. But there 
is nothing wrong in presenting new material in the 
final rebuttal, where there is no previous agreement 
on that point, because the next to the last speaker may 
submit evidence that requires new material in answer¬ 
ing it. 

The judges are to be informed as to the rules gov¬ 
erning the debate, and they are to determine what 
constitutes new argument and new evidence. The de¬ 
baters may call attention to what they believe to be 
certain infractions of the rules and then leave it to 
the decision of the judges. That precludes many 
“aftermath” quibbles. 

In case the opponents are withholding the answer 
to an important argument till the last rebuttal, a de¬ 
bater can greatly weaken its effects by calling atten¬ 
tion to the fact and by asking his opponent to answer 
that point before the last rebuttal, unless he fears to 
submit his argument to the test of having it refuted. 

DEBATING. 

The debate is a form of mental athletics and should 


152 


Public Speaking Manual 


be encouraged. However, there are dangers even in 
debating. The debate should be a search for the 
truth and an effort to present that truth in the most 
effective manner possible. 

The coach should not allow the debaters to manufac¬ 
ture figures and give false quotations, or twist the 
meaning of a testimony. Above all, he should not 
permit the reading of “bogus” telegrams and letters 
during the course of a debate. 

Students should be allowed to debate on the side they 
believe in if at all possible. Where this is not possible 
the student should make up his mind just to search for 
truth, and present it effectively. 

Debaters should always debate the ibroad meaning 
of the question, and not look for loopholes and technical 
outlets. They should never quibble, but always resort 
only to those legitimate means of establishing a case 
and overthrowing the opponents’ arguments. 

While wit, humor, pathos, repartee, are all legitimate 
weapons, the students should not use over-much sar¬ 
casm or irony. It will react unfavorably against the 
user if overdone. The speaker should always be 
courteous and dignified. 

Suggestion : Do all the class debating that time al¬ 
lows, the teacher acting as critic. 

Outside Readings 

Practical Argumentation, by Pattee, page 228-277. 

Essentials of Argument, by Stone and Garrison, page 220-248. 
Argumentation & Debating, by Foster, page 275-310. 

The Principles of Argumentation, by Baker, page 374-376. 

Public Speaking. Stratton, page 258-277. 

Principles of Public Speaking, by Lee, page 320-368. 


Debating 


153 


Bibliography 

The Art of Debate, by Alden, Henry Holt & Co., New York. 

The Principles of Argumentation, by Baker, Gin & Co., New York. 

The Structure of an Effective Public Speech, by Bradbury, T. 
Morey & Sons, Greenfield, Massachusetts. 

Practical Public Speaking, Clark, Chas. Scribner’s Sons, New York. 

Argumentation and Debate, by Denny, Duncan & McKinney, 
American Book Co., New York. 

Argumentation and Debating, by Foster, Houghton-Mifflin Com¬ 
pany, New York. 

Practical Argumentation, by Pattee, Century Company, New York. 

Essentials of Argument, by Stone and Garrison, Henry Holt & Co., 
New York. 

University Debaters’ Annual, by Phelps, H. W. Wilson Co., White 
Plains, New York. 

Public Speaking, by Stratton, Henry Holt & Co., New York. 

Principles of Public Speaking, by Lee, G. F. Putnam’s Sons, New 
York (Knickbocker Press). 

Intercollegiate Debates. 

Thomas’ Debate Manual. 

Briefs for Public Questions, by Ringwalt, Longmans, Green & 
Company, 4th Ave. and Thirtieth Street, New York. 

Sources for Debate Material 

Debate Briefs and Material can be had by applying to the Exten¬ 
sion Division of most Universities. The following companies 
furnish clippings and materials: 

The H. W r . Wilson Company, 958-964 University Ave., N. Y. 

Thomas Nelson and Sons, 381-385 Fourth Ave., N. Y. 














































































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PART IV 

Oratory 







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CHAPTER X. 

Dominant Figures in Oratory. 

Note: Mr. Lawrence in his book, “How to Master 
the Spoken Word,” has collected a number of jewels 
and set them in his preface — I must display them here. 

THE VALUE OF ELOQUENCE. 

Faith cometh by hearing. 

— St. Paul, Romans X :17 

Mend your speech a little 

Lest it may mar your fortunes. 

Shakespeare. 

The power of utterance should be included by all in 
their plans of self-culture. 

— William Ellery Channing. 

He is an orator that can make me think as he thinks 
and feel as he feels. 

— Daniel Webster. 

The cultivated voice is like an orchestra. It ranges 
high, intermediate or low, unconsciously to him who uses 
it, and men listen, unaware that they have been bewitched 
out of their weariness by the charms of a voice not arti¬ 
ficial, but made by assiduous training to be his second 
nature. 

— Henry Ward Beecher. 

A vessel is known by its sound whether it be cracked 
or not; so men are proved by their speeches, whether they 
be wise or foolish. 

— Demosthenes. 

I advocate in its full intent and for every reason of 
humanity, of patriotism, of religion, a more thorough cul¬ 
ture of oratory. 

—Henry Ward Beecher. 

It is to this early speaking practice in the great art of 
(157) 


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all arts, oratory, that I am indebted for the primary and 
leading impulses that stimulated me forward. 

— Henry Clay. 

Ninety-nine men in every hundred in the crowded pro¬ 
fession will probably never rise above mediocrity because 
the training of the voice is entirely neglected and consid¬ 
ered of no importance. 

— William, E. Gladstone. 

Extemporaneous speaking should be practiced and cul¬ 
tivated. It is the lawyer’s avenue to the public. How¬ 
ever able and faithful he may be in other respects, people 
are slow to bring him business if he cannot make a speech. 

— Abraham Lincoln. 

Men forget what they read, some do not read at all. They 
do not, however, forget what they are told by a vigorous 
speaker who means what he says. 

— John Oliver Hobbes (Mrs. Craigie) 


Suggestion : The teacher should have the students 
look up more about these men, and their speeches. 
Also look up the men whose names are merely men¬ 
tioned. 

Demosthenes : The name of Demosthenes is almost 
a synonym for oratory. He stands head and shoulders 
above his contemporaries. He was the most conspic- 
ious orator of Greece. His power as an orator was not 
based upon tricks, but was the result of genuine earn¬ 
estness added to great perserverance. 

He was the son of a prosperous manufacturer. But 
when he was seven years old his father died leaving 
him a fair inheritance. His guardian, however, em¬ 
bezzled most of it. and when he became of age he avail¬ 
ed himself of the services of Isaeus, the most skilled 
lawyer in the matter of inheritance; and brought suit. 


Dominant Orators 


159 


He won his case and got judgment but never succeeded 
in collecting much of the money. 

He spent three years under Isaeus in the study of 
law and in the practice of vigorous reasoning. He was 
neither strong nor confident in his bodily presence. 
He was short breathed, had a defective articulation 
and a clumsy manner. His voice was weak and ill 
managed. His first appearance in the assembly was 
the cause of great laughter. But his firm resolution 
to become an orator was not shaken. “Demetrius of 
Phalerum said that Demosthenes told him how he re¬ 
cited verses with pebbles in his mouth, declaimed run¬ 
ning or walking up hill and practiced gestures before 
a mirror/’ He attended the theatres and studied the 
manner of the actors. He spent seven years drawing 
briefs and writing speeches for the courts. Then he 
began his career as a lawyer in the civil courts, but 
gradually began to discuss affairs of the state in the 
assembly with such force and ardor as to attract the 
attention of his great contemporaries. 

His style was not verbose, on the contrary he went 
straight to the core of the subject. His arguments were 
straightforward. He rarely dwindled out a descrip¬ 
tion, but painted with great telling strokes. “He 
borrowed something from every school and master, 
but also added more than he took. He added to his 
force the graces of the highest oratorical art.” But in 
all of his artistic skill there is a directness of purpose 
which is seemingly unconscious of rhetorical effort. 

That which is honorable may be regarded as the 
chief motive in the speeches of Demosthenes. The sec¬ 
ret of his success lay in the fact that he was an honest 


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man. Patriotism vibrated in every fibre of his being. 
The themes of his oratory were, the sacredness of pub¬ 
lic faith, commercial morality, good name above riches, 
honor above temporary military success. 

He spoke from the heart out. He never spoke on a 
subject unless he believed in his attitude with a firm¬ 
ness of conviction that gave fire to his delivery. Burn¬ 
ing and fervent in his style, he could so use a common 
word as to give it an uncommon effect. 

It is said that Cicero could speak on one side of a 
question as well as the other, but Demosthenes could 
only speak as he believed. The people said when 
Cicero spoke, “How well he speaks,” but when Demos¬ 
thenes spoke they said, “Let us move against Philip.” 

Demosthenes spent great pains preparing his 
speeches, and was not considered a good extemporane¬ 
ous speaker. His rivals said of him tauntingly, “His 
writings smell of the lamp.” His most famous works 
are: his Philippic Orations, and his oration on the 
Crown. Some other Grecian orators worthy of note 
are: Lycurgus, Hyperides, Aeschines, Pericles, Gorg- 
ias, Lysias, Iseas, Isocrates. 

Although Rome was an empire, the power of elo¬ 
quence had to do with the destiny of Rome and Rom¬ 
ans. Her code of laws was the result of great oratory. 
The interpretation of those statutes called forth a great 
school of smooth tongued advocates. 

Cicero. Roman eloquence, no doubt, reached its 
height in Marcus Tullius Cicero, who lived a century 
before the Christian era. He was educated at Rome 
until he was fourteen years of age. He frequented 
the Forum and listened with bated breath to the orators 


Dominant Orators 


161 


as they discussed the issues of the day. He entered 
public life at twenty-five and soon afterward traveled 
extensively in Greece and Asia, studying oratory from 
the great teachers of the time. He was elected to 
consulship when he was forty-three. About this time 
he delivered his famous oration against Catiline. 

Cicero wrote all of his speeches according to rule. 
He had Aristotle’s rhetoric to profit by; Demosthenes 
had no special form for his speeches except as the na¬ 
tural logic of a brilliant mind would naturally divide 
a subject, bqt Cicero studied all of the speeches of his 
predecessors and profited by it. He was careful about 
his introduction containing a statement of his object; 
the body of the speech with its argument; and finally 
the peroration, addressing itself to the moral sense 
of the judges. 

His style was very polished and unique; he never 
overlooked any method of carrying a point. He de¬ 
scribes his own style in the following, “Our model ora¬ 
tor will turn the same subject about in many ways; 
dwell and linger on the same thought; frequently ex¬ 
tenuate circumstances; sometimes depart from his ob¬ 
ject and direct his view another way;. propound what 
he means to speak; define what he has effected; re¬ 
peat what he has said; conclude his address with an 
argument; leave and neglect something occasionally; 
guard his case beforehand; describe the language and 
character of men; introduce inanimate objects in 
speaking; divert attention from the main point; an¬ 
ticipate an objection; employ examples; turn a matter 
into jest; decline a little from his object; speak with 
boldness and freedom, with indignation and invective 


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and execration, or implore and entreat and heal an of¬ 
fense—in a word, put himself on terms of familiarity 
with liis audience.” The first age of Roman orators 
had cultivated a stateliness; the second had attempted 
strength; but Cicero made a language rather than a 
style, not by finding new words so much as by the 
combination of old and familiar ones.” 

Cicero was adroit and copious in his sentence struc¬ 
ture. He wrote for sound as well as meaning. He did 
not like a sentence ending in a word of one syllable. 
He wrote to fit his tongue and to please his ear. Ci¬ 
cero could shoot off sparks of wit clothed in fine 
language, but when Demosthenes attempted pleasant¬ 
ries if he succeeded in raising a laugh it was at his own 
expense. 

Cato, the Censor, gave as a definition of an orator, 
“A good man skilled in speaking.” By this Cicero 
was an orator, because he was a good man. His stand¬ 
ard of morality was high. “His constant aim was to do 
right and his mistakes were those of his judgment 
rather than of his heart. The desire to please was his 
misfortune. It led him to praise when he should have 
blamed.” His weakness also showed itself in his van¬ 
ity. He would often speak in a light vein and em¬ 
ploy tricks of speech in order to secure applause of 
his hearers. But he was a good man and a great 
orator. He was an untiring worker and would spare 
nothing in the preparation of his speeches. 

Some other Roman orators worthy of mention are: 
Virginius, Blind Appius, Claudius, Cato the Censor, 
the iScipios, Galba, the Gracchi, Mark Antony, Cras- 
sus, Hortensius. 


Dominant Orators 


163 


Peter The Hermit. Out of the medieval gloom came 
a hVM which illumined Europe. It was Peter the 
Hermit, the man who set Europe in Motion, ignor¬ 
ant and fanatic though he was. It was said of him, “He 
is little and contemptible in person, but of lively wit, 
and has a clear seeing eye, and pleasing and freeflow- 
ing speech is not wanting to him.” And his literary 
outfit was as meagre as his wardrobe was scanty. His 
success lay in the spirit of his age, which is true of all 
orators. His brain was fired with but one great thought 
and that was to free the sepulchre at Jerusalem from 
Moslem domination. He preached it to the high and 
low. He preached it in the churches, he proclaimed 
it in the streets, he cried it from the housetops., until 
he had pushed the western nations to the east. Al¬ 
though this crusade might be called a failure it awoke 
the nations from the slumber of the dark ages. 

Savonarola was the connecting link between the era 
of the Church Fathers and that of Martin Luther, 
Hugh Latimer, John Knox, and John Calvin. These 
orators with great zeal and fire preached reformation. 
Kn'ox has been called the real orator of the reforma¬ 
tion, while Calvin probably stands next in ability as 
an orator. Fifty years before Columbus had sailed 
from Portugal to San Salvador, Savonarola was born 
in Ferrara, Italy. 

He had a face not by any means handsome, but full 
of force, moral and intellectual. His rugged brow pro¬ 
jected eagerly over piercing passionate eyes,—eyes 
that could look, as it were, right through the sham of 
pretense, and see a man as he really was, eyes before 
which men of foul mind wilted like a morning glory 


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in the noon-day sun. The arch of his nose indicated 
the power and will to command. There was a self- 
contained resolute expression in his firmly shut lips 
and the projection of his lower jaw showed a deter¬ 
mined character. 

It was not until he was thirty-three years of age, 
that God raised the veil of obscurity and really re¬ 
vealed his power as an orator. Mark Antony could 
stir a mob to howling violence, this man in a sermon 
on the final judgment stirred mens’ souls until they 
cried for mercy. Brutus could calm a blood-thirsty 
mob; this man melted men to tears by telling them of 
the love of Christ. 

He refused to “crook the pregnant hinges of the 
knee,” to the head of the state, “because he is only a 
man.” He would exclaim in impassioned tones, “To 
the immortal God alone will I promise submission.” 

He preached at Florence and day after day his im¬ 
passioned words infused with the spirit of the Old 
Testament wrought upon the minds of his hearers and 
stung them to action. His firm stand for the right 
made him many enemies. In his sermons he exposed 
the injustice of the court at Rome and the pope 
promptly offered him a cardinal’s hat if he would 
cease his attack, but Savonarola indignantly spurned 
the offer and unknowingly prophesied his death, when 
he said, “No hat will I have but the hat of a martyr 
reddened with my own blood.” While preaching his 
whole frame would tremble with passion, and his eyes 
flash the truth of his words into the hearts of his 
hearers. His influence was almost inestimable, his 
fame filled the land. Yet his enemies had plotted his 


Dominant Orators 


165 


downfall; he was falsely accused by paid witnesses and 
like the Christ whom he preached, condemned to death 
by a mob. Men who worshipped him clamored for his 
blood. Under’ protection of the Dominicans he 
preached his last sermon in Saint Marks. His words 
trembled on his lips with love for those who were 
waiting outside to put him to death; there was no re¬ 
vengeful spirit, but the throbbing of a great loving 
heart. He stepped down from the pulpit and sur¬ 
rendered himself to them. 

Mirabeau. “The dominant spirit in the French Re* 
volution was Mirabeau, conservative at first, not hos¬ 
tile to royalty*’ and regarding mobs and riots with dis¬ 
favor he was ready to restore the king's legitimate 
authority." It seems he was born cursed rather 
than anointed. He was tongue tied and had one foot 
twisted and grew up “as ugly as the nephew of Satan." 
He was “a monster, physically and intellectually". 
His father mistreated him and he went to the army. 
He spent several years in the army and prison. He 
went to Paris in 1785 and began writing political 
pamphlets. He was elected to the assembly of dep¬ 
uties for the city of Aix where he became the mouth¬ 
piece of the revolution. He employed other men to 
write his speeches for him. He would then revise 
them and breathe the breath of life into them and they 
lived. 

His style was straightforward. He cared little for 
the sound of his speeches but much for their rugged 
strength. Here is an example of his style, in the 
speech on National Bankruptcy: 

“Two centuries of depredation and robbery have ex- 



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cavated the abyss where the kingdom is on the verge of 
being engulfed. This frightful gulf it is indispensable 
eto fill up. Well, here is a list of property-holders. Choose 
from among the richest so as to sacrifice the smallest 
number of citizens. But choose, for is it not expedient 
that a small number perish to save the mass of the peo¬ 
ple? Restore order to our finances, peace and pros¬ 
perity to our kingdom. Do you imagine that because 
you refuse to pay you cease to owe? Vote then this sub¬ 
sidy, and may it prove sufficient. Vote it because the 
c ] ass most interested is yourselves. Vote it because the 
public exigencies allow of no evasion and no delay. Be¬ 
ware of asking time; misfortune never grants it. Today 
bankruptcy, hideous bankruptcy is before you. It 
threatens to consume you, your country, your property 
and your honor. And do you deliberate ?” 

When he arose in the assembly and delivered one of 
those fiery speeches which in their rare union of rea¬ 
son and passion so remind us of Demosthenes. 

“He trod the assembly tribune with the supreme au¬ 
thority of a master, and the imperial air of a king His 
frame dilated; his face was wrinkled and contorted; he 
roared, he stamped; his hair whitened with foam; his 
whole frame was seized with an electric irritability, and 
writhed as under almost preternatural agitation. The 
effect of his eloquence which was of the grandest and 
most impressive kind, abounding in bold images, striking 
metaphors, and sudden natural bursts, the creation of 
the moment, was greatly increased by his hideously mag¬ 
nificent aspect. The massive frame, the features full 
of pockholes and blotches, the eagle eye that dismayed 
with a look, the voice of thunder that dared a reply, the 
hair that waved like a lion’s mane.” 

Although he took great pains to prepare some of 
his speeches he was a master at extemporary speak¬ 
ing. The famous speeches on the Constitution, Royal 
Veto, and National Education were written out with 


Dominant Orators 


167 


great elaboration. “He is eloquent in his simplicity, 
he is forceful in his statement of facts, and positive 
in his questions. His order of advance is impene¬ 
trable, his method of attack irresistible, and escape 
from conclusions ■impossible.” Other orators of that 
age were: Holland, Lanjuinais, Louvet, and Bar- 
baroux, Desmoulins and Varennes, Marat, and Robes¬ 
pierre. 

Lord Erskine. One of the first of a great school 
of English orators, both in time and rank was Lord 
Erskine. In school he made many friends but was 
lazy and gave no promise of future greatness. At four¬ 
teen he joined the navy and after four years of serv¬ 
ice pined the army where he managed to do some 
studying. He read a great deal of Shakespeare. Mil- 
ton, Dryden, and Pope. When he got out of the army 
some years later he decided to be a lawyer and accord¬ 
ingly was soon admitted to the bar. He distinguished 
himsdf on his first case. A certain Captain Baillie, 
a veteran seaman of great worth who, for his services, 
held m office in the Greenwich hospital, discovered 
in th< establishment the grossest of abuses. He pub¬ 
lisher a statement of the case censuring Lord Sand¬ 
wich, first Lord of the Admiralty, and was accordingly 
charged with libel. Erskine not only freed the captain 
of the charge but made such an eloquent attack on the 
admiiistration of Lord Sandwich that it brought about 
a chaige of policy. This bold and impassioned burst 
of ekquence had established Erskine in the front rank 
of to orators of the bar. His fame as an advocate, 
however, rests chiefly upon his celebrated argument 
in to Stockdale case, in which libel was again in- 


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Public Speaking Manual 


volved. John Stockdale published a pamphlet critiz- 
ing the conduct of the prosecution during the trial of 
Warren Hastings. Stockdale was indicted for libel 
and Erskine defended him. Again he not only won 
his case but produced such an effect upon the public 
that a pernicious principle in the procedure of trying 
cases of libel was repealed by an act of Parliament. 
Lord Erskine was recognized by his contemporaries 
as one of the most capable and learned men of the 
day. His power lay in his earnest devotion to his 
cause, in his matchless strength and vigor. His />ne 
purpose was to win the verdict. He left unsaid every¬ 
thing that would not bring about the result and said 
everything that would bring it about. 

Chatham. In political eloquence the first oratorical 
giant was William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham. He 
took his seat in Parliament at the age of twentj-six. 
He was a great student of the ancient orators, espe¬ 
cially Demosthenes. This study with his extejisive 
travels enriched his mind for the career that was 
to follow. Macaulay describes him as he first appears 
in Parliament: 

“His figure was strikingly graceful and commaiding, 
his features high and noble, his eyes full of fire His 
voice even when sunk into a whisper, was heard to the 
remotest benches; when he strained it to its full Extent 
the sound rose like the swell of an organ in a great Cathe¬ 
dral, shook the house with its peal, and was heard tlfough 
lobbies and down staircases. His action was eqtal to 
Garrick’s, the actor. His play of countenance was won¬ 
derful ; every tone was at his command. Riding over 
the opposition of many powerful enemies he was made 
Prime Minister.” 



Dominant Orators 


169 


He was the first citizen of his nation raised to his 
position by his abilities. He was called “The Great 
Commoner.” 

Of Lord Chatham as an orator the critics place him 
among the most powerful, and some say the chief of 
modern orators. “In him the various elements that 
made for oratorical primacy are combined. Nature 
favored him in physical build and mental attitude.” 

The most celebrated of his speeches are those relat¬ 
ing to the policy of the British Government toward 
the colonies in America. The following is an extract 
from his speech against the policy of arming the In¬ 
dians to assist the British in conquering the colonies. 

“You cannot conquer America. In these campaigns 
we have done nothing and suffered much....you may swell 
every expense, pile and accumulate every assistance you 
can buy or borrow; your efforts are forever vain and im¬ 
potent. If I were an American as I am an Englishman, 
while a foreign troop was in my country I would never 
lay down my arms, never, never, never.” 

“But my Lords, who is the man that has dared to au¬ 
thorize and associate to our arms the tomahawk and scalp¬ 
ing knife of the savage, and to wage the horrors of his 
barbarous warfare against our brethren? My Lords, 
these enormities cry aloud for redress.” 

Of course just a fragment of his speech does not 
give the full force, nor would the full speech itself 
without his fiery delivery. 

In his latter days Chatham was troubled with gout 
but he would hobble to Parliament and speak on the 
great questions of the day. He died in the harness, so 
to speak, leaving one of the most brilliant records of 
any Englishman. 

Burke. Edmund Burke was twenty years younger 


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than Lord Chatham, but they were seated in Parlia¬ 
ment together and Chatham was a great admirer of 
the young orator. Burke was a profound student of 
the scriptures and in his speeches he draws largely 
from the Bible. Shakespeare, Milton and Bacon were 
favorites of his. He had a pleasing personality, a good 
voice, and a winning delivery. Dr. Johnson said of 
him, “Burke is the only man whose common conversa¬ 
tion corresponds with the general fame he has in the 
world. His talk is perpetual, not from desire of dis¬ 
tinction, but because his mind is full. No man could 
meet him under a gateway to avoid a shower without 
being convinced that he is the first man in England. 
His talents and eloquence won universal admiration 
and his devotion to the people’s rights gained their 
hearty support.” Chatham congratulated him and 
complimented him highly on his first speech on Ameri¬ 
can Taxation, and on the same occasion Lord Town¬ 
send exclaimed, “Heavens, what a man is this! Where 
could he acquire such transcendent powers?” 

His greatest speeches were the ones on the concilia¬ 
tion of the American colonies, and the Impeachment 
of Warren Hastings. Here is an example to show 
something of his style. 

“America, gentlemen say, is a noble object. It is an 
object well worth fighting for. Certainly it is, if fight¬ 
ing a people be the best way of gaining them.” 

“Your hold of the colonies is in the close affection 
which grows from common names, from kindred blood, 
from similar privileges and equal protection. There are 
ties, which, though light as air, are strong as links of iron. 
Let the Colonists always keep the idea of their civil rights 
associated with your government, .... they will cling 
and grapple to you, and no force under heaven will be of 



Dominant Orators 


171 


sufficient power to tear them from their allegiance. But 
let it be once understood that you** government may be 
one thing, and their privileges another, that these two 
things may exist without any mutual relation, the cement 
is gone, the cohesion is loosened, and everything hastens 
to decay and dissolution.” 

There are so many illustrious orators in English 
history it is difficult to select the brightest lumi¬ 
naries from such a constellation. Perhaps Erskine, 
Chatham, and Burke are representative as could be 
selected. But closely associated with them are the 
names of Bolingbroke, William Pitt, Jr., James Fox, 
Daniel O’Connell, Canning, Brougham,, Sheridan and 
Gladstone. Many other names could be added to the 
list but these are the ones that occur to us when we 
think of English history. 

As the pages of English history are crowded with 
the names of brilliant orators, so also are the pages 
of American history. Uneventful times are not pro¬ 
ductive of great orators, but turbulent and stormy 
years bring forth the giants of eloquence in great num¬ 
bers. Perhaps that accounts for so many able orators 
in the early days of American history. 

Patrick Henry. The first name to attract one’s at¬ 
tention is the name of Patrick Henry, a natural ora¬ 
tor. He was a natural orator in the true sense of 
the word, that is, he was not the product of a college 
education, in fact, he never finished the grade schools. 
He was lazy and when he did have a chance to attend 
school he would often spend his time on the shady 
bank of a beautiful stream, fishing or merely rambl¬ 
ing. He tried his hand at running a store and soon 
found himself bankrupt. Then he floundered around 


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for a time not knowing what to do, finally, as a sort of 
experiment he decided to be a lawyer. After six 
weeks of study he took the examination and barely 
passed and that with the promise that he would study 
to make up the deficiency. Of course, where he was 
known he never got a case, but finally there came a 
case that no one else would tackle because it looked 
like a losing proposition. This was the famous “Par¬ 
son Tobacco Case” in which the clergy of the English 
Church brought suit to recover their annual stipend, 
as fixed by law. The crop had failed, but the law 
seemed against the planters and it looked like they 
were going to have to pay anyway. It was Henry’s 
first appearance at the bar and curiosity was on tipr 
toe. Rising awkwardly he faltered so in his opening 
remarks that his friends hung their heads, and the 
preachers began to exchange sly looks and meaningful 
smiles. But gradually he warmed up and the words 
began to leap to his lips. A mysterious and almost 
supernatural change came over him. He straight¬ 
ened up to a commanding attitude, his face glowed, his 
frame quivered, and his eyes flamed. Spectators said 
afterwards that he made their blood run cold with 
his terrible invectives. The jury was out only a few 
minutes and returned with a verdict in favor of the 
planters. 

Henry was carried out of the court house upon the 
shoulders of his friends. After this his success was 
made. He was elected to the House of Burgesses in 
1765, and became a thorn in England’s side. His 
great speeches against the Stamp Act, and the tax 


Dominant Orators 


173 


questions, and American Independence are known to 
every school boy. 

Webster . There is a name that is linked to Con¬ 
stitutional law and that is Daniel Webster. He was a 
weighty speaker. He was ponderous in his thought, 
and very poor at after-dinner speaking, or occasions 
that called for light airy speeches to tickle the ear. 
But when the occasion demanded it, when his oppon¬ 
ent was worthy of it, when the subject warranted it 
he was a veritable thunder storm. His voice was full 
and sonorous, his gestures were few and telling, and 
his great stature was grand and commanding. Two of 
his best known speeches are the one for his Alma Ma¬ 
ter, Dartmouth College, and the other his memorable 
crushing reply to Hayne. 

Calhoun. Linked to the days following the Revolu¬ 
tion are the names of Calhoun, Clay, and Webster. 
John C. Calhoun was tall, slender and dark. His eyes 
were deep set and keen. His voice was clear and his 
delivery deliberate. His main forte lay in his analysis 
and hair splitting logic. His speeches were clear, lu¬ 
cid and convincing. 

Clay. Henry Clay was of the very opposite style 
from Calhoun. He was passionate, flowery, fanciful, 
and forceful. He had a nimble wit and a flying imag¬ 
ination. He was more than six feet tall, broad 
shouldered and straight. His voice was round, full 
and clear. He was a great student -of poetry and 
could quote it for hours. It is said that Clay practiced 
his gestures before the mirror and burned much mid¬ 
night oil polishing his speeches. 

Other American Orators. Edward Everett was a 


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speaker of great polish. He was scholarly and relied 
upon rhetorical construction and elocutionary delivery 
for his success. His popularity was mostly in college 
circles. It has been said that his eloquence was polished 
steel. He spent much time perfecting his delivery 
before the mirror. In fact he was the product of the 
finest methods of elocution. Many of his effects were 
studied and premeditated, for instance, at the psycho¬ 
logical moment drawing from his pocket a flag. 

Wendell Phillips was quite a different type. His 
power lay in his imagery and fire. He used metaphors 
with telling effect. His eloquence was at once flowery 
and forceful; the flowers he drew from his imagina¬ 
tion and the force from his zeal. He lashed the popu¬ 
lace into a howling mob and then braved its power. 
His address in Faneuil Hall and his orations on Tous- 
saint L’Ouverture, and O’Connell are fine specimens 
of oratorical finish. 

Charles Sumner made himself famous in his debates 
in Congress. He was scholarly and masterful in his 
addresses. Popular as a lecturer he delivered many 
college class addresses and was known as “The scholar 
in politics.” 

In the field of political oratory and statesmanship 
there were many eloquent men, but it must not be for¬ 
gotten that at the same time the pulpit attracted ora¬ 
tors of equal ability. Henry Ward Beecher addressed 
his millions and not without results. He attracted all 
classes of people unto him and thrilled them with his 
message. He was heard in England although he was 
speaking at that time on a very unpopular subject in 
the British Isles, but his oratory won a victory in Lon- 


Dominant Orators 


175 


don of which any orator would have been proud, Mr. 
Beecher presented a fine appearance in the pulpit, his 
voice was silver and his tongue fluent. 

There are many other American orators whose 
names are inseparable with eloquence. Alexander 
Hamilton and Robert Morris, whose speeches kindled 
the fire that forged the Constitution, must be num¬ 
bered among the eloquent. William Pinkney and John 
Randolph were both eccentric and eloquent. Alexan¬ 
der H. Stevens deserves a place among the orators. 
He was logical and like most southern orators flowery, 
poetic and musical. Fisher Ames was considered the 
most eloquent orator in congress during the debates 
over the Jay Treaty. 

In the years that have just closed there are names 
that will crowd the pages of history as giants of ora¬ 
tory. We have lecturers, statesmen and preachers 
whose names the muse of history will write among the 
eloquent. 


CHAPTER XL 

What is Oratory? 

Suggestion : Students should write and deliver sev¬ 
eral original orations and also study other orations 
in the light of the theory laid down here. 

Oratory has a broad meaning that includes all seri¬ 
ous speech. But as we shall use it here, it applies 
only to the formal oration. Aristotle, speaking of 
oratory, defined it as, “A faculty of considering all pos¬ 
sible means of persuasion on every subject.” 

Quoting a paragraph from Mr. Sears’ History of 
Oratory, we have Aristotle’s three kinds of orations, 
“deliberate, judicial and demonstrative, relating to 
the future, the past and the present, respectively as 
to their proper times. They have their proper offices 
also. To the deliberative belong exhortation and dis¬ 
suasion; to the judicial, accusation and defense; to the 
demonstrative, praise and blame. Certain ends also 
belong to each. To the deliberative, the expedient or 
inexpedient; to the judicial, the just or the unjust; 
to the demonstrative, the honorable and the dishonor¬ 
able.” But modern rhetoricians have given us a more 
workable division, that is, for the formal oration. Be¬ 
fore we make this division, however, let us decide ex¬ 
actly what is an oration. 

Let us use Mr. Brink’s definition. “An oration is 
an oral discourse on a worthy and dignified theme, 
adapted to the average hearer, and whose aim is to in¬ 
fluence the will of the hearer.” Mr. Brink’s explanation 
[176] 


What Is Oratory? 


177 


of his definition briefly stated is: The oration must 
be delivered orally. It cannot be on a frivolous theme, 
fun has little place in the oration. It must not be 
addressed to the intellectual aristocrat or the dullard, 
but to the average hearer, with the purpose of moving 
his will. 

For our use there are two kinds of oratory. First, 
there is the Determinate Oratory. Persuasive speech¬ 
es that have immediate action for their ends would 
be classed under Determinate Oratory. The lawyer 
pleading for the verdict, the preacher exhorting the 
people to change their ways, the legislator speaking 
for his bill and the political orator whose purpose is 
to gain votes, are all speaking with the purpose of 
getting immediate action. 

Example: 

AN INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL. 

Anonymous. 

I come before you to advocate the universal adoption 
of an industrial tribunal similar to that of Kansas. With 
the advance of civilization, the members of society have 
found it necessary to replace brute force with law. Re¬ 
luctantly men gave up the feud and replaced it with gov¬ 
ernment. Reluctantly men gave up tribal warfare and 
replaced it with law. Reluctantly men gave up duelling 
and replaced it with trial by jury. And reluctantly men 
gave up their sidearms and looked to government for pro¬ 
tection. Every controversy arising within the bounds 
of our nation is now adjudicated by courts of law with 
but one exception. That one exception is the industrial 
dispute. It alone still exists outside the pale of law. 
Therefore, a solution to the industrial problem is of para¬ 
mount interest. 


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I believe the solution lies in a further extension of our 
law to include industrial strife. That means the estab¬ 
lishment of an industrial court. That court must in¬ 
clude the same elements of justice as our civil courts, 
and it must likewise be backed by the police power of the 
state. Therefore, I propose an industrial tribunal whose 
awards are just, and whose decrees are mandatory. 

The Kansas Industrial Law provides that strikes and 
lockouts resulting in a shortage of necessary commodities 
are punishable violations of the law of that state, and 
that disputes which cannot be settled otherwise must be 
submitted to the Industrial Court, composed of three 
judges, neither representatives of labor nor of capital, 
but representatives of all the citizens, appointed by the 
Governor and approved by the Senate. Briefly, it de¬ 
clares that disputes in those vital industries upon whose 
continuous operation the people are daily dependent shall 
be settled in the same orderly manner as disputes be¬ 
tween man and man, between corporation and corporation, 
between state and state, by the same kind of a tribunal 
as has been used in the settlement of all other controvers¬ 
ies since the beginning of orderly government. The three 
branches of government act as a check upon the justice 
of the decisions. The executive appoints, the legisla¬ 
tive approves, while an appeal may be had to the judicial. 
What could give greater guarantee of open-handed jus¬ 
tice than this, the final product in the evolution of in¬ 
dustrial legislation? 

Any proposed solution should have proofs of practic¬ 
ability. The Kansas Industrial Court is practicable be¬ 
cause it renders strikes and lockouts unnecessary. Strikes 
and lockouts have causes. Therefore, if these causes 
are removed, the results will disappear. Let me take 
time to give you a concrete example. 

The Rock Island employees at Goodland, Kansas had 
tried in vain for 15 years to persuade fthe company to 
enclose their workshops, which were exposed to the 
sweeping blizzards of the Kansas prairies. The Court 


What Is Oratory? 


179 


was established and the men brought their ease before 
it. As a result of the Court’s order, the shops were im¬ 
mediately enclosed. This is a case of 15 years of the old 
method, as pitted against immediate action by the Court. 
The cause of discontent was removed. 

This is only one instance, but since the establishment 
of the Court, it has decided 34 cases. These stand as 34 
proofs of the practicability of the law. 

The Court is practicable, again, because its very ex¬ 
istence, in many cases, precludes the necessity of actual 
enforcement. When a general strike was ordered a year 
ago by the International Brotherhood of Firemen, the 
Executive Committee specifically exempted the state of 
Kansas because a railroad strike in that state was unlaw¬ 
ful. The decrease in the number of strikes in Kansas 
since the passage of this law is unanswerable argument 
as to the practicability of the law. In the 3 years pre- 
ceeding its establishment, Kansas saw 705 strikes; since 
the establishment of the Court, there have been but 2 
strikes! The majority of American laborers are law- 
abiding, and therefore the presence of the law precludes 
the necessity of its actual enforcement. 

However, if there are those who are so imbued with 
the spirit of radicalism that they must appeal to brute 
force, then the government can meet force with force. 
To say that the government cannot enforce a law so ob¬ 
viously beneficial to society is an insult to the stability 
of government. This government put down the Whiskey 
Rebellion, made effective the Emancipation Proclama¬ 
tion, enforced the tremendous Draft Law, and has for 
decades enforced the far-reaching Monroe Doctrine in 
the face of all nations. It is an insult to the majesty 
of our Constitution to say that the government cannot 
protect the majority from a radical minority! 

Furthermore, the Industrial Court is practicable be¬ 
cause it is similar to other courts that are functioning 
successfully. Six hundred years ago we had only the 
criminal court. Later civil courts were set up, and then, 


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Public Speaking Manual 


as the growing complexity of society demanded, various 
kinds of tribunals were established, so that today we see 
courts dealing successfully with all the intricacies of the 
most complicated and technical subjects. Our bankruptcy 
courts deal successfully with all the intricate variations 
of purely financial questions. Juvenile courts handle the 
affairs of infant offenders and child criminals. Admir¬ 
alty courts, probate courts, courts of equity, international 
courts,—all function successfully in their particular 
fields. Today a court may, where it sees fit, deprive the 
mother of the custody of her child, take away a man’s 
property, his liberty, his life. In view of these facts, 
it is idle to contend that hours, wages, and working con¬ 
ditions are too complicated to be adjudicated by courts. 
It is absurd to maintain that industrial disputes are too 
sacred for the hands of a court of justice. An industrial 
tribunal similar to that of Kansas is a practical solution 
to the problem. 

Now, let us consider its desirability. The Industrial 
Court is desirable because it is beneficial to capital and 
labor. In every section of industry the mailed fist otf 
the strike crushes the employer, and, true to its name, 
strikes back at the laborers. The laborers themselves 
fear the use of the strike because its effect is as deadly 
upon its users as upon those toward whom it is directed. 
The worker’s children may tug at his coat and beg for 
oread, but he dare not work. His master, the strike des¬ 
pot, forbids him. One man was killed in Dallas because 
he was working. Three were shot in Chicago. One was 
hanged in Oklahoma. Why? Because they worked dur¬ 
ing the strike. Kansas City is the only center where 
there was no violence during the recent Packer’s strike. 
Those who wanted to work were protected by the state 
militia. 

Soon after the Industrial Court was created, it dis¬ 
covered that wages of Pittsburg miners were discounted 
10 per cent of the week’s pay if drawn before pay day. 
That is, the operator charged the miner interest at the 


What Is Oratory? 


181 


rate of 520% a year! This pernicious practice had pre¬ 
vailed for 25 long years. When it came to the attention 
of the Court it was wiped out in 18 minutes! 

The Kansas Law takes away the strike, but substitutes 
for it the Industrial Court. It gives to Labor and it gives 
to Capital an impartial tribunal where labor’s interests 
are protected, no matter how weak the union; where Cap¬ 
ital’s rights are respected, no matter how stong the union. 

Finally and most important this Industrial Court is 
beneficial because it protects the great unorganized third 
party, the public. An industrial dispute may seem to be 
a private affair, but the non-belligerent citizen is caught 
between the millstones. The Chicago Milk Drivers’ strike 
of 1919 kept milk from 120 hospitals, 250,000 babies and 
1,000 tubercular patients. The coal strike of that year 
closed down our schools, while our churches stood dark 
and cold on Sabbath days. In 1916, when our soldiers 
were in Mexico, and when their very lives depended upon 
railroad transportation* the four railway brotherhoods 
stood before Congress with stopwatches in their hands 
and threatened to tie up every railroad in our land if 
Congress did not pass the Adamson law. In the world war 
with our soldiers in France, 6,000 strikes were heaped 
upon our nation. My friends, I ask for a tribunal backed 
by the police power of the state that will prohibit the re¬ 
currence of such outrages against the public. 

Furthermore, the Industrial Tribunal is beneficial be¬ 
cause it saves the public from the high prices resulting 
from industrial warfare. The cost of strikes is added to 
the cost of production. The court will minimize the num¬ 
ber of strikes. In the last 3 years, 18,000 strikes have been 
pyramided upon our nation. In 1919, the loss in wages 
alone was $725,000,000. That is economic waste that the 
public must bear. The laborers may make the employ¬ 
ers dance, but the public pays the fiddler! Therefore, a 
law prohibiting strikes in the essential industries is bene¬ 
ficial to the public. 

The Industrial Court is no wild, untried theory. It is 


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very similar to the plan suggested by Theodore Roosevelt. 
John H. Crawford, Commissioner of Labor in Kansas, en¬ 
dorses it. Mr. Fleming, the President of the Kansas Fed¬ 
eration of Labor, recommends it. In twenty states it is 
being considered for enactment. In 75 colleges it is be¬ 
ing studied. In the Philippines, Mr. Balmore, the Presi¬ 
dent of the Federation of Labor, has given his unqualified 
endorsement. At the International Convention the Rotar- 
ians of the world unanimously endorsed the law. Every¬ 
where the Court is being heralded as the logical solution 
to our increasingly menacing industrial problem. 

And I see the majestic American Eagle of past victories 
circling above the advancing armies of Industrial Pro¬ 
gress. Everywhere the drums of public opinion are sound¬ 
ing the long roll, everywhere the war cry is echoing: For¬ 
ward and onward, to the next milestone along the road 
of progress,—the Industrial Tribunal. 


THE APOSTLES OF PEACE. 

(This oration, delivered by Walter Isle, won first hon¬ 
ors at the Interstate Oratorical Contest at Batten Rouge, 
La., and fifth place in the National at Mohawk Valley, 
New York.) 

Imagine a small American village. It is eight-thirty 
in the morning. The school bell is ringing out its daily 
call. Down the street the door of a home opens and there 
issues forth our greatest institution, the American boy. 
His lusty shout scarcely pierces the morning air when 
other doors swing open; and soon boys and girls are mov¬ 
ing along every street toward the school house. The 
pride of America is here in <all its life and vigor. Free 
from the customs and prejudices that bind grown men to 
the past, they go to sit at the feet of the teacher, to be 
taught the truths of life. 

Here is the logical place to begin reforms. In scenes like 
this, repeated as they are in every city and rural district 
in the land, the future of our nation can be fashioned. 



What Is Oratory? 


183 


The child enters the school with mind open and receptive; 
he leaves it, his ideas formed, his attitude toward life 
determined. The truths that are taught these children 
will become the dynamic forces of the next generation. 
The school room of today will be the nation of tomorrow. 
History reveals the law that whatever a nation teaches 
its children, that shall the nation be. Greece taught her 
boys beauty and grace of physical perfection; and the 
Greeks were the greatest nation of athletes the world has 
ever known. Rome taught her sons the virtues of strength 
and obedience; and the very word “Roman” has become 
a synonym tor those qualities. The nations of Modern 
Europe taught their young people to look forward to war; 
and they are now suffering war’s terrible reality. 

The school is a recognized force in modern life. The 
merchant has found that a man makes a better salesman 
when the principles of salesmanship have been taught 
him in youth; so he places a school in his department 
store. The manufacturer has learned that his best work¬ 
ers are those who have been trained for their work; so 
he establishes a school in connection with his factory. 
The Department of Agriculture spent thousands of dol¬ 
lars in a vain endeavor to induce adult farmers to farm 
scientifically. It was not until they began to work 
through the rising generation of farmers that tangible re¬ 
sults were secured. Today, all over the country, agri¬ 
cultural experts are telling our teachers that the methods 
of a grown man are hard to change, that the best way to 
improve farming conditions is through the Boys’ and 
Girls’ Clubs, through the school boy and the school girl. 

Everywhere men are coming to realize that great 
changes are not wrought in a day, that we move out of the 
old into the new by a slow, evolving process. Institutions 
change only as men change. Before the Reformation 
could transform the old medieval doctrines of the church, 
men had to be transformed; fear had to give place to love 
in men’s attitude toward God. Before the political 
revolution that swept over nineteenth-century Europe 


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could establish democracy, blind obedience had to give 
way to independent thought. Before the Declaration of 
Independence could become the bright shining light of our 
western civilization, Americans had to love and long for 
freedom. Before any permanent changes can be brought 
about, men must be made ready for them, must desire 
them—a result which can best be accomplished in the 
school room, for there is no better place for fashioning 
men than there. 

In the light of these facts, what shall we say of peace? 
Can its principles be taught any more easily than the 
principles of scientific agriculture? Can the transition 
from war to peace be made any more quickly than the 
change from absolutism to democracy? Can the age of 
arbitration be brought about by working with grown men 
who have been accustomed from their youth to look to 
war as the natural solution of international disputes? 

The men of this generation have many times heard the 
peace message, but without results. After the Hague 
Tribunal was created, a world-wide peace campaign was 
carried on; and prophets were already proclaiming that 
the age of war had passed. But it had not! A little 
trouble in Mexico, and the war flame blazed up all over 
our land. A prince was killed, and seven nations plung¬ 
ed into the bloody ordeal of battle. We may spend our 
millions; we may sing our peace songs; we may pour 
forth our eloquence and logic; but unless the truths which 
we implant are germinated in the fertile soil of youth, 
they will never reach a full and lasting growth. 

International peace is the greatest goal for which men 
have ever struggled. It must be reached by the same 
gradual process through which other reforms have been 
secured. To bring it to pass there must be wrought in 
the hearts and minds of men deep and permanent 
changes. Men must come to love peace and hate war. 
It is only when they are heated in the fires of public opin¬ 
ion that swords can be beaten into plowshares and spears 
into pruning hooks. This public opinion can best be 
formed in the school room. It, too, must be developed 


What Is Oratory? 


185 


in the open and receptive minds of the young. The public 
school is a fertile planting ground for the seeds of peace. 
It is there that we can grow a strong and hardy plant 
that will not wither when the hot winds of passions sweep 
over the land. 

What a power, then, the teacher can have in the move¬ 
ment for peace! How heavy will be the responsibility 
resting on his shoulders! The teacher is the dynamo of 
the school. From him goes out the power that makes 
facts pulsate with life. The same power is needed to 
vitalize the ideals of peace. 

The past justifies us in intrusting our cause to the teach¬ 
er. It was the teacher, Socrates, who walked the streets of 
Athens enunciating truths that wrought a revolution in 
the mental world of his day. It was the Great Teacher 
who founded a kingdom of love in the world, that has not 
only endured through two thousand years of testing, but 
has “waxed stronger with the process of the suns.” Those 
were teachers who, as apostles, were sent to “teach all 
nations” the message of that kingdom. It was the teacher 
who kept pace with the westward march of our civiliza¬ 
tion, sowing the seed of learning all along the frontier. 
It was the teacher who followed in “war’s bloody trail” 
and bound the broken parts of our republic together with 
ties of national friendship and brotherly love. With a 
glowing pride in these records of the past, let the teachers 
of the twentieth century strive to fulfil the destiny which 
God has assigned them as the Apostles of Peace! 

The vital question is, how can the work be done? How 
shall the teacher go about his task? There are many 
ways of presenting peace to the school boy. History, 
literature, art, science, industry,—all teem with messages 
of peace. Vivid pictures, pregnant with meaning, can be 
taken even from the story of war. A lone peasant woman 
sits in the gloom of her low-roofed cottage. A letter 
bearing the seal of the Red Cross has fallen from her 
trembling fingers. Its sad message, more chilling than 
the sleet that beats upon the roof, more mournful than 


186 


Public Speaking Manual 


the moaning of the North Wind through the cracks of 
the cabin walls, tells her that the last of her strong 
manly sons now lies with his brothers, a mangled and 
bleeding sacrifice to the God of War! The light and joy 
of her poor life is gone. Lonely and tired and tear- 
stained, she sits there as the blackness of the night and 
the deeper blackness of despair settles about her littie 
home. Would you see such a picture? Go to Germany, 
England, France, Russia, Austria, Servia; stand upon the 
shot-swept plains of Poland; or gaze upon the torn and 
shattered remnants of Belgium; and you will see these 
scenes by the tens of thousands! 

Instead of the pomp and glory of war, let the teacher 
hold a picture like this before his pupils; and show me 
the boy who will not, deep down in his heart, swear eter¬ 
nal hatred for the institution that grinds under its iron 
heel his mother’s tender heart. 

The teacher can show that peace has triumphs more 
brilliant than the victories of war. An architect plans a 
great cathedral. Craftsmen labor day after day until the 
beautiful structure is finished. Its slender spires pierce 
the blue vault of the sky. Its chimes ring out far over 
the land inviting people to worship. The serene calm 
of its peaceful interior acts as a soothing balm upon 
thousands of tired hearts. It is a positive force for good. 
A great industry is launched. Factories are built by 
every stream and harbor. Over a network of steel roads 
products of the soil are brought in and comforts of life 
are carried out to every fireside. The pulse-beat of com¬ 
merce is steady and strong. Peaceful, contented, happy 
homes testify to the nation’s prosperity. The state builds 
a great university. Laboratory, gymnasium, library, and 
class room are filled with the brightest and best young 
men and women that the nation can furnish. The light of 
its culture and of its ideals illuminates all the land. A mo¬ 
ther tenderly cares for her baby through the long weary 
hours of infancy. She guides his toddling footsteps 
through the gardens of youth to the broad fields of man¬ 
hood. How many visions of future usefulness she has 


What Is Oratory? 


187 


for her boy only a mother knows. He is her contribution 
to civilization, the choicest work of art ever produced. 
. . . These are some of the triumphs of peace. The church, 
the factory, the school, the man are fruits ripened only 
in the sunlight of friendship and love. 

But a call to arms rings out! War sweeps through the 
land! And lo, that once beautiful cathedral is a crum¬ 
bling heap of ruins. No longer do black clouds of smoke 
arise from busy factories. No longer do the arteries of 
trade flow full and free. A gaunt wolf of hunger 
crouches at every door. The laboratory and the class 
room are deserted. The light of learning is extinguished. 
Ignorance returns to the throne. Strong brave men are 
slaughtered by the thousands. The priceless works of the 
mother’s art are shattered by the ruthless hand of bar¬ 
barism. Such are the victories of war! 

While the cannon in Europe are booming out death and 
destruction, we Americans have a splendid opportunity 
to teach the real nature of war. Let us not lose the 
chance. Let us show that war is but a breath from the 
fires of hell, under whose blighting touch the choicest 
fruits of literature, science, and art wither and decay; 
that behind the neighing of champing steeds, the thrill 
of the bugle note, and the loud paean of the victor are the 
sobs of weeping mothers and the wails of starving chil¬ 
dren ! 

Open the eyes of our boys and girls to the majesty of 
life. Teach them that it is better to live than it is to die. 
Teach them that the man who pens an inspiring poem 
or paints a beautiful picture is more noble than the man 
who bathes the soil in the blood of his fellowmen. Teach 
them that it is a greater achievement to harness a raging 
waterfall, and to send electric currents of power vibrat¬ 
ing through space than it is to invent new methods of 
slaughtering men. Teach them that the ravages of the 
great plague are more dangerous than the yellow peril, 
that factories are more important than battleships, uni¬ 
versities a stronger protection than steel fortifications. 


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Public Speaking Manual 


Teach them that the real enemies of their home and 
country are ignorance, immorality and disease; that the 
heroes of the future will be the victors over these foes. 

Show the boy that peace is not a mere vision of the 
dreamer. Show him that it is a step in the march of 
civilization, by which mankind will move onward to higher 
and better ideals. Show him the progress already made. 
Show him the statue of Christ which crowns the summit 
of the Andes, testifying that already for two nations 
the “war-drum shall throb no longer.” Show him our 
own far-flung border line along which “without a gun 
upon a rampart or a gun-boat upon a lake or river” 
friendship and peace have prevailed for a century. Show 
him that the present war is but dealing the death-blow 
to the last great obstacle to peace, the doctrine of armed 
preparation. Build up in him a faith in the ultimate 
triumph of peace. Let him know that the onward march 
of the race is not to be stopped; that just as law now set¬ 
tles disputes between individuals, families, and cities, 
so shall the day surely come when right will be the great 
arbiter between nations. 

Teach such burning truths as these in the school room; 
and when the boys of today reach manhood and take the 
affairs of the world in their hands, the age of bloodshed 
will have departed. School children who, day after day, 
have had these truths molded into their very lives, will 
form a citizenry devoted to peace; a citizenry against 
whom the floods of passion and the storms of hate and 
jealousy will beat in vain; a citizenry in whose hearts 
justice and reason will reign! 

—Walter Isle r , 

THE PROBLEM OF THE TURK. 

(This oration, delivered by Charles Fair, won second 
honors in the Missouri Valley Oratorical contest held at 
Washington University, St. Louis, in 1923). 


What Is Oratory? 


189 


Ladies and Gentlemen: 

The Turkish Empire endangers civilization. It pre¬ 
sents a problem surpassing in magnitude any other now 
engaging the attention of world diplomacy and state¬ 
craft. The future of the world and the security of the 
human race, depend upon the attitude of the nations to¬ 
ward this problem of the Turk—a problem that must be 
solved or the hope of world disarmament becomes a de¬ 
lusion, and the possibility of world peace an “irridescent 
dream.” I invite your attention for a little while, my 
friends, to the facts concerning this problem of the Turk. 
And, I would ask that you deal charitably with my pre¬ 
sumption, if I propose a solution to a problem that has 
baffled the ingenuity of men of broader experience. 

My friends, I have come to believe that the present 
government of the Ottoman should be dissolved; and that 
a protectorate composed of the allied Powers be estab¬ 
lished in its stead. This conclusion is founded upon the 
facts, first, that the government of Turkey is a menace 
to the advancement of its own people; then again, be¬ 
cause of its geographical position, it endangers world 
peace; and finally because of the religious fanaticism of 
its people, it is a menace to the safety of all Christian 
inhabitants within its boundaries. 

History demonstrates the fact that the Turkish govern¬ 
ment is of such character as to preclude the possibility 
of an enlightened, progressive citizenship among its own 
people. That government is an absolute despotism of 
the ancient type—'a despotism wholly out of harmony 
with the spirit of modern times—a despotism that ignores 
the right of the individual, and asserts its authority by the 
power of the sword. It is a government that rules by in¬ 
citing fear in the hearts of its subjects rather than by an 
appeal to patriotic impulse; that tramples under its un¬ 
hallowed feet the most sacred relations of mankind and 
forbids the untrammeled exercise of the human mind and 
conscience. 

Polygamy and concubinage—outlawed by every civil- 


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Public Speaking Manual 


ized nation on the earth—are among the universal national 
sins of Turkey—the Sublime Porte itself, being the chief 
offender in this travesty upon human chastity. That gov¬ 
ernment perpetuates a system of organized tax-gatherers 
that makes the greed of the ancient Roman Publican pale 
into insignificance. Under this system, law is an extor¬ 
tion, justice a mockery, and liberty a lie. Under this 
system, Christians are slaughtered, and robbers knighted; 
everything ennobling is annihilated, and everything in¬ 
iquitous glorified. Shall we be able to judge the Turk 
by his fruitful yield to civilization? What has been the 
Ottoman contribution to the sum-total of human advance¬ 
ment? Where are his colleges and hospitals? Where is 
his art, his literature? Where are his factories and 
railroads? Where is his civilization? Sirs:—he has none. 
His children are taught a few lines in the Koran and he 
calls it education. He weaves at a hand-loom and he calls 
it manufacturing. He grinds with a stone and calls it 
industry. He barters for a farthing and calls it com¬ 
merce. He plows the richest lands of Southern Europe 
with a forked stick and calls it agriculture. Does he 
produce food? No, the Bulgarians do that. Does he 
conduct trade and commerce? No, the Jews and Arme¬ 
nians do that. What is this Turks contribution to civiliza¬ 
tion? His hospitals are erected by his neighbors to 
nurse the wounds he has inflicted. His art is the art of 
murder and rapine. His music is the moan of the feeble, 
the wail of the helpless, and the scream of the terrified. 
His law is the law of free love, human slavery, and the 
Harem. In short my friends, the Turk stands irrevocably 
for everything that is bad, and eternally against every¬ 
thing that is good. 

Under such a government, there is no hope for the Turk¬ 
ish people to arouse from their degenerate state to catch 
step with the onward march of civilization; under such 
a government, no ray of hope can penetrate that cloud 
of ignorance and bigotry that hangs like a pall over that 
benighted country. Those people must grope in darkness 


What Is Oratory? 


191 


and superstition, and remain outcast from the society 
of nations until such time shall arrive when the United 
States and other great powers awaken to a sense of their 
plain duty, willingly and unselfishly intervening in Turk¬ 
ish domestic affairs, dissolving the present government, 
and establishing in its stead a government in keeping with 
the spirit of the twentieth century. 

Again, my friends, due to its geographical position, 
Turkey is a menace to the peace of the world. The pres¬ 
ent territory of Turkey is strategically the most im¬ 
portant on earth. It is the bridge between the East and 
the West. It is the key to three different continents. One 
great historian has said that three fourths of all wars 
have been fought over the possession of Constantinople. 
It is a city toward which all routes of trade and travel 
converge. It was when the Ottoman closed the gates of 
this city and paralyzed the commerce of the world that 
Columbus set forth in his search for a new trade route 
to the East. But, my friends, economically speaking, 
there is none. Constantinople alone is the key. This, 
the greatest and most important trade passage on the 
whole sphere is possessed by a most unscrupulous and 
barbarous nation of people. 

Moreover, my friends, the military vantage of Turkey, 
secured by the nature of its topography, has proved to 
be even greater' than its commercial superiority. The 
promontories of the Dardenelles furnish the most im¬ 
pregnable fortress in the world. Here in the memorable 
seige of 1916, the Moslems turned back the combined 
allied fleets with as much ease as the shores of the Dar¬ 
denelles repulse the surges of the Bosphorous. 

Should any great nation with imperialistic designs, 
attempt to secure control of these superior economic and 
military odds the result would be another world conflict. 
To gain a permanent foothold in Turkey, that she might 
exploit the commerce of the world, was not the least im¬ 
portant feature of the German program that led to the 
world cataclysm of 1914. Russia, the great Polar Bear of 


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the north, has long coveted a path to the sea that he might 
come down and slake his thirst in the blue waters of the 
Mediterranean. More than once has this been tried by 
the powers of Eurasia, and more than once has the world 
poured out its life-blood and treasure to prevent its con¬ 
summation. With such tremendous economic and mili¬ 
tary advantage in the hands of the mongrel Turk, the bal¬ 
ance of power on the Eastern Continent is uncertain, and 
world peace is jeopardized. These facts, my friends, 
cause me to reiterate to you my statement, that because 
of the geographical position of that nation, it becomes 
imperative for the great nations of the earth to dissolve 
that present government and establish in its stead a pro¬ 
tectorate which will adhere to twentieth century char¬ 
acteristics. 

And finally, my friends, because of the religious fan¬ 
aticism of those people, their government is a menace to 
the safety of all Christian inhabitants within its boun¬ 
daries. The constitution of the Ottoman government is 
founded upon the doctrines of the Mohammedan Faith. 
The Koran is the Alpha and Omega of the Turkish Law, 
literature, and learning. It is a part of the Turkish re¬ 
ligion to exterminate all who do not profess the Moslem 
Faith. For centuries they have been tutored in this wick¬ 
ed doctrine, and for centuries they have been the most 
malignant foe to the Christian Faith. The destructive de¬ 
portation of the Armenian people from its beginning in the 
sunny fields of Anatolia to the whipping out of that race 
on the banks of the Euphrates, demonstrates the consum¬ 
ing hatred nursed by the Mohammedan for the Christian 
Religion. Out of two million human souls only a remnant 
of nine hundred thousand reached their destination. That 
brutal evacuation is but a fair example of the mongrel 
Turk’s insatiable lust for Christian blood. The fate of 
Smyrna is another example of this religious insanity. 
When Tamerlane finished his pyramid of seventy thous¬ 
and human skulls and stood at the gate of Damascus glit¬ 
tering in steel, it seemed that national butchery had 


What Is Oratory? 


193 


reached its zenith, but Mustapha Kemal Pasha outstrip¬ 
ped this barbarian by fifty thousand in his destruction of 
that peaceful city of Smyrna. In short, my friends, two 
hundred and twenty-five thousand Greeks have been 
murdered by this Turkish beast since his ascendency into 
prominence. This fanatic religious hatred should be dis¬ 
armed. The facts demonstrate to you my friends, the 
seriousness of that menace hovering over those helpless 
Christian inhabitants in that land. 

When shall we staunch this flow of Christian blood? 
The powers of Europe have continually winked at this 
program of Moslem Atrocities, each nation striving to in¬ 
gratiate itself in the black Turkish heart and thereby 
gain control over Constantinople; and these powers will 
continue to maneuver in this chess game of nations 
while Kemal Pasha splits the last Christian in that land 
on the point of his sword. When, let me ask, did any 
European nation ever forget diplomacy for one day, and 
raise so much as a martial air in behalf of the distressed? 
They never have, nor will they now, unless America as¬ 
sumes leadership in this most worthy task. Shall we 
continue to take contributions for the Near East Relief? 
Shall we continue to send food to the starving Armenians, 
or raiment to the shivering Bulgarians? Is it sufficient 
to send medical aid to the bleeding Smyrnians? Are you 
content to send only a commission to give those slaught¬ 
ered victims a Christian burial? I would send a Spring- 
field rifle with every loaf of bread, a bayonet with every 
garment, and a machine gun battalion to accompany every 
burial party. I would negotiate with them across a shot- 
swept plateau. I would talk to them from the mouths 
of cannons and speak to them with tongues of fire. I 
would demobilize that craven Turkish army; I would dis¬ 
solve that poluted Angora Government; and establish in 
its stead a just and righteous Protectorate under the au¬ 
thority of the Allied Powers. 

—Charles Fair. 

Second, there is the Demonstrative Oratory. This 


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type has action as its general end but it is indirect 
and more removed than the Determinate. The orator 
of this type hopes by holding up the character of a 
great man before his hearers that they will secretly 
and unconsciously resolve to emulate the noble char¬ 
acteristics. For instance an oration on mother, an 
oration on Washington, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, 
would be classed under this type. 

Example: 


AN AMERICAN JEWEL 

(This oration, delivered by Mr. Goodspeed, won first 
honors in the State Intercollegiate Patriotic Oratorical 
Association, held at the University of Oklahoma, 1921.) 

When Wendell Phillips delivered his famous speech on 
“Idols,” in which he sounded a note of warning to his 
countrymen concerning the honor due to Mr. Choate, the 
brilliant jurist, he said: “It is a grave thing for a state 
to put a man among her jewels, the glitter of whose fame 
makes doubtful acts look heroic.” These candid words of 
timely caution, I revise tonight to say that it is a grave 
thing for a nation to withhold a place among her jewels 
from a man whose life and work bear eloquent testimony 
of his heroic service to mankind. 

Of all the names of men of America, who have not yet 
reached the Presidency of the United States, with the 
possible exception of Daniel Webster alone, there is not 
one of more enduring fascination than the name of Wil¬ 
liam Jennings Bryan. Enduring .because not once since 
his singular entrance into national politics has he turned 
traitor to his Christian conscience. Not once since that 
eloquent speech delivered in his party’s convention at 
Chicago in 1896,—a speech which by reason of its flam¬ 
ing appeal set the Convention on fire with enthusiasm 
and gave him the nomination for the Presidency of the 
United States,—not once since that day, more than a 


What Is Oratory? 


195 


quarter of a century ago, has he been found wielding his 
power and skill on the wrong side of any moral or social 
issue that has confronted the American people. Fas¬ 
cinating, because any other in his position, with his 
courage and skill, but with a coarser conscience, would 
have long ago reached with triumph the coveted chair 
for which Mr. Bryan has so ardently striven. 

If it is possible to find in all the wealth of. the English 
language one single word which best describes the pre¬ 
dominating trait in the character of Mr. Bryan, that word 
is loyalty. Not that he has never made mistakes, for that 
very trait has been the cause of his making some, but his 
cultured conscience is the Beacon Light which has at all 
times kept his feet in the path called loyal. “Loyal to 
every great cause and work in which he has been engaged; 
loyal to his friends; loyal to his country; loyal to his 
God.” His whole life has been charged with this noble 
sentiment of loyalty. It was this sentiment that prompt¬ 
ed him to take up the cause of prohibition and spend a 
large part of his life in an endeavor to overthrow the 
fiendish temples of demon rum. It was this sentiment 
that moved him to an untiring attempt to bring the gov¬ 
ernment nearer to the people and to put it more completely 
in their control. It was this sentiment that led him to 
espouse the interests of American women, who for the 
last century have been looking eagerly to that day when 
they would be given equal suffrage, which from the 
foundation of the world has rightfully belonged to them.. 
It is this sentiment that has encouraged him not only to 
try to put into practice the Sermon on the Mount, but to 
continually demonstrate his unalterable faith in the 
Prince of Peace. 

His enemies have sneered that his name brings up 
things that reflect discredit upon the American nation. 
They have called him ignorant, with a grotesque lack of 
dignity, debauching his public service for party ends. 
What things reflecting discredit unon America does the 
name of Mr. Bryan suggest? Is it the fact that he, in the 
course of his life, has initiated more issues of national 


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reform than any other contemporary American? Do they 
say these things because he is a lover of peace and jus¬ 
tice, having been the official author of more than thirty 
peace treaties between the United States and foreign 
nations? Or is it because he unfurled the banner of the 
single standard of morals, lifted it on high, and with his 
eye fixed on posterity, unsheathed his sword, on the blade 
of which was written in flaming letters, “The Pure blood 
of virtuous parentage is richer inheritance than a royalty 
or lands,” and went into battle for the right of a child 
to be wellborn? They forget that he sprang from the 
West, where “The strength of virgin forests braced his 
mind while the hush of spacious prairies tranquillized his 
soul.” They forget that he has many times foregone 
political honors rather than sacrifice a single principle. 
They forget that his has been a patriotism which catches 
its inspiration from the Almighty God, and soaring 
heavenward, rises above all that is mean and low and base, 
prompting him to deeds of courage and devotion. 

It has been said by some that Mr. Bryan was a failure. 
What is success? Is it but the attainment of all of one's 
desires, then he has not been successful. But, if, as in my 
judgment, it is the consciousness of having given to hu¬ 
manity the whole of one’s consecrated powers, then his 
has been the fullest measure of success. There are those 
who have denied to him the name of a great man. 
What is greatness? Does “goodness belong to greatness 
and make an essential part of it? If it does, who, then, 
let me ask you, can claim a cleaner record, and who has 
walked more uprightly through all the bewildering na¬ 
tional vicissitudes than this noble apostle of righteousness 
in politics. 

Think you he has failed? See him laboring with pow¬ 
erful zeal and eloquence in a strenuous campaign for free 
silver. He fought with all the enthusiasm of an impas¬ 
sioned veteran. This was his first battle. They said he 
was defeated. He was not elected President, but that pol¬ 
icy for which he fought has long since been adopted. Then 
at the beginning of the twentieth century. Witness the 


What Is Oratory? 


197 


smoky field of political battle, where his cannon charged 
with love for his people, proclaimed and echoed the will 
of the people, see him fearlessly lead his forces in an en¬ 
gagement against Imperialism and the Trust. That was 
his second battle. Again they said he had been defeated. 
True, he did not reach the White House, but since that 
time, his bitterest rivals have accepted the principles of 
that campaign. If that is not sufficent, follow him to 
Washington and hear him, while Secretary of State, and 
in the face of nation-wide criticism as he proclaimed by 
resignation from that office his lofty protest against war. 
If that does not satisfy you, there remains but one scene 
for you to witness. That is his last bitter contest against 
the foolish heirs of King Alcohol at the recent San Fran¬ 
cisco Convention. There he stood with one hand prayer^ 
fully stretched toward heaven, while with the other he 
beckoned to his fellow-men to come humbly to the shrine 
of purity and temperance. Some jeered at him because 
of his persistence; some chided him for his folly some 
smiled at him out of casual sympathy; while, he. grey with 
the toil of sixty years, grown old in the service, smiled 
to all through tears,—tears of faith, tears of hope, tears 
of love. Was that weakness and defeat? No! No! Un¬ 
daunted, triumphant victory! The liquor traffic is being 
swept forever from American soil; the American home 
saved from the ravages of alcohol. “Courage, purpose, 
endurance, these are the tests!” Show me another of 
modern times who has won such laurels as these. 

What did William Shakespeare mean when he said, 
“Blow, blow, thou wintry wind, thou art not so unkind 
as man’s ingratitude”? Could it be that his seer-like 
vision was projected into the twentieth century until he 
saw America, restraining her praise till the object of her 
song be dead? Perhaps not; but it is a sad commentary 
on human nature that, for the most part, the only carpet 
of flowers we weave for our illustrious men is that carpet 
over which their caskets are borne. You think these words 
mere frenzied zeal because the axman Death has not yet 


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found this giant oak; but when the flames of this man’s 
life expire and his soul sets forth, then scales will fall 
from blinded eyes, prejudice will wither and die under 
the hot breath of a nation’s grief, and all America will 
rise to call him great. But why wait until his spirit flies, 
then build him a monument? Shall the American people 
refuse to wreath a garland of appreciation for this grand 
old man for no other reason than that he lives and 
breathes? Oh, may it not be so! Our illustrious men are 
worthy of greater gratitude than that. 

“They would rather have a rose bud, 

As a tribute of to-day, 

Than to have the richest laurels, 

When they have passed away. 

Then give to them a rose bud, 

A rose bud, pink or red, 

They would rather have just one to-night, 

Than ten million when they’re dead.” 

— Goodspeed, Oklahoma Baptist University. 

Readings 

The Making of an Oration, by Brink, page 3-13. 

Representative College Orations, by Shurter, page 1-54. 
Extemporaneous Oratory, by Buckley, page 1-11. 


CHAPTER XII. 


Parts of An Oration. 

From the time of Aristotle to the present time rhet¬ 
oricians have differed slightly as to the number and 
names of the part of an oration. But a sum total de¬ 
duction brings us to the conclusion that there are three 
parts to the oration. 

1. The introduction. This part of the oration is 
what the name indicates. It is a leading into. It leads 
the audience into a friendly acquaintance with the 
speaker, it leads the audience into a friendly acquaint¬ 
ance with the subject. It also carries out the idea of 
leading into rather than plunging into. 

The introduction should, also, include a statement 
of the specific object or purpose, of the oration. Some 
authors give the object as a fourth part of the oration. 
But it seems better to call it the specific purpose of 
the oration which should either be stated in the intro¬ 
duction or implied. Every introduction should give 
some hint as to the purpose of the speech and also 
throw a little light on the method by which the speak¬ 
er expects to attain that object. 

The length of the introduction should be in propor¬ 
tion to the length of the oration. Most introductions 
would average about one eighth of the whole speech. 
It has been said that the introduction should bear about 
the same relation to the rest of the speech as a porch 
does to a house. If the introduction is as long as the 
discussion then the speech is top heavy. On the other 
(199) 


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Public Speaking Manual 


hand the error is equally as fatal if the discussion has 
not been sufficiently introduced. 

The introduction should establish a friendly relation 
between the speaker and the audience. Because if the 
audience is hostile toward the speaker, the speech will 
have no effect, since to the hearer, the speaker and 
the speech are one and the same. Notice how clever¬ 
ly Paul words his introduction to King Agrippa that 
he might have a sympathetic hearing. 

“I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make 
my defense before thee this day touching all the things 
whereof I am accused by the Jews: especially because 
thou are expert in all customs and questions which are 
among the Jews: Wherefore I beseech thee to hear me 
patiently.” 

It is also necessary to establish a friendly feeling 
toward your subject. Notice how adroitly Wendell 
Phillips does this in the introduction to his oration on 
Toussaint L’Ouverture: 

“If I were to tell you the story of Napoleon, I should 
take it from the lives of the Frenchmen, who find no lang¬ 
uage rich enough to paint the great captain of the nine¬ 
teenth century. Were I to tell you the story of Washing¬ 
ton, I should take it from your hearts,—you, who think no 
marble white enough on which to carve the name of the 
Father of his country. But I am to tell you the story of a 
negro, Toussaint L’Ouverture, who has left hardly one 
written line. I am to glean it from the reluctant testi¬ 
mony of his enemies, men who despised him because he 


Parts of An Oration 


201 


was a negro and a slave, hated him because he had beaten 
them in battle. ,, 

The introduction should also lead the hearers grad¬ 
ually into the line of thought that will be taken up in 
the discussion. How awkward it seems to plunge right 
into the heart of a discussion without warning. Every 
person in the audience is thinking differently. Say 
there are five hundred people in the audience, then 
there are five hundred brains following different lines 
of thought. The introduction must gather this mass of 
thought and begin to direct it in the direction of the 
speech. The speaker himself, very likely has his mind 
absorbed with his subject, but the audience hasn’t and 
for him to leap right into the heart of the discussion 
would be disastrous to his speech. 

Notice how skillfully Cicero leads into his discussion 
in the First Oration Against Verres (70 B. C.) : 

“That which was above all things to be desired, 0 
judges, and which above all things was calculated to have 
the greatest influence toward alaying the unpopularity of 
your order, and putting an end to the discredit into which 
your judicial decisions have fallen, appears to have been 
thrown in your way, and given to you not by any human 
contrivance, but almost by the interposition of the gods, 
at a most important crisis of the republic. For an opinion 
has now become established, pernicious to us and pernic¬ 
ious to the public, which has been the common talk of 
every one, not only at Rome, but among foreign nations 
also—that in the courts of law as they exist at present, 
no wealthy man, however, guilty he may be, can possibly 
be convicted. 

Now at this time of peril to your order and to your trib¬ 
unal, when men are ready to attempt by harangues, and 
by the proposal of new laws, to increase the existing un¬ 
popularity of the senate, Caius Verres is brought to trial 


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as a criminal—a man condemned in the opinion of every 
one by his life and actions, but acquitted by the enormous¬ 
ness of his wealth according to his own hope and boast. I 
0 judges, have undertaken this cause as prosecutor with 
the greatest good wishes and expectation on the part of the 
Roman people, not in order to increase the unpopularity 
of the senate, but to relieve it from the discredit which I 
share with it. For I have brought before you a man, by 
acting justly in whose case you have an opportunity of 
retrieving the lost credit of your judicial proceedings, of 
regaining your credit with the Roman People, and of giv¬ 
ing satisfaction to foreign nations; a man, the embezzler 
of the public funds, the petty tyrant of Asia and Pamphy- 
lia, the robber who deprived the city of its rights, the dis¬ 
grace and ruin of the province of Sicily. And if you come 
to a decision about this man with severity and a due re¬ 
gard to your oaths, that authority which ought to remain 
in you will cling to you still; but if that man’s vast riches 
shall break down the sanctity and honesty of the courts 
of justice, at least I shall achieve this, that it shall be 
plain that it was rather honest judgment that was want¬ 
ing to the republic, than a criminal to the judges or an 
accuser to the criminal.” 

2. The Discussion. This is sometimes called the 
body of the oration. It is the speech itself. In it the 
arguments are set forth and the thoughts developed. 
The method and order of developing the discussion will 
be dealt with under the chapter on “Development.” 

3. The Conclusion. The purpose of the conclusion 
is evident. The name is self-explanatory. After the 
last point in the discussion has been developed, it is 
then necessary to draw together the different threads 
of thought and show their relation once more to the 
object or purpose as expressed in the beginning of the 
oration. Sometimes application of a general principle, 
discussed in the opening paragraphs of the oration, is 


Parts of An Oration 


203 


made to a specific instance in the conclusion. The con¬ 
clusion is that part of the oration where the speaker 
rounds out his arguments and gives the speech a com¬ 
pleteness of thought. Sometimes it is accomplished by 
restatement, sometimes by reiteration and sometimes 
by summary. 

Sometimes in addition to a general conclusion there 
is a peroration or climax, or appeal. In many cases, 
however, the general conclusion and the appeal are one 
and the same. Let us now consider this part of the ora¬ 
tion as to style and for our present purpose and to keep 
from confusing it with the general conclusion, let us 
call it the Peroration. In accordance with the law 
of climax the speech should gradually build up in 
thought and style as it reaches its end and the Perora¬ 
tion should be the culmination of the rising effect. 

In the Peroration the orator reaches his height. 
There his passion, his fervor, his eloquence reaches its 
climax. The speech accelerates in force and movement 
as he approaches the end. “The fire of the orator 
sweeps along smoldering at first but fanned by its own 
movement grows hotter and hotter as it advances, and 
finally bursts into a flame of eloquence in the Perora¬ 
tion.” 

Examples: 

The following is the peroration to Webster's “Reply 
to Hayne.” 

“When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last 
time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the 
broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious 
Union; on states dissevered, discordant, belligerent: on a 
land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fra¬ 
ternal blood! Let their last feeble and lingering glance 
rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, now 


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Public Speaking Manual 


known and honored throughout the earth, still full high 
advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their origi¬ 
nal luster, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single 
star obscured, bearing for its motto no such miserable 
interrogatory as “What is all this worth?” nor those other 
words of delusion and folly, “Liberty first and Union aft¬ 
erwards”; but everywhere, spread all over in characters 
of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float 
over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under 
the whole heaven, that other sentiment, dear to every true 
American heart, “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one 
and inseparable’.” 

The following is the climax of Henry W. Grady’s 
speech on “The New South.” 

“This message, Mr. President, comes to you from con¬ 
secrated ground. Every foot of soil about the city in which 
I live is sacred as a battleground of the republic. Every 
hill that invests it is hallowed to you by the blood of 
your brothers who died for your victory, and doubly hal¬ 
lowed to us by the blood of those who died hopeless, but 
undaunted, in defeat—sacred soil to all of us, rich with 
memories that make us purer and stronger and better, 
silent but staunch witness in its red desolation of the 
matchless valor of American hearts and the deathless 
glory of American arms—speaking an eloquent witness, in 
its white peace and prosperity, to the indissoluble union 
of American states and the imperishable brotherhood of 
the American people. 

Now what answer has New England to this message? 
Will she permit the prejudice of war to remain in the 
heart of conquerors, when it has died in the hearts of the 
conquered? Will she transmit this prejudice to the next 
generation, that in their hearts, which never felt the gen¬ 
erous ardor of conflict, it may perpetuate itself? Will she 
withhold, save in strained courtesy, the hand which, 
straight from the soldier’s heart, Grant offered to Lee at 
Appamattox? Will she make the vision of a restored and 
happy people, which gathered above the couch of your 


Parts of An Oration 


205 


dying captain, filling his heart with grace, touching his 
lips with praise and glorifying his path to the grave; will 
she make this vision on which his expiring soul breathed 
a benediction, a cheat and a delusion? If she does, the 
South, never abject in asking for comradeship, must ac¬ 
cept with dignity its refusal; but if she does not— 
if she accepts with frankness and sincerity this 
message of good will and friendship, then will the proph¬ 
ecy of Webster, delivered in this very Society forty years 
ago, amid tremendous applause, be verified in its fullest 
and final sense, when he said: “Standing hand to hand and 
clasping hands, we should remain united as we have for 
sixty years, citizens of the same country, members of the 
same government, united all, united now, and united for¬ 
ever. There have been difficulties, contentions, and con¬ 
troversies, but I tell you that in my judgment 

Those opposed eyes, 

Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven, 

All of one nature, and one substance bred, 

Did lately meet in th* intestine shock, 

Shall now, in mutual, well-beseeming ranks 
March all one way.” 

Readings 

The Making of an Oration, by Brink, page 14-32. 

The Essentials of Extempore Speaking, by Mosher, page 10-34. 
Representative College Orations, by Shurter, page 55-92. 

Public Speaking, by Stratton, page 70-120. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


How To Write An Oration. 

Initial Steps. The choice of a subject often deter¬ 
mines to a considerable extent whether the oration is 
good, bad or mediocre. For the beginner the deter¬ 
minative type of oratory is better. It has movement, 
and its object is clearer. The speaker finds it easier 
to move toward his goal. The incentive is greater. 
His imaginative genius will be fired more and his 
native eloquence will find freer play. While with the 
demonstrative the beginner finds it difficult to keep 
his purpose in view. He finds it difficult to stay on 
his subject. He finds it difficult to write in a lucid, 
interesting, oratorical style. His paragraphs are 
stilted and dry. 

Therefore beginners should not at first attempt to 
write orations on subjects like “Mother” or “George 
Washington,” or “The American Woman,” but should 
choose subjects that are more alive. Choose some prob¬ 
lem that demands solution. Think of some law that 
would be of great advantage if passed. Choose some 
problem that includes your hobby. Argue something 
that you believe. Subjects like “World Peace,” “Na¬ 
tional Prohibition,” “Compulsory Arbitration,” and the 
like are better subjects for beginners. 

Of course, subjects of a humorous nature and sub¬ 
jects of a commonplace nature are not suitable for ora¬ 
tions. 

After having chosen the subject and decided upon 
the object , the next step is to make the outline. 

( 206 ) 


How To Write An Oration 


207 


Before reading on the subject, think it through thor¬ 
oughly, then make a tentative outline, paying respect 
to the following suggestions: 

(a) . So arrange the outline that every point furth¬ 
ers the object. Because the object must dominate the 
whole structure of the outline. 

(b) . Do not have too many points. Psychology 
teaches that the average person remembers only five 
points at a time. Three main points are usually the 
desirable number. 

(c) . Use wording that makes dear just what 
ground each point is meant to cover. 

(d) . Do not let the points overlap. Select them so 
that there will be no doubt as to where certain material 
belongs. 

(e) . Arrange the points according to the law of 
climax; with this exception, in order to take advantage 
of one of the laws of memory, (primacy), use one of 
your best points first. Then if you have any weaker 
ones use them in the middle. Graduate them so that 
they get stronger and stronger, building up to the cli¬ 
max, where the very strongest point is made. 

There are certain general divisions that fit most sub¬ 
jects: 


Spiritual 

Moral 

Intellectual 

Aesthetical 

Physical 

Industrial 

Commercial 


Financial 

Economical 

Political 

Legal 

International 

Social 

Individual 


Collective 

Recreational 

Domestic 

Family 

Community 

State 

National 


These divisions will help in outlining the speech. 



208 


Public Speaking Manual 


However, do not get the impression that these are the 
only divisions. These are only some of the general. 
It is sometimes better to use the specific. These are set 
down for helpful suggestions. 

Headings . 

The Making of an Oration, by Brink, page 33-52. 

The Essentials of Extempore Speaking, by Mosher, page 59-73. 
Kepresentative College Orations, by Shurter, page 190-218. 

How to Master the Spoken Word, by Lawrence, page 26-83. 

Public Speaking, by Stratton, page 164-193. 

Preparation. 

After a tentative outline is made the next step is to 
gather material. First draw upon your own accumu¬ 
lation of material. That is, think, and as you think of 
illustrations that will further your object, jot them 
down under their proper heading in the outline. Jot 
down in their proper places every quotation, every ex¬ 
ample, every reference, every fine figure of speech, or 
strong sentence that occurs to you. The outline will 
be helpful in suggesting material. In other words ex¬ 
haust your own store house of material and martial 
your own supply with some degree of order as it occurs 
to you. 

Next, read using the same method of jotting down 
material under its proper heading in the outline. Much 
material will come under observation that cannot be 
used. Always put this test to it: will it further my ob¬ 
ject? if not, then it is worse than useless in this par¬ 
ticular speech. 

After a thorough search of the available reading 


How To Write An Oration 


209 


matter has been made, then survey in a sort of general 
panoramic view the whole accumulation and let the 
mind digest it. Begin to conceive it not as integral 
parts but as a whole. Then converse on that subject 
with enlightened persons. This conversation will 
throw new lights on your subject matter. 

Next make your permanent outline, that is, make 
any changes necessary in your outline and you are then 
ready to begin the real work of composing your speech. 
Readings 

The Making of an Oration, by Brink, page 53-73; also 173-195. 

The Essentials of Extempore Speaking, by Mosher, page 83-96. 
Public Speaking, by Stratton, page 121-163. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Development. 

Seven Methods of Developing Thought in an Oratorical 
Style. 

1. Simile. By the use of this figure of speech the 
orator can make his thought clear by likening the un¬ 
known to the known. 

“The kingdom of Heaven is like unto a mustard seed 
. . . etc.” 

The simile is not only an aid to clearness, but by its 
use a thought can be made impressive. Daniel Webster 
in his eulogy on Adams and Jefferson says: 

“Like the mildness, the serenity, the continuing benign- 
ty of a summer’s day, they have gone down with slow de¬ 
scending, grateful, lingering light; and now that they 
are beyond the visible margin of the world, good omens 
cheer us from the bright track of their fiery car.” 

Henry Ward Beecher speaking of slavery said: 

“It was a fact; it lay before the ship of state as a rock 
lies in the channel of the ship when she goes into har¬ 
bor. . . .” 

“Man is like the grass of the field . . . .etc.” 

“Circulation of money is like the circulation of the 
blood.” 

Henry Van Dyke uses the following simile: 

“Washington and Lincoln were rooted in the same soil 
of fundamental justice; they expanded their manhood in 
the same hour of liberty. They were like the stately silver 
pine and the gnarled black oak, growing on the same hill¬ 
side, and throwing abroad their branches for the shelter 
of mankind.” 


(210) 


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2. Metaphor. This is the most used of all figures. 
People do not notice it but their speeches are made up 
to a great extent of metaphors. The simile is a stated 
comparison, but the metaphor is an implied compari¬ 
son. Without saying he is like a lion we say “He roar¬ 
ed and shook his mane,” which implies that he is like 
a lion. The metaphor is stronger than the simile be¬ 
cause it is shorter—because it is more direct. This 
figure is of inestimable value to the orator. It gives 
imagery to his speech. It lights up literary statements. 
It sets the imagination of the hearers flying. An apt 
metaphor can contain volumes of meaning. 

Honorable De Long Rice of Nashville, Tennessee, in 
his “Tribute to Honorable Robert Love Taylor,” in 
speaking of one of his lectures uses the following meta¬ 
phor: 

“He built a ship of wondrous beauty and christened her 
‘The Fiddle and the Bow’. His foreman was inspiration 
and the muses were his carpenters. Softly moved their 
invisible planes and saws and silently fell their hammers 
of fancy. The master whose mind conceived this phantom 
craft wrought with dubious care for he knew that she 
must travel the dead waters of indifference, breast the 
green waves of envy, and meet the fierce tempests of crit¬ 
icism. Her timbers were as light as the foam of a fairy 
ocean and her frame was shaped to the grace of a swan. 
Her rigging was roped with moonbeams and her sails 
were set to catch the winds from a thousand islands of 
laughter and song. She flew the flag of universal love. 
Her gunners were cupids and her guns were cupid’s bows. 

The Fiddle and the Bow was launched in the cold gloom 
of a December evening in 1891 and when she sailed back 
home amid the melting ice of March she was blazoned with 
victory and freighted with gold.” 


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William H. Seward in his “Plea for the Union,” uses 
this sentence: 

“If the constellation is to be broken up, the stars, 
whether scattered widely apart or grouped in smaller 
clusters, will thenceforth shed feeble, glimmering, and 
lurid lights:” 

3. Historical Allusion. Historical allusion is a good 
means of developing thought in an oratorical style. 
Allusion is usually used, however, with a simile <o<r a 
metaphor. An allusion to be effective must be about 
some well known place, or person, or event. If the 
speaker alludes to an unknown person it weakens rath¬ 
er than strengthens his speech. A good example of a 
fitting allusion combined with a metaphor is from 
Daniel Webster’s reference to Alexander Hamilton and 
his services as Secretary of the Treasury: 

“He smote the rock of national resources and the abund¬ 
ant stream of revenue gushed forth; he touched the dead 
corpse of public credit, and it sprang to its feet.” 

Another good example of allusion combined with the 
figures of speech is found in Phillip’s speech against 
Webster’s attitude as expressed in his “Seventh of 
March Speech.” Phillips says of Webster: 

“He gave himself up into the lap of the Deliah of slav¬ 
ery, for the mere promise of a nomination, and the great¬ 
est hour of the age was bartered away. Not for a mess of 
pottage, but for the promise of a mess of pottage,—a prom¬ 
ise.. thank God! which is to be broken. I say it is not oft¬ 
en that Providence permits the eyes of twenty millions of 
thinking people to behold the fall of another Lucifer from 
the very battlements of Heaven, down into that, “lower 
depth of the lowest depth” of Hell. On such a text, how 
effective the sermon!” 

Henry Waterson, a lover of oratory, and himself an 


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orator of no mean ability, speaking at the unveiling of 
Lincoln's statue at Frankfort, Kentucky, on Novem¬ 
ber 8, 1911, spoke thus of the great American: 

“Reviled as the Man of Galilee, slain even as the Man 
of Galilee, yet as gentle and unoffending, a man who died 
for men! Roll the stone from the grave and what shall 
we see? Just an American. The Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence his Confession of Faith. The Constitution of 
the United States his Ark and Covenant of Liberty. The 
Union his redoubt, the flag his shibboleth.” 

4. Antithesis. This is the underlying principle of 
the balanced sentence. Antithesis, means comparison 
by means of contrast. It means setting one idea over 
against another, or one word, or one phrase, or one 
sentence. Black looks blacker when compared with 
white. Antithesis is of great benefit to the orator in 
impressing a truth or in painting a word picture: 

“Alcohol gives sickness not health, poverty not riches, 
sorrow not happiness, death not life.” 

In his speech on “The New South" Henry W. Grady 
says: 

“Dr. Talmage has drawn for you, with a master hand, 
the picture of your returning armies. He has told you 
how, in the pomp and circumstance of war, they came 
back to you, marching with proud and victorious tread, 
reading their glory in the nation's eye. Will you bear with 
me while I tell you of another army that sought its home 
at the close of the late war? An army that marched home 
in defeat and not in victory—in pathos and not in splen¬ 
dor, but in glory that equaled yours, and to hearts as lov¬ 
ing as ever welcomed heroes home? Let me picture to 
you the footsore Confederate soldier, as, buttoning up in 
his faded gray jacket the parole which was to bear testi¬ 
mony to his children of his fidelity and faith, he turned 
his face southward from Appomattox in April, 1865. Think 


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of him as ragged, half starved, heavy-hearted, enfeebled 
by want and wounds, having fought to exhaustion, he sur¬ 
renders his gun, wrings the hands of his comrades in sil¬ 
ence, and, lifting his tear-stained and pallid face for the 
last time to the graves that dot the old Virginia hills, pulls 
the old gray cap over his brow and begins the slow and 
painful journey. What does he find? —let me ask you 
who went to your homes eager to find, in the welcome you 
had justly earned, full payment for four year’s sacrifice 
—what does he find when, having followed the battle- 
stained cross against overwhelming odds, dreading death 
not half so much as surrender, he reaches the home he 
left so prosperous and beautiful? He finds his home in 
ruins, his farm devastated, his slaves free, his stock killed, 
his barns empty, his trade destroyed, his money worthless; 
his social system, feudal in its magnificence, swept away; 
his people without law or legal status; his comrades slain, 
and the burdens of others heavy on his shoulders. Crush¬ 
ed by defeat, his very traditions gone. Without money, 
credit, employment, material training; and besides all 
this confronted with the gravest problems that ever met 
human intelligence—the establishment of a status for the 
vast body of his liberated slaves. 

What does he do—this hero in gray, with a heart of 
gold? Does he sit down in sullenness and despair? Not 
for a day. Surely God, who had stripped him of his pros¬ 
perity inspired him in his adversity. As ruin was never 
before so overwhelming, never was restoration swifter. 
The soldier stepped from the trenches into the furrow; 
the horses that had charged Federal guns marched be¬ 
fore the plow, and the fields that ran red with human 
blood in April were green with the harvest in June; wo¬ 
men reared in luxury cut up their dresses and made 
breeches for their husbands, and, with a patience and 
heroism that fit women always as a garment, gave their 
hands to work. There was little bitterness in all this. 

—Henry W. Grady. 

Henry Van Dyke in response to a toast on “George 
Washington,” said: 


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This year our attention has been fixed by orators upon 
the great change that has taken place in American ideals 
and characters, as illustrated by the contrast between 
Washington and Lincoln. The change from the stately 
pillared mansion of Mount Vernon to the Kentucky log 
cabin; the change from the silver buckles and silk stock¬ 
ings to the cowhide boots of the rail splitter; the change 
from the great landed proprietor to the country lawyer— 
quite a striking change, externally. There are some who 
regret it, but their regret reminds me of what one Irish¬ 
man said to another after they had heard Bryan’s speech 
in Madison Square Garden after his return from Europe. 
Patrick said, “Ah, Bryan is not the man that he used to 
be,” and Michael said, “No, and he never was, either.” 

And there are some who rejoice in this professed change 
and congratulate themselves upon it. Their gratulation 
reminds me of what a New England farmer said, who bor¬ 
rowed from Emerson a copy of his Plato, and when the 
farmer brought it back again, he said: “I kind of like 
that Greek fellow; he has got some of my ideas.” 

But neither the regret nor the gratulation was justified, 
for really the change from Washington to Lincoln was a 
change, only on the surface, and not in essentials. There 
is a continuity between the two men that if they could 
have seen each other would have made them stand to¬ 
gether in whatever crisis their lives had fallen. 

So Washington was not the last American, nor was Lin¬ 
coln the first American, though Lowell said so. Franklin 
was an American, and Alexander Hamilton was an Amer¬ 
ican, and Philip Schuyler was an American, and John Jay 
was an American. And every one of these men who had 
spirit enough to take his heritage from England or Scot¬ 
land or France or Ireland and lay it on the shrine of lib¬ 
erty and equal rights was an American.” 

—.Henry Van Dyke. 

Let us observe the manner of Gorgias, the Greek 
rhetorician and teacher of oratory: 

“A city is adorned by good citizenship, the body by 
beauty, the soul by wisdom, acts by virtue, and speech by 


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truthfulness. But the opposites of these virtues are a dis¬ 
grace. Man and woman, word and deed, city and govern¬ 
ment we ought to praise if praiseworthy, and blame if 
blameworthy. For it is equally wrong and stupid to cen¬ 
sure what is commendable, and to commend what is cen¬ 
surable. Now I conceive it to be my duty in the interest 
of justice to confute the slanders of Helen, the memory 
of whose misfortunes has been kept alive by the writings 
of the poets and the fame of her name. I propose, there¬ 
fore, by argument to exonerate her from the charge of 
infamy, to convince her accusers of their error, and to 
remove their ignorance by a revelation of the truth.” 

5. Rhetorical Question. A very strong way to say 
a truth often is in question form. A question of which 
the answer is obvious. This form of development, 
breaks the monotony of declaratory discourse and at¬ 
tracts attention to the thought. A rhetorical question 
or two thrown into the midst of a paragraph of affirm¬ 
ations lights up the whole paragraph with an illumina¬ 
tion that at once attracts the hearers interest and burns 
its truth into their consciousness. 

Senator Hoar speaking on the Philippine question 
developed his thoughts as follows: 

“There were no public lands in the Philippine Islands, 
the property of Spain, which we have bought and paid for. 
The mountains of iron and nuggets of gold and the hemp¬ 
bearing fields—do you propose to strip the owners of their 
rightful title? Will any man go to the Philippine Is¬ 
lands to dwell, except to help govern the people, or to 
make money by a temporary residence? Is it credible that 
any intelligent American citizen anywhere, two years ago, 
could have been found to affirm that a proceeding like 
that of the Paris treaty could give valid title to sover¬ 
eignty over a people situated as were the people of those 
islands? International law has something to say in this 


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217 


matter. Will the American people, for the first time in 
their history, disregard its august mandates ?” 

—Senator Hoar. 

“What shall history say of us? Shall it say that we re¬ 
nounced the holy trust, left the savage to his base condi¬ 
tion, the wilderness to the reign of waste, deserted duty, 
abandoned glory, forgot our sordid profit even, because 
we feared our strength and read the charter of our pow¬ 
ers with the doubter’s eye and the quibbler’s mind? Shall 
it say that, called by events to captain and command the 
proudest, ablest, purest race of history’s noblest work, 
we declined the great commission? Do you tell me that 
it will cost us money? When did Americans ever measure 
duty by financial standards? Do not tell me of the tre¬ 
mendous toil required to overcome the vast difficulties 
of our task? What mighty work for the world, for hu¬ 
manity, even for ourselves, has ever been done with ease?” 

—Senator Beveridge. 

Patrick Henry’s appeal is made pungent and electric 
by the rhetorical question. 

“It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. 
We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and 
listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into 
beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great 
and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to 
be of the number of those, who, having eyes, see not, and 
having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern 
their temporal salvation? . . . Are fleets and armies nec¬ 
essary to a work of life and reconciliation? Have we 
shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force 
must be called in to win back our love? . . . What means 
this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to 
submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible 
motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quar¬ 
ter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies 
and armies? . . . Our brethren are already in the field! 
Why stand we here idle? What is it that the gentlemen 
wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so 


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sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and 
slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what 
course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or 
give me death! 

—Patrick Henry. 

“When, 0 Catiline, do you mean to cease abusing our 
patience? How long is that madness of yours still to 
mock us? When is there to be an end of that unbridled 
audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now?” 

—Cicero 

6. Epigram. This has been defined as the expres¬ 
sion of an important idea in a brief striking f orm, that 
may also contain an element of surprise or a seeming 
contradiction. It bears some resemblance to antithesis 
and partakes of contrast. This gives sparkle to the 
thought. A speech made up entirely of epigrams would 
likely be a failure. The use of too many epigrams 
giv-^ a choppy effect to the speech. But a few advert- 
antly scattered through a speech gives it vigor and 
lustre. 

A few examples of epigrams are: 

“Plan your work and work your plan.” 

“Seniors, you are now at the end of your education, but 
it is the beginning end.” 

“Education never makes a fool, it sometimes empha¬ 
sizes one, however.” 

“Whether in chains or laurels, liberty knows nothing 
but victory.” 

“The theory of books is noble. The scholar of the first 
age received into him the world around; brooded thereon; 
gave it the new arrangement of his own mind and uttered 
it again. It came into him, life; it went out from him, 
truth. It came to him, short-lived actions; it went out 
from him, immortal thoughts. It came to him, business; 
it went from him, poetry. It was dead fact; now, it is 
quick thought. It can stand and it can go. It now en- 


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219 


dures, it now flies, it now inspires. Precisely in propor¬ 
tion to the depth of mind from which it issued, so high 
does it soar, so long does it sing.” 

7. Illustrations. Some authors do not lay much 
stress upon the use of illustration but the speak¬ 
er who can and does use examples and stories freely 
interests his hearers and imparts his thoughts. An 
appropriate story well told carries tons of weight. Il¬ 
lustrations carry truths to minds that would grasp 
them no other way. Pages of argument can some¬ 
times be summed up in one good story. The speaker 
should never give an illustration just for the story 
itself. If it does not further the general end then 
leave it out. In the formal oration the illustration 
should be dignified. It should be told in well chosen 
dignified language. It should be briefly told. Many 
good stories are ruined by the speaker going too much 
into detail. Emerson said • 

“Books are for the scholars idle times. When he can 
read God directly the hour is too precious to be wasted 
in other men’s transcripts of their readings. But when 
the intervals of darkness come, as come they must—when 
the sun is hid and the stars withdraw their shining—we 
repair to the lamps which were kindled by their ray, to 
guide our steps to the East again; where the dawn is. We 
hear, that we may speak. The Arabian proverb says, “A 
fig tree, looking on a fig tree, becomes fruitful.” 

Henry Ward Beecher, in his sermon, “Poverty and 
the Gospel,” used this illustration: 

“On the Niagara River logs come floating down and 
strike an island, and there they lodge and accumulate for 
a little while, and won’t go over. But the rains come, the 
snow melts, the river rises, and the logs are lifted up and 
down, and they go swinging over the falls. There is a 


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certain river of political life, and everything has to go 
into it first or last; and if, in days to come, a man separ¬ 
ates himself from his fellows without sympathy, if his 
wealth and power make poverty feel itself more poor and 
men’s misery more miserable, and set against him the 
whole stream of popular feeling, that man is in danger.” 
Emerson further says: 

“I had rather have a good symbol of my thought, or a 
good analogy, than the suffrage of Kant or Plato. If you 
agree with me, or if Locke or Montesquieu agree, I may 
yet be wrong; but if the elm-tree thinks the same thing, 
if running water, if burning coal, if crystals, if alkalies, 
in their several fashions, say what I say, it must be true.” 


CHAPTER XV. 

Oratorical Style. 

Some speeches sound well when the speaker delivers 
them, but when one reads them, they are not so inter¬ 
esting. On the other hand there are writings that are 
fine to read but when delivered sound flat. The differ¬ 
ence is that there is an oratorical style that is neces¬ 
sary to have before a speech sounds well. The student 
should write his speeches to fit his own mouth, that 
is, before a sentence goes into the speech let the author 
speak it and satisfy himself that it sounds well. Every 
word should roll as a sweet morsel under the tongue. 

Rhythm. 

The language should be euphonious. It should swing 
in strong and beautiful prose. Where two words are 
difficult to pronounce, the structure of the sentence 
should be changed. Such combinations as “scholarly 
letter,” should be changed. iCicero would not end a sen¬ 
tence with a word of one syllable because he was so de¬ 
voted to the euphony of speech. 

Rhythm is a very important element of speech. It is 
rather intangible but we recognize it when we hear it. 
Some speeches are almost poetry because of such 
rhythm. 

Words and sentences arranged in rhythmic form at¬ 
tract and please the sensibility of an audience and 
place it in a willing mood. 

( 221 ) 


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Imagery. 

The oratorical style glows with suggestive lang¬ 
uage. Language that sets the imagination leaping 
from one pinnacle of thought to another. The hearer 
enjoys the speaker who paints with bold and master 
strokes using plenty of color and yet all in harmony, 
and every stroke brings the picture nearer to comple¬ 
tion. The orator says the commonplace in an eloquent 
manner; he touches the sordid and it glows with ro¬ 
mance. He breathes upon prose and it becomes 
poetry. Imagery is essential to oratorical style. 

Examples: 

“Shakespeare lived the life of savage men. He trod 
the forest’s silent depths, and in the desperate game of 
life or death he matched his thought against the instinct 
of the beast. He knew all crimes and all regrets, all vir¬ 
tues and their rich rewards. He was victim and victor, 
pursuer and pursued, outcast and king. He heard the ap¬ 
plause and curses of the world, and on his heart had 
fallen all the nights and noons of failure and success. 

“He knew the outspoken thoughts, the dumb desires, 
the wants and ways of beasts. He felt the crouching 
tiger’s thrill, the terror of the ambushed prey, and, with 
the eagles, he had shared the ecstacy of flight and poise 
and swoop, and he had lain with sluggish serpents on the 
barren rocks, uncoiling slowly in the heat of noon. He 
sat beneath the bo-tree's contemplative shade, wrapped in 
Buddha’s mighty thought, and dreamed all dreams that 
light, the alchemist, had wrought from dust and dew and 
stored within the slumberous poppy’s subtle blood. He 
knelt with awe and dread at every shrine. He offered 
every sacrifice, and every prayer; felt the consolation 
and the shuddering fear, mocked and worshipped all the 
gods; enjoyed all heavens and felt the pangs of every 
hell. He lived all lives, and through his blood and brain 
there crept the shadow and the chill of every death; and 


Rhythm 


223 


his soul, like Mazeppa, was lashed to the wild horse of 
every fear and love and hate. 

“Shakespeare was an intellectual ocean, whose waves 
touched all the shores of thought; within which were all 
the tides and waves of destiny and will; over which swept 
all the storms of fate, ambition and revenge; upon which 
fell the gloom and darkness of despair and death, and all 
the sunlight of content and love, and within which was the 
inverted sky, lit with the eternal stars—an intellectual 
ocean—toward which all rivers ran, and from which now 
the isles and continents of thought receive their dew and 
rain.” 

Robert G. Ingersoll. 

“Let the fountain tell me of the flocks that have drunk 
at it; of the village girl that has gathered spring flowers 
on its margin; the traveler that has slaked his thirst 
there in the hot noon, and blessed its waters; the schoolboy 
that has pulled the nuts from the hazels that hang over 
it as it leaps and sparkles in the cool basin; let it speak 
of youth and health and purity and gladness, and I care 
not for the naiad that pours it out.” 

—William Cullen Bryant. 

“Not even a Shakespeare or a Milton can paint the flavor 
of a peach or picture the odor of a rose. Poets may sing 
forever of moonlit rivers, but unless you have looked upon 
their shimmering silver flowing through hours that be¬ 
long to dreams you are a stranger to their beauty. 

“Only those who have seen and heard Bob Taylor can 
enjoy anything approaching a true conception of the man. 
His severest dignity was the simplicity of his nature, and 
love was the sword of his strength. His perennial humor 
was only the tinsel draping of his power like the sun-em¬ 
broidered shawl of mist that wraps Niagra’s mighty 
shoulders. 

—Tribute to “Bob” Taylor, by Dr. De Long Rice. 

“The spirit of music, like an archangel, presides over 
mankind and all visible creation. Her afflatus, divinely 
sweet, divinely powerful, is breathed on every human 


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heart and inspires every soul to some nobler sentiment, 
some higher thought, some greater action. 

“0, music, sweetest, sublimest ideal of Omiscience, 
first born of God, fairest and loftiest seraph of the celes¬ 
tial hierarchy, muse of the beautiful, daughter of the uni¬ 
verse ! 

“In the morning of eternity when the stars were young, 
her first grand oratorio burst upon raptured Deity and 
thrilled the wondering angels; all heaven shouted; ten 
thousand times ten thousand jeweled harps, ten thousand 
times ten thousand angels tongues caught up the song; 
and ever since, through all the golden cycles its breathing 
melodies, old as eternity, yet ever new as the flitting 
hours, have floated on the air of heaven.” 

— Bol) Taylor . 

“I saw a cottage among the elms and oaks, and a little 
curly head toddled at the door. He toddled under the 
trees, prattling to the birds and playing with the ripening 
apples that fell on the ground. He toddled among the 
roses and plucked an angel's wings, strewing their glory 
upon the green grass at his feet. He chased the butter¬ 
flies from flower to flower and shouted with glee as they 
eluded his grasp and sailed away on the summer air. 
Here, I thought, his childish fancy had built a paradise 
and peopled it with dainty seraphims and made himself its 
Adam. He saw the sunlight of Eden glint on every leaf 
and beam in every petal. The flitting honeybee, the 
whirling June bug, the fluttering breeze, the silvery pulse 
beat of the dashing brook, sounded in his ears notes of 
their swelling music. The iris-winged humming bird, 
darting like a sunbeam to kiss the pouting lips of the up¬ 
turned flowers, was to him the impersonation of beauty. 
And I said, “Truly, childhood is the nearest approach in 
this world to the paradise of long ago.” 

— Bol) Taylor. 

Climax. 

Oratorical style involves climax. An essay does not 


Rhythm 


225 


need to accelerate and gain in force and fire like an 
oration. The speaker builds up in his fervor and there¬ 
fore it is necessary that the style of the subject matter 
build up in proportion. The effect would be disap¬ 
pointing if the language of the speech did not increase 
in eloquence, strength, and beauty as the speaker in¬ 
creased in force, fervor, and earnestness. 

Examples: 

(Extract from “Affairs in Cuba.”) 

“We cannot intervene and save Cuba without the exer¬ 
cise of force, and force means war; war means bloods 
The lowly Nazarene on the shores of Galilee preached the 
divine doctrine of love, “Peace on earth, good will to¬ 
ward men.” Not peace on earth at the expense of liberty 
and humanity. Not good will toward men who despoil, 
degrade, and starve to death their fellowmen. I believe 
in the doctrine of Christ. I believe in the doctrine of 
peace; but, Mr. President, men must have liberty before 
there can come abiding peace. 

Intervention means force. Force means war. War 
means blood. But it will be God’s force. When has a 
battle for humanity and liberty ever been won except by 
force? What barricade of wrong, injustice, and oppres¬ 
sion has ever been carried except by force? 

Force compelled the signature of unwilling royalty to 
the great Magna Charta; force put life into the Declara-^ 
tion of Independence and made effective the Emancipa¬ 
tion Proclamation; force beat with naked hands upon the 
iron gateway of the Bastille and made reprisal in one aw¬ 
ful hour for centuries of kingly crime; force waved the 
flag of revolution over Bunker Hill and marked the snows 
of Valley Forge with blood-stained feet; force held the 
broken line at Shiloh, climbed the flame-swept hill at 
Chattanooga, and stormed the clouds on Lookout Heights; 
force marched with Sherman to the sea, rode with Sheri¬ 
dan in the valley of the Shenandoah, and gave Grant 
victory at Appomattox; force saved the Union, kept the 


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stars in the flag, made “niggers” men. The time for 
God’s force has come again. Let the impassioned lips of 
American patriots once more take up the song: 

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, 
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me; 
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, 
For God is marching on. 

Others may hesitate, others may procrastinate, others 
may plead for further diplomatic negotiation, which 
means delay, but for me, I am ready to act now, and for 
my action, I am ready to answer to my conscience', my 
country, and my God.” 

—Senator James M. Thurston. 

(Extract from “Breaking of Day.”) 

“Such was the glorious spectacle as I entered the train. 
As we proceeded, the timid approach of twilight became 
more perceptible. The intense blue of the sky began to 
soften; the smaller stars, like little children, went first 
to rest; the sister beams of the Pleiades soon melted to¬ 
gether; but the bright constellations of the west and north 
remained unchanged. Steadily the wondrous transfig¬ 
uration went on. Hands of angels, hidden from mortal 
eyes, shifted the scenery of the heavens; the glories of 
night dissolved into the glories of the dawn. The blue 
sky now turned more softly gray; the great watch-stars 
shut up their holy eyes; the east began to kindle. Faint 
streaks of purple soon blushed along the sky; the whole 
celestial concave was filled with the inflowing tides of 
the morning light, which came pouring down from above 
in one great ocean of radiance; till at length, as we 
reached the blue hills, a flash of purple fire blazed out 
from above the horizon, and turned the dewy tear-drops 
of flower and leaf into rubies and diamonds. In a few 
seconds the everlasting gates of the morning were thrown 
wide open, and the Lord of Day, arrayed in glories too 
severe for gaze of man, began his course.” 

—Edward Everett. 


Rhythm 


227 


Warnings. 

Do not mix figures of speech. Here are some 
examples from students’ orations. 

“Glowing accounts of murders, robberies and lawless¬ 
ness furnish fuel for the great wave of crime that is 
sweeping over our country and sapping the vitals of our 
nation.” 

He first suggests a fire by the use of the word 
“fuel.” But if he had a fire it would be extinguished 
by his “wave.” Furthermore, “sweeping” is not in 
keeping with the idea of a wave; and sapping is quite 
the opposite from what waves do. Here is another 
mixed figure: 

“As Hannibal fought his way through the Gallic tribes, 
forced the unknown passes of the Alps, and then poured 
down like an avalanche upon the fertile plains of Italy.” 

Avalanches do not pour, neither did Hannibal pour. 

The beginner misconstrues bombast for oratorical 
style. Flowers in a speech are to be encouraged, with 
precaution. Always put this test to the figure of 
speech or the bouquet or the sprinkling of star-dust, 
does this further my object? If so, use it, if not omit 
it. 

Examples of figures of speech , word pictures , and de¬ 
scriptive passages that go to make up oratorical style : 

The light of the newly kindled sun, indeed, was glori¬ 
ous. It struck upon all the planets, and waked into exist¬ 
ence their myriad capacities of life and joy. As it re¬ 
bounded from them, and showed their vast orbs all wheel¬ 
ing, circle beyond circle in their stupendous courses, the 
sons of God shouted for joy. 

—Horace Mann. 

“As it is with the individual, so it is with the nation. It 
is a base untruth to say that happy is the nation that has 


228 


Public Speaking Manual 


no history. Thrice happy is the nation that has a glorious 
history. Far better is it to share mighty things, to win 
glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than 
to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy 
much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twi¬ 
light that knows neither victory nor defeat.” 

— Theodore Roosevelt . 

“Called like one of old, within a handful of years he 
rose at a supreme moment to supreme command, fulfilled 
the law of his being, and passed from the scene an ex¬ 
halation of the dawn of freedom. We may still hear his 
cheery voice bidding us be of good heart, sure that ‘right 
makes might/ entreating us to pursue ‘with firmness in 
the right as God gives to see the right/ ” 

—Tribute to Lincoln. 

“We do not read even of the dicovery of this contin¬ 
ent, without feeling something of a personal interest in 
the event; without being reminded how much it has af¬ 
fected our own fortunes and our own existence. It is 
more impossible for us, therefore, than for others, to 
contemplate with unaffected minds that interesting, I may 
say that most touching and pathetic scene, when the great 
discoverer of America stood on the deck of his shattered 
bark, the shades of night falling on the sea, yet no man 
sleeping; tossed on the billows of an unknown ocean, yet 
the stronger billows of alternate hope and despair toss¬ 
ing his own troubled thoughts; extending forward his 
harassed frame, straining westward his anxious and eager 
eyes, till Heaven at last granted him a moment of rapture 
and ecstasy, in blessing his vision with' the sight of the 
unknown world.” 

—Williarr Jennings Bryan. 

“But I saw old mothers with their white locks and 
wrinkled brows swoon at the governor’s feet every day. I 
saw old fathers with broken hearts and tear-stained faces, 
and heard them plead by the hour for their warward boys. 
I saw a wife and seven children, clad in tatters and rags 
and barefooted in winter, fall down upon their knees 


Rhythm 


229 


around him who held the pardoning power. I saw a little 
girl climb upon the governor’s knee and put her arms 
around his neck, and I heard her ask him if he had little 
girls; and then I saw her sob upon his bosom as though 
her little heart would break, and. heard her plead for 
mercy for‘her poor, miserable, wretched, convict father. 
I saw want and woe and anguish unutterable pass before 
the gubernatorial door, and I said, ‘Let this heartless 
world condemn, let the critics frown and rail, but he who 
hath power and doth not temper justice with mercy will 
cry in vain himself for mercy on that great day when God 
shall judge the merciful and the unmerciful.” 

—Bob Taylor. 

Readings 

The Making of an Oration, by Brink, page T3-94. 

The Essentials of Extempore Speaking, by Mosher, page 35-58; 
75-81. 

How to Master the Spoken Word, by Lawrence* page 84-119. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


Delivery of an Oration. 

1. Style. Every speaker has a style of delivery 
peculiar to himself. The student should cultivate and 
develop his original style and not attempt to pattern 
some one else too much. Of course, if there is some¬ 
thing offensive in a style, it should be eliminated. Or, 
if there is something lacking in a speaker’s style it 
should be acquired. Generally speaking, in oratorical 
delivery, we find two distinctive styles. We call one 
of these styles the “conversational” and the other, the 
“Old Line.” The “conversational” is found more in 
the northern and eastern states, while the “Old Line” 
is found more' in the south and west. The “conversa¬ 
tional” is more an intelligent style, while the other is 
a more passionate, emotional style. I would be pre¬ 
sumptuous to say that one is right and the other is 
wrong, but it is true that the subject matter of the 
oration is largely the determining factor in the style 
of delivery. Imagine Patrick Henry’s famous “Give 
me Liberty” speech being delivered in a “conversation¬ 
al” style. Or imagine a lecture on science being giv¬ 
en in the “grandiloquent” style of the “Old Line.” 

The best style of delivery for orations is a combina¬ 
tion of the two. “Contrast is the soul of eloquence.” 
There are extremes in both styles. These should be 
avoided. It is noticeable that persons who win the most 
oratorical contests are those who use a combination of 
the “conversational” and the “Old Line.” There are 
( 230 ) 


Delivery of an Oration. 


231 


passages that call for calm delivery, and there are 
others that call for fervid delivery. There are other 
passages which should be given in a middle ground 
style, neither calm nor fervid. Therefore, if you are 
a “barnstormer,” beget a certain calmness and gentle¬ 
ness that will give dignity to your delivery. On the 
other hand, if you are a dry, cold-blooded classroom 
style speaker, you should beget some fire and force, 
which would make your speaking more effective. 

If the “conversational” style just naturally be¬ 
comes the speaker better than the other, he should use 
it, but even that style has it waves and valleys where 
the force is increased and decreased. That is, it has 
contrast of emphasis. On the other hand, if the “Old 
Line” style is more becoming to the speaker, it should 
be used, but even the “Old Line” is not as some have 
thought it to be, one loud, monotonous stream of tone. 
It, too, has waves and valleys of emphasis: 

Then we have deduced this bit of advice concerning 
style: Develop your original style, but guard against 
extremes. 

2. Articulation. The orator sholdd make a hobby 
of articulation. This subject has already been dealt 
with under “Expression,” page 13, however, attention 
is called to it here because its importance demands it. 

How quickly an audience detects and admires a 
clear-cut, delicately-chiseled articulation! It bespeaks 
culture and good breeding. On the other hand, sloven, 
mealy-mouthed speaking betrays the speaker as com¬ 
mon, sometimes even coarse. In writing an oration, 
the orator should write it to fit his tongue, that is, 


232 


Public Speaking Manual 


construct his sentences so that he can give them with 
the greatest ease and euphony. Then it is just as es¬ 
sential that he shall take each word separately and 
work on it until he articulates it net only correctly, 
but perfectly. There is no reason why every word 
of a memorized speech should not be beautifully arti¬ 
culated. The trouble with most students in working 
on articulation is that they try to do a blanket job of 
it, that is, they try to get some general rule that will 
cause them to articulate all of the language perfectly. 
The theory of that is all right, but the practice that 
proves successful is to take each word in a speech se¬ 
parately and work it out. Of course, that means 
drudgery, and that is why no more students articulate 
perfectly. By all means, if you are working for a 
contest, do not leave a stone unturned to perfect your 
articulation. 

3. Phrasing. This has also been dealt with under 
“Expression,” but its importance in the delivery of an 
oration requires that it be mentioned again. There 
are speakers with a choppy delivery. This is the re¬ 
sult of incorrect phrasing. Phrasing means getting 
your breath between thoughts. Therefore, if you get 
your breath when a thought is but half expressed, you 
are not phrasing correctly. Words should group around 
each separate thought. 

4. Movement. Here again we call attention to a 
phase of speaking that came under “Expression.” 
Most beginning orators start off too rapidly on their 
memorized speeches. One reason i*s because it is me¬ 
morized, and they do not have to search for the words, 
and another is that they are excited. You should try 


Delivery of an Oration. 


233 


to give the appearance that your speech is not memo¬ 
rized, but coming just hot from the think-box. And 
one of the best ways to give that appearance, and the 
only right way to speak, is to make it come just hot 
from the think-box. / Because you have thought it 
out before is no reason why you should not think it 
again as you give it. In fact, it is the more reason why 
you should think it more vividly. 

One of the best ways to keep from being excited is 
to start out very deliberately, with a sort of measured 
movement. This will give you time to get your bear¬ 
ing. It will also allow you to think of the words and 
prevent you from dashing into a corner where you 
cannot think of the next word. 

Remember also that your purpose is to get the audi¬ 
ence to grasp what you have to say, and that they are 
not thinking along that line when you start, so that 
you will have to give them time to follow your line of 
reasoning. 

There are passages filled with imagery, where the 
mind flies ahead of the words, where the thought is 
not deep and intricate, but picturesque and easily and 
readily grasped. It would be just as fatal to drag that 
passage out, as it would to hurry over one filled with 
deep thought. So the speech should have variety in 
movement. 

At the beginning of each new thought there should 
be a change in the movement. For instance, you may 
bring the development of a thought to a close with a 
rapid-fire movement, but when you take hold of the 
new idea you should slow up, in order to signal that a 
new thought is under discussion and also in order to 


234 


Public Speaking Manual 


give the audience the opportunity to adjust its think¬ 
ing to the new idea. 

5. Voice. The swell and roll of a rich voice is the 
music that strikes upon the harp of the human sen¬ 
sibility and prepares the atmosphere for the thought 
that is contained in the words. The voice colors the 
picture. 

The natural pure voice should always be used. Some 
students and even some experienced speakers, have a 
stage or pulpit voice which is unnatural and should not 
be used. Save your richest tones for the strongest 
passages. In training, experiment with the voice. It 
should be like a ball in the hands of a juggler. You 
should be able to absolutely control it, change pitch, in¬ 
flect it, and swell it out. Herein lies a secret only a 
few ever learn. Always be on the alert for harsh, 
sharp tones, and weed them out. If your voice tickles 
your throat, change tone, shift it to where it does not 
tickle. 

6. ’ Force . You should never give the appearance 
of having spent your last ounce of force. Always ap¬ 
pear to have a reserve that you could use at will. 
Your force should increase with the strength of your 
sentences. The law of climax should govern your use 
of force. Your highest point of force should not be 
right at the very end of a paragraph, but a little way 
from the end. From that point the force should slowly 
decrease, so that you can close that paragraph with¬ 
out being left up in the air, so to speak, but by de¬ 
creasing the force somewhat it makes it easy to close 
that paragraph gracefully. In the same way, force 
should gradually be acquired and not jumped into. 


Delivery of an Oration. 


235 


Slowly increase the force as the strength of the lan¬ 
guage increases. Never startle the audience by burst¬ 
ing out all at once into a storm of passion. 

7. Gesture. For full discussion of this topic, refer 
to the same topic under “Expression,” page 22. The 
orator should use some gestures even if he has to force 
them at first. Gradually they will come more natural¬ 
ly. 

Readings 

The Making of an Oration, by Brink, page 196-208. 

Principles of Public Speaking, by Lee, page 168-203. 


CHAPTER XVII. 

The Analysis of An Oration. 

(The following oration was written by the author and 
delivered by him in the National Oratorical Contest held 
at Lexington, Kentucky, in 1916, where it won first 
honors:) 

The title is “Lay the Axe to the Root of the Evil.” 
The whole oration is given here, piecemeal, for the 
purpose of analysis. 

The title of an oration should be as suggestive and 
attractive as possible. It should give some hint 
as to the subject matter. This title, “Lay the Axe to 
the Root of the Evil,” implies the existence of an evil, 
and suggests the solution. Because of its similiarity to 
the scripture “The axe should be laid to the root of 
the tree,” it attracts interest. 

The oration begins with the following sentence: 

“An evil deserves annihilation.” 

The second word forms a connecting link with the 
title. The sentence is short and easily spoken, and 
easily grasped. It is the major premise of a syllogism, 
taking a universal truth for its basis. 

“The liquor traffic is an admitted evil.” 

This sentence plunges directly into the subject. It 
is the minor premise of the syllogism. 

“The logical solution, then, is root-and-branch destruc¬ 
tion.” 

This is the conclusion of the syllogism. It points out 
the solution as implied in the title. 

(236) 


The Analysis of an Oration. 


237 


“But, before we know how to destroy an evil, we must 
know what the nature of it is. Is this a personalia com¬ 
munity, a state, or a national evil?” 

Here the general subject is being narrowed down into 
the particular phase that the speaker wishes to dis¬ 
cuss. 

“If a personal, moral suasion is the remedy; if a com¬ 
munity, loCal option is the cure; if a state, state prohibi¬ 
tion is the solution; and if a national, then it demands na¬ 
tional action.” 

“The spirit of the Constitution is to engender and pro¬ 
evil and at the same time the solution. Notice the choice 
of words: “Remedy, cure, solution, action.” 

“It is national, because of its scope; because it is pro¬ 
tected by national law and finally, because it violates the 
spirit of the constitution.” 

Here is the object of the oration. It is the first as¬ 
sertion that needs substantiation. The purpose then 
of the oration is to prove that the evil is national. The 
plan is outlined in the same sentence. 

This, then, ends the introduction. Its purpose has 
been accomplished. The subject has been introduced. 
The subject has been narrowed to one phase. The ob¬ 
ject has been stated and the plan indicated. We are 
ready now for the discussion. 

“Liquor affects the nation as a whole.” 

This is the first reason why the evil is national. It 
is the paragraph sentence. It is an assertion and must 
be supported. 

“Not a city, village or hamlet in the land but has felt 
the blight of its touch. Beer manufactured in Milwaukee 
carries poverty to homes in every state of the Union. 


238 


Public Speaking Manual 


Whiskey distilled in Kentucky causes murder and robbery 
in every section of the country. In Chicago every day 
there comes a plaintive cry for bread from five thousand 
hungry little mouths. In New Orleans the potter’s field 
is continually gorged with the untimely dead. In San 
Francisco liquor-infuriated criminals swarming in the al¬ 
leys and by-ways ever harass the citizenry. In the tene¬ 
ments of New York City countless hordes gasp for breath, 
while upon the streets, shivering, freezing, dying women 
and children beg for crumbs that fall from the tables of 
their masters, the liquor dealers.” 

The point has been built up by cumulation, by a heap- 
ing-up of general illustration. The imagery causes the 
mind to see one picture after another. The last is an 
allusion to Lazarus, begging for the crumbs that fall 
from the rich man’s table. 

“Lame feet, palsied hands, deaf ears, blind eyes, crazed 
brains, and deformed bodies from every populated dis¬ 
trict in America point to the liquor traffic as the cause 
of their infirmity.” 

Summing up the thought, this sentence brings that 
paragraph to a close with a climax of imagery and eu¬ 
phony. 

“Then, in the light of the past, this evil is national. For 
polygamy existed in only one state, slavery existed in only 
ten states, and yet, because polygamy and slavery were 
morally wrong and threatened the welfare of the people 
as a whole, they were declared national evils and abolish¬ 
ed by national action.” 

To clinch the argument on the scope of the evil two 
specific instances of the government’s attitude on such 
questions are cited, slavery and polygamy. 

“Today liquor affects every state, every community, and 


The Analysis of an Oration. 


239 


it binds men with shackles worse than those of physical 
slavery.” 

This sentence closes the first main point of the dis¬ 
cussion with a metaphor. 

“Furthermore, legislation has made the liquor evil na¬ 
tional.” 

The first word of this paragraph serves as a bridge 
connecting the two main points. This sentence states 
the second contention set forth in the introduction. 

“In 1862, the federal government legalized the sale and 
manufacture of intoxicants. The traffic, therefore, has 
the approval and protection of the national government. 
Every state in the union might outlaw liquor and yet there 
could be enough legally manufactured in the District of 
Columbia to intoxicate the world, for the states cannot de¬ 
stroy what the nation protects. The federal government 
is the “silent” partner of this social parasite; a federal 
officer carries the keys to the distillery, a federal seal is 
placed upon its warehouses, and a federal revenue stamp 
is stuck upon every bottle of rum.” 

The oratorical style in the development of this para¬ 
graph is apparent. The language and thought are such 
as to naturally build up the fire and fervor of the 
speaker. 

“It is an outrage upon every principle of decency and 
justice for any government to undertake to subsist upon 
money that is the price of souls, money more ill-gotten 
than the wealth of Judas Iscariot. The crumbled ruins 
<)f fallen empires testify that a nation cannot long en¬ 
dure with such a canker eating out its vitals. The federal 
government has entered into a compact with a corrupt 
partner and the federal government must act if that part¬ 
nership is ever dissolved. 

“In the front window of the saloon hangs the framed li¬ 
quor license, surmounted by our American Eagle and dec- 


240 


Public Speaking Manual 


orated with our national colors. What a humiliation to 
the eagle! What an insult to the flag!’ But federal law 
has placed them there and federal law must remove them; 
for so long as the liquor dealer can screen himself behind 
the American flag the evil will remain.” 

Here is an allusion to the thirty pieces of silver paid 
to Judas for betraying Christ. Following that there 
are metaphors and a quotation. The last sentence 
closes the paragraph and at the same time brings the 
object again to mind. 

“Moreover, an evil becomes national when it violates 
the spirit of the nation’s constitution.” 

The word “moreover” acts as a connecting link and 
the sentence itself launches the third point laid down 
in the introduction. 

“Do we ‘form a more perfect union’ when some states 
manufacture liquor and others prohibit its sale? Do we 
‘establish justice’ when bread is taken from children’s 
mouths to quench the insatiable thirst of rum? Do inter¬ 
state rum-runners ‘insure domestic tranquility?’ Do in¬ 
toxicated soldiers ‘provide for the common defense?’ Is 
the ‘general welfare’ promoted when alcoholism swells the 
mortality figure two hundred thousand a year? No! Nor 
will the ‘blessings of liberty’ long be insured to us and our 
posterity, when the great chain gang of degenerates is 
continually enlarged as other souls are newly fettered 
with the shackles of deformity, insanity and idiocy.” 

Here we have a unique combination of quotation with 
the rhetorical question which is effective. The last 
sentence closes the paragraph with a descriptive meta¬ 
phor. 

“The spirit of the Constitution is to engender and pro¬ 
tect happy homes, but here is a picture from real life in 
the suburbs of an American city. It was once a happy 
home, but now the gate hangs from one rusty hinge, the 


The Analysis of an Oration. 


241 


fence is dilapidated, and the weeds have choked the roses. 
The porch creaks as one steps upon it. The window lights 
are broken out, and the old door rattles as it is pushed 
open. Upon the bare floor lies the wreck of a father in a 
drunken heap. The mother, sick and emaciated, is sitting 
upon a broken chair trying to nourish a deformed baby. 
Nearby a nine-year old girl, clad in filthy rags, is vainly 
trying to satisfy the gnawing hunger by eating some half- 
rotten fruit, which she snatched from the street gutter.” 

This, of course, is a word-picture where imagery is 
the most important element. 

“If you want to see the picture duplicated, go to New 
York, San Francisco, Chicago, to any section of the United 
States. Could much patriotism exist in a home like that? 
Would such a home send forth strong, noble citizens? 
Then conditions are contrary to the spirit of the Consti¬ 
tution, for when children are not well-born, when mother¬ 
hood is robbed of its sacredness, when the home is cheated 
of its happiness, when the sons of the nation are rendered 
unfit to answer the call to arms, then is the spirit of the 
Constitution violated.” 

Here again we have the rhetorical question. It gives 
variety and strength to the paragraph. The thought 
is completed in the long, periodic sentence that follows. 
Its climactic order makes it a fitting close for the last 
point in the discussion. 

“The liquor evil, therefore, is national, and the only so¬ 
lution is national action.” 

This is a re-assertion of the object with a claim that 
it has been substantiated. This is the beginning of the 
conclusion. 

“We treat a man’s ills with a man’s remedy, solve city 
problems with city ordinances, control state questions 
with state legislation. Then why not crush a national 
evil with national law?” 


242 


Public Speaking Manual 


The logical stairway of reasoning is a re-statement 
of the one in the introduction, calling to mind again the 
solution for a national problem. 

“The Civil War taught us that we cannot solve national 
problems with state legislation. For fifty years the states 
have been trying to solve the liquor problem; still the 
traffic lives, grows, and fattens upon the best blood of the 
nation. It confronts us today. What is the solution? The 
school has tried to educate our boys and girls to let alco¬ 
hol alone, the church has sounded the evils of intemper¬ 
ance, the states have tried to regulate the traffic but t'he 
axe has not yet been laid to the root of the evil for so 
long as rum is manufactured it will be drunk. The only 
effectual way to eliminate the drunkard is to kill the insti¬ 
tution that creates him. The one weapon that will kill 
that institution is national prohibition.” 

This paragraph is the heart of the oration. Here 
the threads of the whole speech are drawn together. 
All solutions are eliminated but one, and that one is 
the one proposed. Here too, application of the title is 
made. 

“Do you want it? Then proclaim the facts. Tell the 
lumbermen of the northern forests how many thousands 
of houses will be built in all the suburbs for the working¬ 
men when none of them drink away their money. Show 
the shoe manufacturers of Massachusetts what it means 
to take all the bare feet of the drunkard’s children off 
the ground. Let the iron men of Pennsylvania know that 
new stoves will be needed in a hundred thousand homes 
when the saloon-keeper ceases to get the money. Tell the 
cotton-raisers of the south there will be a demand for cali¬ 
co dresses when fathers stop drinking. Tell the charity 
organizations that it is better to prevent crime and misery 
than to take care of it. Let the bankers know that Russia 
has more money in the savings banks with war and pro¬ 
hibition than she had with peace and the saloon. Let the 


The Analysis of an Oration. 


243 


Five Million Movement continue to gather momentum; let 
the Anti-Saloon League show the citizens that when they 
close the doors of a saloon the doors of a store swing 
open, when they shut down a brewery up springs a fac¬ 
tory; let the Women’s Christian Temperance Union go to 
the potter’s field and erect a white slab above the dust of 
every drunkard’s grave, that the nation might view its 
greatest cemetery; let the Intercollegiate Prohibition As¬ 
sociation fling out the banner of the stars above every in¬ 
stitution of learning in our lands and wave it until the 
blood of students so tingles with patriotism that stale 
party issues will no longer claim their ballot; let us all, 
like blind Bartimaeus, not be hushed until we have rolled 
up such a mighty wave of public sentiment as will force 
the political parties to champion the prohibition cause.” 

This, of course, is the peroration. It is the appeal, 
intended to play upon the emotions, intended to sting 
the will to action. Here the commonplace is made elo¬ 
quent. The strength of this appeal is in its reference 
to experience. Each temperance organization is men¬ 
tioned in a flash of imagery. Then the paragraph is 
closed with a general appeal to all, and too, in that 
sentence, is the historical reference to the blind beggar, 
whom the disciples bade hold his peace, but he cried 
the louder that Christ might hear him. 

“And I see golden-winged victory coming to sit upon 
our helmets, for the liquor traffic is now on trial for its 
life, charged with the murder of humanity, and you are 
the jurors. In the name of unborn children, in the name 
of our great republic, in the name of God, return the ver¬ 
dict of GUILTY—GUILTY! And then our Congress, 
which is the judge, will pronounce the sentence, “CRIM¬ 
INAL, THOU SHALT DIE.” 

This paragraph is a part of the peroration. It might 
be called the “descending” part. That is it allows the 


244 


Public Speaking Manual • 


speaker to gradually come down. It permits of a 
graceful close. It further makes a most personal ap¬ 
peal, laying the responsibility personally upon each 
hearer. It also closes the door with a slam of finality. 
It goes clear back to the opening sentence, “An evil de¬ 
serves annihilation,” and shows how this evil has or is 
to receive its just dues. There is a feeling of complete¬ 
ness, the speech is over. 

Bibliography—Oratory 

How to Master the Spoken Word, by Lawrence, A. C. McClurg & 
Co., Chicago. 

Public Speaking, by Stratton, Henry Holt & Co., N. Y. 

The Essentials of Extempore Speaking, by Mosher, The Mac¬ 
Millan Co., N. Y. 

The Rhetoric of Oratory, by Shurter, The Macmillan Co., N. Y. 
Principles of Public Speaking, by Lee, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, N. Y., 
(The Knickerbocker Press). 

Extemporaneous Oratory, by Buckley, Eaton & Mains, N. Y. 

The Making of an Oration, by Brink, A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago. 
Forms of Public Address, by Baker, Henry Holt & Co., N. Y. 

The Power of Speech, by Lawrence, Hinds, Noble & Eldredge 
Publishers, N. Y. 

The Psychology of Public Speaking, by Scott, Northwestern Uni¬ 
versity. 

Representative College Orations, by Shurter, The Macmillan Co., 
New York. 

Patriotic Eloquence, by Fulton and Trueblood, Charles Scrib 
ner’s Sons, N. Y. / 

Orations and Addresses, by Curtis, Harper Co., Publishers, N. Y. 
History of Oratory and Orators, by Harwicke, G. P. Putnam’s 
Sons, N. Y. 

Oratory and Orators, by Matthews, S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago. 
Modern American Oratory, by Brigwalt, Henry Holt & Co., N. Y. 
Forensic Oratory, by Robinson, Little, Brown & Co., Boston. 
World’s Orators, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, N. Y. 

History of Oratory, by Sears. 

Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory, by Jno. Adams, Hillard & 


The Analysis of an Oration. 


245 


Metcalf, Cambridge, Mass. 

British Orators and Oratory, by Bautain Ward- Locke & Co., Lon¬ 
don. 

American Eloquence, by Moore, Appleton & Co., 549-551 Broad¬ 
way, N. . 

The World’s Best Orations, by Brewer, Fred P. Kaiser, Chicago. 
Modern Eloquence, by Thorndike, Modern Eloquence Corp. N. Y. 





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APPENDIX 

By permission of the publishers, I am reproducing 
a list of plays, from the index of “How to Produce 
Amateur Plays,” by Barrett H. Clark, which will be 
very helpful in selection of plays. 

HOW TO PRODUCE AMATEUR PLAYS — SELECTIVE LIST 
OF AMATEUR PLAYS 

The following lists, which do not pretend to completeness, will 
at least be found helpful in assisting amateur organizations to 
choose “worth-while” plays. The general headings: “Classic,” 
etc., are clear, but the following explanations must be made re¬ 
garding other markings. 

Xn asterisk (*) indicates that the play is in one act. Those 
not so marked are in more than one act, and are in most cases 
“full length.” 

The letter ‘‘S” denotes serious or tragic plays, intended in nearly 
every case for advanced amateurs. 

The letter “B” denotes plays of a romantic and poetic nature. 

The letter “C” denotes comedies, farces, and plays in lighter 
vein. 

The letter “F” ip paranthesis after the title indicates that a 
fee is charged for production by amateurs. The publisher <yt 
agent (see footnotes), must be consulted for particulars. 

The letter *‘D” denotes modern dialect plays, like those of Lady 
Gregory. Most of these plays are included under the general 
heading of “Classic” because the costumes and settings, though 
they may be modern, are not the familiar modern costumes and 
, settings. 

All plays not included in the first division ‘‘CLASSICS, in¬ 
cluding modern costume and historical plays,” are to be found in 
the second division: “MODERN PLAYS.” 

It is nearly always unwise for an amateur organization to take 
a play on faith; it is therefore advisable for it to collect a library 


(247) 


248 


Public Speaking Manual 


of amateur plays, from which successive generations of members 
can at least form some judgment of the field from which they 
are to select their plays. 

This dst makes no pretense to completeness. It has been the 
writer’s purpose merely to mention a number of classic and stand¬ 
ard plays which amateurs can produce without too great dif¬ 
ficulty. 

(Classics, Including Modern Costume and Historical Plays) 
Greek : 

RS Euripides. Alcestis (Samuel French; Walter H. Baker) 

RS Sophocles, Antigone (Samuel French; E. P. Dutton, in 
Everyman’s Library). 

RC Aristophanes, The Clouds (Macmillan; “The Drama,” Vic¬ 
torian Edition). 

C Lysistrgta (Samuel French. Another version, by Laur- 
ance Housman, published b» the Woman’s Press, Lon¬ 
don). 

Latin : 

C Plautus, The Twins (Samuel French). 

C Terence, Phofmio (Samuel French). 

Spanish : 

RC Lope de Vega, The Dog in the Manger , (“The Drama,” 
Victorian edition). 

RC Calderon, Keep your Own Secret (Macmillan). 

RC Benavente, The Bonds of Interest (in “The Drama,” No. 

20 ). 

Italian : 

RC Goldoni, The Fan (Yale Dramatic Association). 

RC The Beneficent Bear (Samuel French). 

RC A Curious Mishap (McClurg). 

RCD The Squabbles of Chioggia (“The Drama,” August,* 1914), 

R* Giacosa, The Wager (Samuel French). 

French : 

C Brueys (adaptor of 15th century anonymous), Master 
Patelin, Solicitor (Samuel French). 

C Moliere, The Merchant Gentleman [Le Bourgeois Gentil- 
homme ] (Samuel French ; Little, Brown ; Bohn Library, 
etc). 


Appendix 


249 


C* The Affected Young Ladies (Les Precieuses ridicules). 

C The Sicilian. 

C* Doctor Love (L'Amour Medecin). 

C The Doctor in Spite of Himself (Le Medecin malgre lui ). 

C The Imaginary Invalid {Le Malade imaginaire) (Samuel 
French; Little, Brown; Bohn Library: Putnam, etc., 
publish the above five titles). 

C* Dancourt, Woman's Graze for Titles (in ‘‘The Drama”; 
Historical Publishing Company, 1903, vol. VIII). 

C Le Sage, Crispin, His Master's Rival (Samuel French). 

CR* Marivaux, The Legacy (Samuel French). 

CR De Musset, Fantasio (Dramatic Publishing Company). 

CR* The Green Coat (Samuel French). 

C Augier, M. Poirier's Son-in-law [Le Gendre de M. Poirier ] 
(in “Four Plays by Emile Augier,” published by Alfred 
A. Knopf, and in “Chief European Dramatists,” published 
by Houghton Mifflin). 

CH* Banville, Gringorie (Dramatic Publishing Company; 
Samuel French). 

CR* Charming Leahdre (Samuel French). 

C Sardou, A Scrap of Paper [Les Pattes de mouche\ (Sam¬ 
uel French). 

CR* Feuillet, The Fairy (Samuel French). 

CR* Rivoire, The Little Shepherdess (Samuel French). 

CR Rostand, The Romancers {Samuel French; Walter H. 
Baker; Heinemann). 

C* France, The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife (Lane) (F). 

C* Picard, The Rebound (Samuel French). 

CR Zamacois, The Jesters (Brentano) (F). 

SR* Boucher, A Christmas Tale (Samuel French). 

CR* Coppee, The Violin-Maker of Cremona (Samuel French). 

SR* Pater Noster (French). 

SR* Theuriet, Jean-Marie (Samuel French). 

Dani sh : 

C Holberg, The Loquacious Barber (“The Drama,” Victor¬ 
ian Edition). 

C Captain Rombastes Thunderton (ill “Three Comedies by 
Ludvig Holberg,” published by Longmans) (Requires 
cutting). 


250 


Public Speaking Manual 


CR Hertz, King Rene's Daughter (Samuel French). 

German : 

CR Lessing, Minna Von Barnhelm (in Bohn Library, MacMil¬ 
lan). 

C The Scholar (in Bohn Library). 

C Schiller, Nephew or Uncle (Walker H. Baker). 

English : 

S Anonymus, Everyman (Everyman’s Library; Dutton). 

R Lyly, Alexander and Gampaspe (Schribner, and in Every¬ 
man’s Library). (Requires cutting). 

R Greene, Friar Bacon and Friar Bangay (Dutton). (Re¬ 
quires cutting). 

CR Beaumont and Fletcher, The Knight of the Burning Pestle 
(Scribner ; Everyman’s Library ; etc.) (Requires cut¬ 

ting). 

CR Dekker, Old Fortunatus (Scribner). (Requires cutting). 

CR The Shoemaker's Holiday (Scribner; Dutton). (Requires 
cutting). 

CR Heywood, The Fair Maid of the West (Scribner). (Re¬ 
quires cutting). 

SR Jonson, The Sad Shepherd (Dutton). (Requires Cutting). 

CR The Case is Altered (in any complete set of Ben Johnson). 
(Requires cutting). 

Shakespeare (no plays need be mentioned. The “Ben Greet 
Shakespeare for Amateurs” contains good directions for 
staging and acting). 

C Udall, Ralph Roister Doister (Macmillan; Dent). (Re¬ 
quires cutting). 

CR Goldsmith, The Good-natured Man (in any edition of 
Goldsmith’s plays). 

CR Sheridan, The Rivals (in any edition of Sheridan’s plays). 

C The Critic (in any edition of Sheridan’s plays). 

CR Pinero, Trelawney of the ‘ Wells' (Dramatic Publishing 
Company), apply to Sanger & Jordan, 1432 Broadway, 
New York, for acting rights), referred to as (F) below. 

CR Housman, A Chinese Lantern (Dramatic Publishing Com¬ 
pany). See above. 

CR* Bird in Hand (Samuel French). (F). 

SRD* A Likely Story (Samuel French). (F). 


Appendix 


251 


OR* As Good as Gold (Samuel French). (F). 

SRD* The Snow Man (Samuel French). (F). 

SR* Nazareth (Samuel French). (F). 

SR* The Lord of the Harvest (Samuel French). (F). 

SR* The Return of Alcestis (Samuel French). (F). 

CR (and Barker), Prunella (Little, Brown). (F). 

CR Shaw, The Devil's Discipline (Brentano). (F2). Apply to 
American Play Company, 33 West 42nd St, New York. 
Referred to as F2. 

CR Parker, Pomander Walk (Samuel French). (F). 

CR* Barrie, Pantaloon (Scribner). (F)2. 

CR Bennett and Knoblauch, Milestones (Doran). (F). 

CR The Foresters (in any complete edition of Tennyson). 

CR Noyes, Sherwood (Stokes). (F). 

CR Tennyson, The Princess (in any complete edition of Tenny¬ 
son). 

SR* The Falcon (in any complete edition of Tennyson). 

R* Lord Dunsany, The Gods of the Mountain (Little, Brown), 
(F). 

CR* The Lost Silk Hat (Little, Brown). (F). 

CRD* The Glittering Gate (Little, Brown). (F). 

R King Argimenes and the Unknown Warrior (Little, 
Brown). (F). 

RS* Yeates, The Land of the Heart's Desire (Macmillan; Sam¬ 
uel French). 

CD* The Pot of Broth (Macmillan). (F). 

RS* Deidre (Macmillan). Apply to Samuel French, 28 West 
38th St., New York). Referred to as (F)3. Referred 
to as (F)3 below. 

RS* The King's Threshold (Macmillan). (F)3. 

CR The Admirable Crichton (Doran). (Apply to Sanger & 
Jordan). Referred to below as (F). 

CR Quality Street (Doran). (F). 

C Shaw, You Never Can Tell (Brentano). (Apply to Ameri¬ 
can Play Co). Referred to-below as (F). 

CR Candida (Brentano). (F). 

C* Press Cuttings (Brentano). (F). 

C* How He Lied to Her Husband (Brentano). (F). 

CR Arms and the Man (Brentano). (F). 


252 


Public Speaking Manual 


S Bennett, What the Public Wants (Doran). (F). 

S Barker, The Voysey Inheritance (Little, Brown). (F). 

RC Milestones (Doran). (F). 

S Cupid and Commonsense (Doran). (F). 

C The Great Adventure (Doran). (F). 

C* Polite Farces (Doran). (F). 

S Baker, Chains (Lnce). (F). 

S* Gibson, Mates (Macmillan). (F). 

S* On the Road (Macmillan). (F). 

C Hankin, The Cassilis Engagement (Samuel French). (F). 
C The Return of the Prodigal (Samuel French). (F). 

C The Charity that Began at Home (Samuel French). (F). 
C* Houghton, The Dear Departed (Samuel French). IF). 

C* The Fifth Commandment (Samuel French). (F). 

C* Phipps (Samuel French). (F). 

SC Houghton, Independent Means (Samuel French). (F). 

S Galsworthy. The Silver Box (Scribner). Apply to Samuel 
French for producing rights. Referred to below as (F). 
C Joy (Scribner). (F). 

SC Hamilton, Just to Get Married (Samuel French). (F). 
SC* Chapin, Augustus in Search of a Father (Gowans and 
Grey, London). (F). 

DCR* Brighouse, Lonesome Like (Samuel French). (F). 

SD* The Price of Coal (Samuel French). (F). 

C Monkhouse, The Education of Mr. Surrage (Sidgwick and 
Jackson, London). (F). 

C Mason, Green Stockings (Samuel French). (F). 

SD Ervine, Jane Clegg (Holt). (F). 

DCR* Fenn and Pryce, ’ Op o' me Thumb (Samuel French). 

(F). 

American : 

S Gillette, Secret Service (Samuel French). (F). 

S Held by the Enemy (Samuel French). (F). 

C Too much Johnson (Samuel French). (F). 

C MacKaye, Anti-Matrimony (Stokes).(F). 

C Thomas (A. E.), Her Husband's Wife (Doubleday, Page). 

Apply to Samuel. French for producing rights. 

S* Middleton, The Failures (Holt). Apply to Samuel French 


Appendix 


253 


for producing rights. Referred to as (F) below. 

S* The Grove (Holt). (F). * 

S* Tradition (Holt). (F). 

C Macmillan, Short Plays (Stewart and Kidd). (F). 

C Forbes, The Commuters (Samuel French). (F). 

C The Traveling Salesman (Samuel French). (F). 

S Klein, The Lion and the Mouse (Samuel French). (F). 

R Thomas, Arizona (Dramatic Publishing Company). (F). 
RD Alabama (Dramatic Publishing Company). (F). 

C Mrs. Leffingwell's Boots (Samuel French). (F). 

C The Other Girl (Samuel French). (F). 

C Oliver Goldsmith (Samuel French). (F). 

C The Earl of Pawtucket (Samuel French). (F). 

C The Capitol (Samuel French). (F). 

Bibliography on Producing, Costumes, Scenery, Etc. 

1. Books on the history and science of the contemporary stage— 
Hiram Kelly Moderwell, The Theatre of Today (Lane). 
Sheldon Cheney, The Modern Movement in the Theatre , (Ken- 

nerley). 

2 . Books on the theory, and educational and psychological as^ 

pects of amateur producing: 

Elonra Whitman Curtis, The Dramatic Instinct in Education 
(Houghton Mifflin). 

Emma Sheridan Fry, Educational Dramatics (Moffat, Yard). 
Anne T. Craig, The Dramatic Festival (Putnam). 

Percy MacKaye, The Civic Theater (Kennerley). 

The Playhouse and the Play (Kennerly). 

Jane Addams, The Spirit of Youth in the City Streets (Mac¬ 
millan ) . 

\lice Minnie Herts, The Children's Educational Theatre 
(Harper). 

Mary Master Needham, Folk Festivals (Huebsch). 

Harriet Finley - Johnson, The Dramatic Method of Teaching 
(Ginn). 

Percival Chubb and associates, Festivals and Plays (Harper). 
practical hand-books on producing, scenery, cstumes, etc. 
Constance D’Arcy MacKaye, How t Produce Children's Plays 
(Holt). 


254 


Public Speaking Manual 


Constance D’Arcy MacKaye, Costumes and Scenery for Am- 
atuers (Holt). 

Van Dyke Browne, Secrets of Scene Painting and Stage Ef¬ 
fects (Dutton). 

C. Williscroft, Chats on Costumes (Stokes). 

F. W. Fairholt, Costumes in England (Macmillan). 

(See Costumes and Scenery for Amateurs for bibliography 
on costume). 

Arthur Edwin Krows, Play Production in America (Holt). 
Producing in Little Theatres, Henry Holt & Cq., 19 West 44th 
St., New York City. 

How to Produce Amateur Plays, by Barrett H. Clark, Brown 
How to Stage a Play, by Harry Osborne, T. S. Denison & Co., 
& CO. 34 Beacon St., Boston. 

623 S. Wabash Aye., Chicago. 

f 

A List of Play Publishers 

Samuel French, 28 West 38th Street, New York City. 

T. S. Denison and Company, 623 South Wabash Aye., Chicago. 
Penn Publishing Company, 925 Filbert Street, Philadelphia. 
Dramatic ,Publishing Company, 542 South Dearborn Street 
Chicago. 

Walter H. Baker Company, 5 Hamilton Place, Boston. 

Edgar S. Werner & Company, 11 East 14th Street, New York City. 
Ames Publishing Company, Clyde, Ohio. 

Eldredge Entertainment House, Franklin, Ohio. 

Fitzgerald Publishing Company, 16 Vesey Street, New York City. 
A. E. Reim, Station B, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Stewart and Kidd Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. 























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