I Class L,"R IS"P Book . o 6 Copyiiglit N°. COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT ESSENTIALS OF TEACHING READING Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/essentialsofteac03sher ESSENTIALS OF TEACHING READING E. B. SHERMAN Superintendent of Schools, Columbus, Nebraska A. A. REED Superintendent of Schools, Superior, Nebraska THE UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING COMPANY LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 1906 V LIBRARY of CONGRESS Two Cooies Received JUN 211906 ^ CoDyrieiit Entry /Hc«ftfL t tfo(> CLASS/ Ct' xxc.No, COPY B. Copyright, 1906, BY THE UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING COMPANY All Rights Reserved fff)e ILafccstie $rtB8 K. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY CHICAGO TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PART I.— THE MECHANICS OF READING Chapter i, Time ------ 3 Chapter 2, Grouping - - - - 13 Chapter 3, Melody - - - - 19 Chapter 4, Force ----- 34 Chapter 5, Quality - - - - - 40 PART II.— INTERPRETATIVE READING Chapter 6, Types and Figures of Speech - 51 Chapter 7, Effects - 63 PART III.— METHODS Chapter 8, Primary Reading - - - 77 Chapter 9, Parts of a Recitation and Assignment of the Lesson ----- 98 Chapter 10, Classification of Material - - 108 Chapter ii, Obstacles to Good Expression - 122 Chapter 17, Illustrative Lessons - - - 132 Chapter 13, Use of the Dictionary - - 140 Chapter 14, Articulation - - - - 150 PART IV.— SELECTIONS FOR PRACTICE Chapter 15, Didactic and Moral - - - 169 The Importance of the Teacher's Work and the Value of Proper Ideals - Theodore Roosevelt The Power and Worth of Character William Jennings Bryan Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Thomas Gray Chapter 16, Oratorical 179 The Gettysburg Address - Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln - - Charles H. Fowler The Southern Soldier - Henry Grady Liberty and Union - - - Daniel Webster iii CONTENTS Chapter 17, Dramatic 184 Lochinvar .... Sir Walter Scott Barbara Frietchie - John Greenleaf Whittier Paul Revere's Ride - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Glaucus and the Lion - Edward Bulwer Lytton Chapter 18, Narrative and Descriptive 196 The Lady of Shalott - - Alfred Tennyson Ichabod Crane - - Washington Irving The Death of Little Nell - Charles Dickens How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix .... Robert Browning The Gray Champion - - Nathaniel Hawthorne Chapter 19, Humorous 217 A Curtain Lecture - - - Douglas Jerro Id Whitewashing the Fence - - Mark Twain Index ------- 221 PREFACE ^TpHE purpose of the authors in submitting •*■ this book to the public is twofold. We wish, in the first place, to stimulate the interest in reading, the subject which is the tool of the student in all lines of study. In the second place, we wish to satisfy a demand that has arisen on account of the great interest in read- ing. It is evident that there is needed some work that will include in a single volume the minimum of what a teacher should know in regard to teaching reading, as well as illustrative lessons and material for practice. The plan of the authors has been to include the following essentials : i. A brief study of some good method of teaching reading in the primary classes. 2. A brief survey of the most important elements in the mechanics of reading, including emphasis, phrasing or thought grouping, time, pitch, volume, and quality, 3. A rapid drill in pronunciation and enun- ciation. 4. A study of the methods of securing vi PREFACE thoughtful silent reading and expressive oral reading. 5. A review of the subjects of types and effects. 6. A study of how to select, assign, and conduct the lessons of the intermediate and advanced classes in reading, including those of the seventh and eighth grades. 7. A reading of many pieces of literature of time proved value. We hope that this book will be productive of greater knowledge on the part of the teacher, and better work on the part of the pupil, in that most important of all branches, reading. For reading and criticism of manuscript ac- knowledgment is due to W. K. Fowler, Ex- Superintendent of Public Instruction of Ne- braska, Prof. J. W. Searson, of the Nebraska State Normal at Peru, President A. O. Thomas of the Nebraska State Normal at Kearney, President W. H. Clemmons of the Fremont Normal, and President J. M. Pile of the Wayne Normal. The Authors PART I MECHANICS OF READING TIME, GROUPING, MELODY, FORCE, QUALITY CHAPTER I TIME The teacher of reading should have a clear idea of the relative importance of the mechanics of reading and of the thought in reading. There have been two different schools of teaching reading. One school devotes the greatest attention to the mechanics of reading; the other school works from the thought side. Vital things are taught by each school. It is necessary that the pupil get the thought before he can express it. However, getting the thought does not insure giving it. Many a child knows what a sentence means, who merely names the words in it. T.'ie thought must be held in the mind while the reading is done. If the child has gotten the thought, and is holding the thought in his mind at the time he reads, his expression will be good. So far as the pupil is concerned, he need not be compelled to study the mechanics of reading. We are satisfied if he gets the thought and gives the thought. It is necessary, however, for the teacher to have a knowledge of the mechanics of reading. If the pupil uses poor expression, it is the business of the teacher to recognize the cause of the error. It is by a knowledge of the mechanics of reading that the teacher locates the trouble. Just so does a physician diagnose a case. As it is unnecessary for the patient to have the knowledge of the doctor, so it is unnecessary for the pupil to have the knowledge of the teacher. If the pupil wishes to become a teacher, the case becomes a different one. So the knowledge of the functions of Time, Grouping, Melody, Force, and Quality, belong to the teacher, not to the pupil. To the 3 ESSENTIALS OF READING teacher it is essential for the proper teaching, and part of the great mass of knowledge drawn upon every day of the school year. The rate at which a selection, a sentence, a phrase, or a word is read is called time. Time is determined by the largeness of the thought, or the quality or strength of the emotion represented by that selection, sentence, phrase, or word. We read Lincoln's Gettysburg Address slowly, for each phrase means much. We read Mother Goose's rhymes rapidly, for they mean almost nothing at all. If we think what we are saying, we repeat the Lord's Prayer and the Twenty- third Psalm very slowly, for they mean very much; but the unthinking child rattles off his " Now I lay me down to sleep. ' ' If one word in a sentence touches the memory, and visions of hitherto forgotten things arise, we speak that word slowly. We pause while we say " From Maine to California," for in that pause the mind must cross America. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea. We read these lines slowly, because the sentiment in the mind of the reader displays itself in the rate of utterance. We think of the peaceful, restful part of the day; we see the church; and we hear the sound of the bell. We think of the setting sun and the deepening shadows; we watch the cattle as they leisurely follow the winding paths. Notice how the time in the following becomes slower when the larger thought is reached : Then your apples all is gether'd, and the ones a feller keeps Is poured around the cellar floor in red and yeller heaps ; And your cider-makin's over, and your wimmern folks is through With their mince and apple butter, and their sous and saussage too. I don't know how to tell it — but if such a thing could be As the angels wantin' boardin', and they 'd call 'round on me, I 'd want to 'commodate 'em, all the whole indurin' flock, — When the frost is on the punkin, and the fodder 's in the shock 1 TIME Rapid utterance also is determined by the thought and emotion. We speak the words, " I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three, ' ' rapidly, but not because we wish to imi- tate the sound of horses' feet. Nor do we do it to make the reader imagine the galloping. That may be the result, but it is not the cause. The real cause is, that we .appreciate the idea of the words, that we feel the emotion. The rapid utterance is the result of a kind of automatic suggestion. The connection is immediate. The brain does not say, " Galloping means quick movement ; therefore, lips, move quickly. ' ' The two things are coincident. As the thought of galloping enters the conscious- ness and for a time fills it, the lips give out the sound that holds sway. Notice the somewhat rapid utterance of the following. No emotion is involved, the thoughts are not large, the circum- stance is commonplace. Wal, the very next mornin' Josiah got up with a new idee in his head. And he broached it to me at the breakfast table. They have been havin' sights of pleasure exertions here to Jonesville lately. Every week a'most they would go off on an exertion after pleasure, and Josiah was all up on end to go too. That man is as well-principled man as I ever see, but if he had his head he would be worse than any young man I ever see to foller up picnics and 4th of July's and camp-meetin's and all pleasure exertions. But I don't encourage him in it. I have said to him time and time again: " There is a time for everything, Josiah Allen, and after any- body has lost their teeth and every mite of hair on the top of their head, it is time for 'em to stop goin' to pleasure exertions. ' ' But good land, I might just as well talk to the wind! If that man should get to be as old as Mr. Methusler and be goin' on a thousand years old, he would prick up his ears if he should hear of a exertion. All sum- mer long that man has beset me to go to 'em, for he would n't go without me. Old Bunker Hill himself hain't any sounder in principle 'an Josiah Allen, and I have had to work head-work to make excuses and quell him down. But last week they was goin' to have one out on the lake, on a island, and that man sot his foot down that he would go. Marietta Holley. ESSENTIALS OF READING In the following the strength of the emotion results in the rapidity of the time. Ranald and Mrs. Murray are being chased by wolves. Ranald glanced over his shoulder. Down the road, running with silent, awful swiftness, he saw the long, low body of the leading wolf flashing through the bars of moonlight across the road, and the pack following hard. "Let her go, Mrs. Murray," cried Ranald. "Whip her and never stop." But there was no need; the pony was wild with fear and was doing her best running. Ranald was meantime holding in the colt, and the pony drew away rapidly. But as rapidly the wolves were closing in behind him. They were not more than a hundred yards away, and gaining every second. , Ranald, remembering the suspicious nature of the brutes, loosened his coat and dropped it in the road; with a chorus of yelps they paused, then threw themselves upon it, and in another minute took up the chase. But now the clearing was in sight. The pony was far ahead, and Ranald shook out his colt with a yell. He was none too soon, for the pursuing pack, now uttering short, shrill yelps, were now at the colt's heels. Lizette, fleet as the wind, could not shake them off. Closer and ever closer they came, snapping and snarling. Ranald could see them over his shoulder. A hundred yards more, and he would reach his own back lane. The leader of the pack seemed to feel that his chances were slipping swiftly away. With a spurt he gained upon Lizette, reached the saddle-girths, gathered himself in two short jumps, and sprang for the colt's throat. Instinctively Ranald stood up in his stirrups, and kicking his foot free, caught the wolf under the jaw. The brute fell with a howl under the colt's feet, and the next moment they were in the lane and safe. Ralph Connor. Dickens' " Death of Little Nell ' ' is one of those pieces of lit- erature in which the quality of the emotion, and the largeness of the thought, unite to produce slow time. She was dead. No sleep so beautiful and calm, so free from trace of pain, so fair to look upon. She seemed a creature fresh from the hand of God, and waiting for the breath of lifer not one who had lived and suffered death. Her couch was dressed here and there with winter berries and green leaves, gathered in a spot she had been used to favor. " When I die, put TIME near me something that has loved the light and had the sky above it always." Those were her words. She was dead. Dear, gentle, patient, noble Nell was dead. Her little bird — a poor, slight thing ,the pressure of a finger would have crushed — was stirring nimbly in its cage; and the strong heart of its child-mistress was mute and motionless forever. Where were the traces of her early cares ? All gone. Sorrow was dead within her; but peace and perfect happiness were born, — imaged in her tranquil beauty and profound repose. And still her former self lay there, unaltered in this change. Yes. The old fireside had smiled upon that same sweet face; it had passed like a dream through haunts of misery and care; at the door of the poor school master on the summer evening, before the furnace-fire upon the cold, wet night, at the still bedside of the dying boy, there had been the same mild, lovely look. So shall we know the angels in their majesty, after death. An example of slow time on account of the greatness of the thought is found in John Adams' speech at the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured, that this declara- tion will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood; but it will stand, and it will richly compensate for both. Through the thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future, as of the sun in heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we are in our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations. On its annual return they will shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope to be, in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it; and I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment; independence now, and INDEPEND- ENCE FOREVER. Another example of the same time for the same cause. Portia. The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 8 ESSENTIALS OF READING Upon the place beneath : it is twice bless' d; It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes: 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest : it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His scepter shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice. The teacher should give few mechanical directions. An injunction, " Read more slowly, my boy, " is a truly mechan- ical device. It is the same operation as that of the engineer when he partially closes the throttle. It changes in no way the child's conception of the thought. The slower reading that results is not one whit better than the rapid reading of the first attempt, because it represents no better con- ception of the thought. The teacher should work through the thought and emo- tion. The teacher of reading knows the lesson that he assigns. He knows how much is meant by the author. If his pupils read too rapidly, he knows that they are not appreciating the magni- tude of the ideas. So he tries to bring to their realization so much of the author's thought as the children are able to grasp. He does this by question, or by explanation, or by paraphrase. He uses the children's experience and their imagination. He works from the thought and the emotion. He regards time as a test, not as an end. Reading that is too slow. This trouble may arise from one of three causes. The child may be slow by nature. The teacher should then not require what is beyond the pupil's power to do. Reading that is right, judged by his temperament, should be TIME 9 accepted. Sometimes children read too slowly because of unfamiliarity with the words. The treatment then is deter- mined by the cause of the unfamiliarity. It may be the result of having a reader that is too difficult for the pupils. There may be too many new words per page. In such a case the reader should be changed. The lack of famil- iarity with the words may result from the nationality of the pupil. If it is impossible, or not best to transfer him to a more elementary class, then the teacher must possess her soul with patience until the pupil learns our language. In a few years he will be up with his fellows. The child learns languages so easily that a foreign born child will finish with the American chilren and will learn our language in addition. In the third place, this unfamiliarity with the words may be the result of careless assignment of the lesson. (See As- signment of the Lesson.) If the reading is too slow, on ac- count of word trouble, let the teacher, first of all, see to it that she has performed her work properly. As a summary of what has been said in this chapter, and as an illustration of the handling of a selection to bring out the largeness of the thought, let us read Julia Ward Howe's won- derful poem, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." This poem is usually sung in our schools to the tune of "John Brown's Body Lies Mouldering in the Grave." We make the rhythm the conspicuous thing. We sing it, " Humpty, dumpty, dumpty, dumpty; humpty, dumpty, dumpty, dum; " etc. Let us see what it really means. Julia Ward Howe felt her heart throb with sympathy for a million slaves. She was oppressed with the thought of the great sin that her nation had committed. She saw the gathering of myriads of fighting men to overwhelm the defenders of slavery. Thinking of all this she wrote : — ESSENTIALS OF READING Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword : His truth is marching on. In the darkness of the night she has gone up to the house roof in her home in the nation's capital. She has seen the camp- fires of the soldiers in those ninety forts that encircled and defended Washington. She thinks of the terrible power soon to be loosed from those thousands of muskets, those hundreds of cannon. As she thinks of this, it comes to her that God, himself, is moving in the midst of this army, that he has pronounced his will, and that His omnipotent power is on the side of the North. I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps; They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps: His day is marching on. In our imagination we also see the columns of blue clad, stal- wart men marching down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, filling it from curb to curb, stretching away in the distance as far as the eye can reach. We also feel the irresistible power of the cause. Certainly God is on our side, and he is marching with his children. I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel: " As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal; Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel, Since God is marching on. ' ' As we think of this host of soldiers, of this just cause, of the aroused wrath of God, there comes a determination that this re- bellion shall be quelled, that this blot shall be removed, that men shall be tested by fire and by blood. All this shall be done, it cannot be prevented, for God has willed it. TIME ii He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat; O, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on. In an upper room in a lodging-house in London, a group of war correspondents were celebrating the approach of war in the Soudan. Led by the veteran, the Nilghai, they sing the American song, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic. ,, They sing the first stanza, and the second, and the third, and the fourth. Then they pause. Cassavetti, the Frenchman, proud of his knowledge, starts the last verse, — but grizzled old Tor- penhow, the veteran of a dozen campaigns, holds up his hand and says, " Hold on. We've nothing to do with that. That belongs to another man." What is this verse, so high in sentiment, so lofty in tone, that these men would not or could not sing it. This is it. 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, While God is marching on. OUTLINE OF CHAPTER I TIME Mechanics of reading: Relative importance of the mechanics and the thought. The two schools of teaching reading. Necessity of teachers understanding the mechanics of reading. Definition of time : What determines time. Function of time What causes rapid time. Common place thought. Excitement. What causes slow time: Emotion. Largeness of thought. 12 ESSENTIALS OF READING Mechanical directions. Through what to work. Cause of too rapid reading. Causes of too slow reading: Nature of reader. Difficult text. Poor assignment of lesson. Example of method. FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION i. Why is the knowledge of the mechanics of reading important for the teacher? 2. What are the various schools of teaching reading? How do they differ? 3. What important truths are taught in each school ? 4. How is a teacher's work similar to a physician's? 5. What determines time in reading? 6. Why do we read descriptions of races rapidly? 7 What causes too rapid reading? 8. How can these causes be removed ? 9. What causes too slow reading ? 10. How can these causes be removed ? 11. Would you read Lincoln's Gettysburg Address slowly or rapidly? Why? 12. What would you do if a pupil in a reading class should read "America" very rapidly? 13. At what rate should "Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures" be read? Kipling's "Recessional" ? 14. Name some selections to be read in rapid time. Medium time. Slow time. 15. Should a child ever be told to read slower ? When? 16. How far should the temperament of children be taken into account in criticising the rate of their reading ? 17. Will pupils of foreign ancestry require any different treatment from pupils of American ancestry ? 18. Under what circumstances should a teacher read to pupils ? CHAPTER II GROUPING A thing that affects Time, though important enough to be treated separately, is the subject of grouping. Good readers instinctively divide the words of a sentence into groups of varying lengths. The purpose of this grouping is that the hearer may receive the thought in units larger than words, and thereby understand it the more easily. When words expressing an idea are grouped together, the hearer re- ceives the idea as a unit. If the words are not given as a group, he receives a part of the idea, and must change his idea as each new element is introduced. This grouping is not only essen- tial to intelligent reading, but it is also natural. The mind finds it hard to hold long sentences in their entirety. A child will either break up these sentences into groups of comprehen- sible length, or giving up the task, read the whole sentence as a string of words. He may even attach some words of the next sentence to his string, and be sternly informed by a mechanical teacher that he forgot to drop his voice at the period. It is the business of the teacher to promote the tendency to group words in reading. What words belong in a group is a matter determined by the thought alone. The mechanical teacher has a difficult task in teaching grouping, for there are no certain mechanical aids in discovering the groups. Punctuation is of some assist- ance, not because marks of punctuation means pauses, but be- cause they indicate thought-units, and therefore, words grouped together in reading. Notice this sentence : — " Earth, that nour- ished thee, shall claim thy growth. ' ' Here the commas set off x 3 i 4 ESSENTIALS OF READING a supplementary clause. This relative clause is also a group of words read together. On the other hand, in the sentence — " Every Tom, Dick, and Harry was invited," there are com- mas, but the words are grouped together. Certainly no good reader would pause after the first word in the line, — " But, look you, Cassius — " Punctuation, then, does not determine grouping, but does indicate structure of the sentence. Struc- ture depends on thought, and thought determines grouping. In the following sentences there are very clearly defined groups, while there are but few punctuation marks. The groups are indicated by dashes. " At the present day — the value of the cat — as a useful and pleasant inmate of the home — is generally recognized." "The Star of Napoleon — was just reaching its zenith, — as that of Washington — was be- ginning to wane." Children should be taught to feel the thought-groups and to indicate them while reading. The voice should not drop as at the end of the sentence. The sentence unit should still be in the child's mind. He should glance through the sen- tence before he begins to read. He should know that he will not be through before he gives the whole thought. He should read the sentence as a unit, dividing the connected ideas into subordinate groups of varying lengths. The primary pupil will find his first sentences to be single groups; as, " I have a leaf. " But even in the latter part of the first reader, grouping begins; as, " Three little squirrels — live in a tree." Grammar grade pupils find work like this: " Fourscore and seven years ago — our fathers brought forth upon this continent — a new nation, — conceived in liberty, — and dedicated to the proposition — that all men are created equal." Notice the great importance of proper grouping in the read- ing of the last lines of Whittier's " Barbara Frietchie. " Try reading it by lines and then by groups. GROUPING *5 All day long through Frederick Street / Sounded the tread of marching feet; / All day long / that free flag / tost Over the heads of the rebel host. / Ever its torn folds / rose and fell On the loyal winds that loved it well; / And through the hill-gaps / sunset light Shone over it with a warm good-night. / Barbara Frietchie's work / is o'er, / And the Rebel rides on his raids no more. / Honor to her! / and let a tear Fall, / for her sake, / on Stonewall's bier. / Over Barbara Frietchie's grave, / Flag of Freedom and Union, / wave! Peace and order and beauty / draw Round thy symbol of light and law; / And ever the stars above / look down On thy stars below / in Frederick town!/ Few rules can be given the pupil about grouping. The only one that is universal is, that there is never more than one emphatic word in a group. If the reader decides to emphasize an additional word in a group upon which he is already decided, he will instinctively make two groups out of what he had before made but one. Work from the thought side. Help the pupils to pick out groups. Have them copy paragraphs and put marks where the groups are separated. Sometimes it is made more plain to the children by telling them that the words in a group are spoken as if they were parts of one word. Allow liberty of thought. The pupil should have reason- able scope for individuality in grouping, as in emphasis or time. After a time, he will acquire the ability and the habit, and oral reading will become for him much more of a plea- 16 ESSENTIALS OF READING sure. The following verses are separated into groups. There are^gbod grounds for differences of opinion, in regard to some of the groups. In fact, it is uncommon for two teachers to agree on all the groups in a selection. Many will read the lines thus: iHis brow is wetnwith honest sweaty (He earnsijwhate'er he can,) |And looks the whole worldpin the face,) jFor he owes notnany man.| Most persons will read it as given in the text below. This selection is grouped by underscoring. The beginning and end of each group is indicated by an upward turn of the line, thus: iHonor to her!nand let a tear Fall,||for her sakpion Stonewall's bier.| This method of marking groups is preferable to the ordinary vertical line plan because it obscures the text less and because it directs attention to the group rather than to the pause that separates the groups. THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH Henry Wadsworth Longfellow i. |Under a spreading chestnut tree| [The village smithy stands;) (The smithy \sl mighty man is he,| [With large and sinewy hands;) [And the muscles of his brawny arms) |Are strong as iron bands.) 2. |His hair is crisp^and black,) [and long,) |His face is like the tan;; |His brow is wet with honest sweat,| |He earns whate'er he can,| |And looks the whole world in the face,) |For he owes not any man .) GROUPING 17 3. iWeek in,iiweek out,) from mora till nighti ' |You can hear his bellows blow;i jYou can hear him swing his heavy sledge,| [With measured beat||and slow,| [Like a sextoq [ringing the village bell,; l When the evening sun|jis low.) 4. 1 And children coming home from school j [Look in at the open door;| iThey love to see the flaming forge,; |And hear the bellows roar,] }And catch the burning sparks) faat fly Like chaflj [from a threshing-floor.| 5. |He goes on Sunday to the church,} [And sits among his boys;| [He hears the parson pray and preach;) |He hears his daughter's voice,) t Singing in the village choir,) |And it makes his heart rejoice.) 6. |lt sounds to him like her mother's voice | [Singing in paradise !| [He needs must think of her once more,) [How in the grave she lies;| I And with his hard, rough hand) (he wipes A tear out of his eyes.) 7. [Toiling,, — ,rejoicing,, — sorrowing,) [Onward through life he goes;) |Each morningi (Sees some task begun,) [Each evening [sees it close ;| [Something attempted^ [something done,| [Has earned a night's repose.) 8. |Thanks,nthanks to thee, M my worthy friend,| [For the lesson thou hast taught!) ,Thus at the flaming forge of life] lOur fortune^ [must be wrought;; Thus on each sounding anvil|[Shaped Each burning deed^nd thought ![ 18 ESSENTIALS OF READING OUTLINE OF CHAPTER II GROUPING Purpose of grouping. Naturalness of grouping. What determines grouping. Influence of punctuation. Duty of the teacher. Grouping in primary grades. Grouping in advanced grades. Liberty of thought. Methods of making groups. Example.. "The Village Blacksmith." FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION i. How does grouping affect time ? 2 Upon what principal of thought-getting is grouping based ? 3. Do people group words in conversation? 4. What part does punctuation play in grouping ? 5. Can children group words correctly? 6. How much individual liberty should be allowed in grouping? 7. What exercises can be given children to train them in grouping ? 8. In the second line of stanza 4 above is "door" the object of a preposition, or of a verb-phrase composed of "lock," "in," and "at"? 9. How would you group the sentence, "He laughed at the sugges- tion?" Change to the passive voice. 10. Did the cow jump ( Over the moon,, or , jump over, the moon ? 11. Divide into groups, ' The dish ran away with the spoon." 12. Can you suggest a single verb that could be substituted for the verb-phrase in the preceding sentence ? 13 Try changing the sentences in 11 and 12 to the passive voice. 14. What difference in meaning in "The boy who was hurt was taken home," and "The boy, who was hurt, was taken home?" CHAPTER III MELODY The function of melody, the movement of the voice up and down in pitch, is to show the motive of the speaker. This includes showing the relation of the words. The words " Jones goes tomorrow/' do not show the full thought of the speaker. There may be three very different meanings. "Jones goes tomorrow, ' ' shows that the speaker wishes to state the fact that it is Jones, not some one else who goes. The motive in "Jones goes tomorrow,'' is to tell that he "goes" not "comes", while " Jones goes tomorrow" indicates when he goes. The word that indicates the important thing, in other words, the main idea, is spoken higher in pitch than the other words of the sentence. It is often spoken with more energy also. In every sentence or every phrase there is a main idea. Take, for example, "I am going to school, ' ' spoken in answer to the question, " Where are you going ? " In this sentence the main idea is expressed by the word "school." Everything else in the sentence is of much less importance. The speaker will therefore raise the pitch of the voice in speaking the word "school ' '. Indeed, a small boy asked the question, may ignore the accompanying words, and answer simply, "School". In the sentence, "I would rather be a doctor than a lawyer, " the main ideas are expressed by the words "doctor" and "lawyer". These words are therefore spoken with a change of inflection that results in placing the two ideas in contrast. The first time an idea is mentioned, it is, generally, the main idea, and so is emphatic. 19 2o ESSENTIALS OF READING For example: i. Mary has a doll. 2. She loves her doll. 3. She has a book, too. 4. It is a new book. In the first sentence, there are three new ideas expressed by "Mary", "has", and "doll". No matter how often the words occur again in this connection, they will not have direct emphasis. In the second sentence, the main idea is the verb "loves" and all the rest must be subordinated. In the third sentence, "book" gives the new idea. In the fourth, the purpose is to predicate newness of something mentioned before, so the important word is "new." The time to begin expressive reading is with the first sentence the child reads. It is easier to form correct habits than to change errors after they have become fixed. In reading a simple sentence like the first above, after the pupil knows the words the teacher can ask him to tell what the first sentence says. It is worth while to take time to have him tell the sentence clearly and distinctly, making good conversation the standard. Each important idea will have a slight empha- sis effected by melody, stress and time. The teacher should see the article "a" is given as though an unaccented syllable of the word following. Before the pupil tries to read the second sentence, the teacher should ask, " What does the next sentence tell that is new? " Or she can say, "How does Mary feel toward her doll ?" The pupil should answer in the language of the book. If the teacher has succeede'd in causing him to think clearly of the new relation he will answer with correct melody, the entire sentence being in tone-effect equivalent to a word of four syllables with the accent on the second syllable. MELODY 21 Before the pupil reads aloud the third sentence, the teacher should ask him what it tells that is new, or should say, " What else does she have ? ' ' The impulse of the pupil, if he has the meaning, will be to say, "A book." This is a good sign. But the teacher should then add, " Tell me all of it," and should question the pupil until he gives it as if it were a word of four syllables with the accent on the last. To enable the pupil to see the new relation in the fourth sen- tence, the teacher can ask, "What kind of a book is it ? ' 9 Un- til the pupil is able to select the main idea readily, the teacher should continue questioning in one or both of the ways suggest- ed, and should return to the questioning at any time when the pupil shows a tendency merely to pronounce words. A sentence must be read in its relation to what precedes and what follows it. It is sometimes said that a sentence, like the first example above, can have four different meanings, and so can be read correctly in four different ways. That would be true if the sentence stood alone. It would then be valueless, as no one could tell what the writer meant. From the nature of the case, a sentence must have a sufficient setting to show its meaning, or it serves no purpose of language. In the example mentioned, the second sentence makes clear the mean- ing of the first. If the second read, " She had a flower," it would change the meaning of the first entirely. If it read, "It is not the doll she wants, ' ' the meaning of the first would be dif- ferent still. Change the second to " Lucy wants it," and it changes the first accordingly. Write it, " She wants a flower, ' ' and this conditions the meaning of the first. If the second is, " Lucy has a flower, ' ' there is still a different shade of meaning. Let the teacher, for her own study of sentence meaning, try the effect of changing the second sentence so as to give still different meanings; as "Lucy wants a flower, ' ' "Lucy has a doll, too, ' ' " Lucy wants the doll, ' ' etc. It would be well for the teacher to ESSENTIALS OF READING write the first sentence and follow it with as many different sen- tences as can be arranged to vary the meaning of the first. Both sentences should be written out each time. This is a most im- portant exercise, and will lead to clearness in handling larger units. Children should be taught to look for the main ideas. When a sentence is read without expression, it means that the reader does not have in his mind the meaning of the sentence. The obvious remedy is to get him to think the right thought. To ask him to imitate the teacher's rendering, or that of another pupil, does not meet the requirement. He must be led to see for himself the main idea. The teacher can do this by questions or substitutions. For instance, in the text given below, suppose a pupil reads, "Then the Farmer came to look at his wheat. " The teacher says, " Who came?" and the pupil answers by reading the sentence correctly, "Then the Farmer came to look at his wheat." Or the teacher may say in a question- ing tone, "Then the Hunter came," and the answer will be, "Then the Farmer came to look at his wheat." By either the question or the substitution, the teacher brings the thought to the child's consciousness, and the thought produces the correct emphasis. It is a pedagogical blunder to have pupils read a sentence in several different ways, in accord- ance with the so-called "expression exercises" of some texts on reading. It creates the impression that meanings can be jug- gled about, and that it is really not an important matter just how a sentence is read. As a matter of fact, there is but one way to read a sentence, as a sentence has, or should have, but one meaning. Sometimes it is impossible to determine the meaning. This condition should be recognized as a fault of the writer, and should not be used as an excuse for inaccurate thinking, or for careless expression. Writers of primers and first readers err MELODY 23 most in this respect. Many of them are so anxious to intro- duce words that they use them in any relation, so they are used frequently. There is as much reason for lesson unity in these earlier years as at any other time. The paragraphs should have proper coherence. Except in exercises especially designated as reviews, a sentence should never be used that does not have consistent paragraph relations. Teachers should feel perfectly free to omit exercises that violate this prin- ciple, as there is no such pressing need of acquiring a large vocabulary that it should be accomplished at the expense of a violation of the language sense. Then there is plenty of material available that is consistent in this regard. This should be drawn upon, in the interest of forming habits that will not need to be changed later. Whatever is already in consciousness is not emphatic. It matters not how the idea came to the attention. It may have been mentioned before, as in the illustrations given at the begin- ning of this chapter. It may be supplied by a picture, as in the story of "The House that Jack Built. ' ' It may be implied by the nature of the context, as occurs in the story of the " Prodigal Son. ' ' "And the father said to his servants, 'Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.' ' ' The use of the ring is clearly implied by the con- text. Such a ring is worn on the hand, so the relation of the hand to the ring is implied in mentioning the ring. So shoes are wearing apparel for the feet, and the use is included in the idea expressed by the name. Neither "hand" nor "feet" is as emphatic as "ring" and "shoes." Inasmuch as a pronoun represents another word, it cannot be used unless the idea is already under consideration. Hence pronouns do not have absolute emphasis. When a pronoun is emphatic, it is emphasis of contrast, of question, of affirmation, of force, or of irony. 24 ESSENTIALS OF READING The circumflex, or wave inflection is used most frequent- ly to show emphasis of contrast. In speech, there is no mis- taking the intention of making a contrast. A warning is given by a peculiar circumflex, or wave of the voice. This cir- cumflex is used for other purposes, but the difference is shown by the quality. No one confuses it with sarcasm, irony, scorn, indignation, or the hundred other shades of meaning indicated by the use of the wave. In reading, the presence of contrast must be learned from the context. The surety with which it is discerned depends upon the ability of the reader to hold in mind the meanings already in consciousness, and to direct the eye far in advance in search of the full meaning. Often there will result a shifting and rearrangement of related meanings. The less frequent this readjustment is necessary, the more satis- factory will be the result whether the reading be silent or oral. The difference between direct and circumflex emphasis can be represented graphically. Thus : "Harry is at the Window. " There is a change of pitch and of stress. The transition from the higher to the lower pitch is made between syllables, the voice being dropped abruptly from one to the other. If the contrast were intended, the contrasting ideas would be indicated by a wave; thus: "Harry is at the Window. M ary is near the organ." The wave belongs mostly to the vowel sounds, and involves all but the most obscure sounds. Care must be taken not to attempt to emphasize too many- words. Sometimes an ambitious and affected reader will give utterance to such an absurdity as this, " Towards noon the farmer and his son came into the field." In this sentence, the reader must decide whether " noon, " or "farmer and his son," or "field" expresses the central idea. Only one of these ideas can sway the mind at a time. Only one of them should be emphasized. No compromise can be allowed by placing some emphasis on each. The aim should MELODY 25 be to emphasize but few words, but to emphasize those few words hard. Let common sense rule, and let the teacher be considerate of the pupil's honest opinion. The following story is marked to show the main ideas. Many expressions that have a slight emphasis are not marked. Such emphasis takes care of itself. The important thing is to have the main ideas brought out very distinctly. As in group- ing words, there is great room for differences of opinion. In a field of wheat there was a Lark's nest, and in the nest there were four young Larks almost large enough to fly. One morning when the mother Lark was going out for something to eat she said to her little ones: — " The wheat is now ripe enough to be cut, and there is no telling how soon the reapers will come. So keep wideawake to-day, and when I come home tell me all that you see or hear." The little Larks promised that they would do so, and the mother flew away singing. She was hardly out of sight when the Farmer who owned the field came with his son to look at his wheat. "I tell you what, John," he said, "it is time that this wheat was cut. Go round to our neighbors this evening and ask them to come to-morrow and help us." When the old Lark came home the young ones told her what they had heard; and they were so badly frightened that they begged her to move them out of the field at once. "There is no hurry," she said. " If he waits for his neighbors to come he will have to wait a long time." The next day, while the mother Lark was away, the Farmer and his son came again. "John, did you ask the neighbors to come?" said the Farmer. "Yes, sir," said John, "and they all promised to be here early." "But they have not come," said the Farmer, "and the wheat is so ripe' that it must be cut at once. Since our neighbors have failed us, we must call in our kinsfolk. So mount your horse and ride round to all your uncles and cousins, and ask them to be sure and come to-morrow and help us." The young Larks were in great fear when they heard this, and in the evening they told their mother all about it. "Mother," they said, "we shall be killed if we stay here another day. Our wings are strong enough; let us fly away right now." "Don't be in a hurry," said the mother. "If the Farmer waits for his kinsfolk the wheat will not be cut to-morrow ; for the uncles and cousins have their own harvest work to do." She went out again the next day, but told the young ones to notice everything that happened while she was gone. 26 ESSENTIALS OF READING Towards noon the Farmer and his son came into the field. "See how late in the day it is," said the Farmer, "and not a has come to help us." " And the grain is so ripe that it is all falling down and going to waste," said his son. "Yes," said the Farmer, "and since neither our friends nor our kins- folk will help us, we must do the work ourselves. Let us go home and whet our scythes and get everything ready, so that we can begin before sunrise in the morning." The old Lark came home quite early that day, and the little Larks told her what they had heard. "Now, indeed, it is time for us to be off," she said. "Shake your wings and get ready to fly; for when a man makes up his mind to do a thing himself, it is pretty sure to be done." Melody has more to do than to point out main ideas. It must also show the motive of the speaker in other respects. In the sentence, " You are going to vote for me, aren't you ?" the words "aren't you ' ' are emphasized no matter what the motive. The melody, however, may differ materially. If the one speak- ing is merely coaxing, the voice will rise, and then fall, a circumflex inflection, thus, "You are going to vote for me, aren't you ? " If the one speaking is threatening, the inflection will take an upward turn. In each case the melody reveals the motive in the mind of the speaker. A person says, "Such pleasant weather, " and we know that he means what he says. On a stormy day, he may say, " Such pleasant weather," and we know that he means the very opposite of what his words without melody mean. A person may say at one time, " The work is | not | half done. ' ' At another he may express an idea exactly opposite by saying " The work is not half done. ' ' In conversation, no mistakes are made, in melody, either by adults or by children. Neither are mistakes made in interpret- ing melody. Children recognize the patronizing teacher by the inflection of her words, and they accordingly hate her. She wonders why her pupils do not love her, when her motive to flat- ter and deceive is revealed in every word she speaks. This is MELODY 27 also the reason why the directions from one teacher are quickly and completely obeyed, while those of another are almost ignored. The children recognize, by the melody of the words of the one, that she intends to be obeyed, and by the melody of the words of the other, that she is not really in earnest. The second teacher cannot imitate the manner of the first, without an actual change in methods of discipline. If, how- ever, she reforms, and really intends to follow words by acts, the children will recognize in her words, also, the earnestness of the motive. So also, a reader cannot give a required inflection with- out having in his mind the motive. Therefore the teacher must see to it that the pupil has the thought in his mind. Then, if there is no obstacle, such as embarrassment, the melody will be correct. There is no other way of getting correct melody. An illustration. At the beginning of Antony's speech, he says, "For Brutus is an honorable man. ' ' "Honorable ' ' is em- phatic, and the melody is commonplace. Later in the speech, Antony's motive changes, and to show the new motive, the word must be given an entirely different inflection. Graphically represented, the first would be something like this, " For Brutus isan honorable man. ' ' Later in the speech it becomes, " For Brutus is an honorable man." It is not necessary to analyize this inflection. In the grades, such analysis will not aid in securing good expression. One thing and one only will secure it, and that one thing is for the reader to have in his mind the irony in which Antony spoke the sentence. It would not be profitable to make an extended analysis of pitch and melody at this time. For convenience, however, we give the following summary of the principal uses of key and in- flection, as found in most works on the subject. It is not to be 28 ESSENTIALS OF READING thought that this summary includes all the uses of melody. Indeed, no work can do so. Herein lies one of the reasons why such works are not more useful to a teacher. A high key, the average pitch of the melody, marks : a. — Strong desire to communicate thought. Example, — "Friends, Romans, Countrymen! lend me your ears. ' ' b.— High nervous strain. Example, — "Charge, Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!" Alow key marks: a. — Controlled mental conditions. Example, — " The curfew tolls the knell of parting day. ' ' b. — Little or no desire to communicate thought. Example, — " To be or not to be, that is the question. ' ' The falling inflection marks: a. — Completeness. Example, — " I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. ' ' b. — Momentary completeness. Example: — "And turned away and spake to his own soul." c. — Decreased nervous tension. Example, — "It is finished, all is over. " The rising inflection marks: a. — Increased nervous tension. Example, — "What' I a coward ?" b. — Uncertainty. Example: — " I don't know about that ? ' ' c. — Question to be answered by yes, or no. — Example : — " Are you going home ? ' ' The circumflex inflection, one made by a rising, and then a falling inflection, or by a falling and then a rising inflection, marks some complex mental conditions, including contrast. MELODY 20 In, " Brutus is an honorable man, ' ' the inflection is affected by the two ideas of what Brutus is called, and what Brutus really is. " A-a-a-ah! I have caught you n-o-o-o-w!" Here are the elements, " You thought you were safe, but I have caught you anyhow. ' ' "Julius Caesar, the Emperor of Rome", was his friend. Here we find Caesar so important that it is marked by a falling inflection , but the looking forward of the mind complicates the situation and adds an upward turn to the falling inflection, giving a circumflex inflection. This pointing forward of the voice, to indicate that the thought is not yet completed, is a subject of such importance that it must be studied more par- ticularly. The motive of the speaker in regard to the succession of ideas is shown by melody. Take for example the sentence from Elizabeth Stuart Phelps' "Mary Elizabeth,"— " She was poor, she was sick, she was dirty, she was cold, she was hungry, she was frightened." If the reader decides that this is a climax, that " frightened "is the most important thing of all, that it is in the mind of the story-teller from the begin- ning, then the reader must make the melody point on and on, until the climax is reached. Something like this will re- sult: " She was poor, she was sick, she was ragged, she was cold, she was hungry, she was frightened. ' ' If, however, the reader believes that this is not a climax, that it is only a cata- log of wretchedness, that each thing is in itself enough misery for one small girl, then the melody must indicate this motive by a slight falling inflection on each of the important words. This indicates momentary completeness. It means that the mind is almost filled by the idea, although it is still but a part of the full thought. This falling inflection is very different from the inflection at 3 o ESSENTIALS OF READING the end of the sentence. It is, at most, but a tipping down- ward of but one word. At the end of a sentence, the voice usually rises and then falls in two or even three successive steps. The sentence read with the second interpretation, would be something like the following: — " She was poor, she was sick, \ \ \ \ she was dirty, she was ragged, she was cold, she was hungry, she was frightened." Another sentence from the same selection, illustrating the same things, is this one: " Whether the door-keeper was away, or busy, or sick, or careless, or whether the head-waiter at the dining-room door was so tall that he couldn't see so short a beggar, or however it was, Mary Elizabeth did get in; by the door-keeper, past the head-waiter, under the shadow of the clerk, over the smooth, slippery marble floor, the child crept on. ' ' In the sentence, there are two very important ideas, "did get in," and " the child crept on. " The voice will point onward with even or upward inflections until the first is reached, then a downward turn will mark the momentary completeness at the word "in," or, it will have an upward turn at the end of the downward inflection, and will indicate to no one that the thought is completed. In the last half of the sentence, phrase after phrase points on, until the sentence rounds out in the most important thing of all, " the child crept c^n." In the following poem the falling inflections are marked, the rising, momentary completeness, and even inflection: CROSSING THE BAR Sunset and evening star, — ■ And one clear call for me : \ And may there be no moaning of the bar, — «• When I put out to sea, \ MELODY 3i But such a tide as moving seems asleep, — ■ Too full for sound and foam, — When that which drew from out the boundless deep — ■ Turns again home. \ Twilight and evening bell, — And after that the dark! \ And may there be no sadness of farewell, — When I embark ;\ For though from out our bourne of time and place, — The flood may bear me far, / I hope to see my Pilot \ face to face\ When I have crost the bar. \ Tennyson. In succession of ideas, as in the case of single words and phrases, the teacher must work through the thought. Let it be said, once more, that the analysis of melody will not help the pupil to give good expression. If he knows the whole thought, and has the whole thought in his mind, he will give it. The teacher must see to it that these two requirements are met. For example, remember the two interpretations of the sentence, " She was poor, she was sick, she was dirty, she was ragged, she was cold, she was hungry, she was frightened. ' ' Whichever interpretation be selected, the teacher should not talk to the pu- pil about climaxes, and upward inflections, and momentary completeness, and so on. If the climax interpretation is selec- ted, the teacher should see to it, that the child thinks of "fright- ened, ' ' as being the worst thing of all, that he has this in his mind from the beginning, and that he knows that this word will be the end of the thought. If the other interpretation is selected, she should speak of the troubles separately, allowing each one to fill the mind of the child as he reads it. The child should be taught to read by sentences. When he becomes a good reader, his eye will travel far ahead of his 3 2 ESSENTIALS OF READING tongue. To train this skill, a child should be given time to glance through a sentence before he begins to speak it. Such a sentence as the second given from " Mary Elizabeth" can be read well by no one, without such a preparation. In the lower grades where sentences are short, the " Look and Say" method should be used for weeks at a time. Have the child read the sentence silently, close the book, keeping a finger in the place, and say it. This is a splendid . device for getting thoughtful reading and good expression. Yet this sometimes happens. The child glances at a sentence, getting the thought at a glance, looks up at the teacher, and says the sentence correctly and eagerly; and then the teacher snaps out, " Look at your book and read it." The teacher is wrong. The pupil is right. He has gotten the thought and given the thought. This is reading. OUTLINE OF CHAPTER III. MELODY Melody and emphasis. The function of melody. The main idea. A new idea. Related ideas. Training children to find main ideas. The circumflex inflection indicating contrast in main ideas. An example. Melody and the motive of the speaker. Necessity of having the motive in the mind. Function of different melodies. Key. High key. Low key. Inflection. Falling inflection. Rising inflection. MELODY 33 Circumflex inflection. Succession of ideas. Illustration. Methods of work. FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION i . What is the function of melody ? 2 . What is a main idea ? 3. What makes an idea important ? 4. How often, in the same selection, may the same idea be impor- tant ? 5. How early can the child be expected to give expressive reading? 6. Can a sentence be read correctly without a knowledge of the context ? When ? 7. How much should children be taught about melody ? 8. What is the peculiar melody in emphasis of contrast? 9. What is the effect of trying to emphasize too many words? 10. What office does melody perform besides indicating main ideas? 11. How can you say, "She is a sweet lady" and mean the opposite? 12. Can a reader give a thought that is not in his own mind? 13. What determines key? 14. What may a falling inflection indicate? A rising? A circum- flex? 15. How can a pupil be trained to read periodic sentences? 16. How can pupils be trained to read by sentences? 17. Should children ever be allowed to cut up sentences in reading them ? When ? 18. Should children be required to look at the text as they read? CHAPTER IV FORCE Before proceeding with the subject of force and also with that of quality, it is necessary to make clear the distinction between reading, declaiming, and acting. Read- ing has been confused many times with declaiming and acting, much to the detriment of reading. The teaching of reading is injured, rather than helped, by the methods of the elocutionist. The function of acting is to create ideas in the minds of those who see and hear. The actor does this by imitating, as far as possible, the actions of a person in the imagined circumstances. He is assisted by costumes, cosmetics, elaborate scenery, and ingenious stage devices for imitating the real conditions. There are, however, certain limitations. The action of years must be portrayed in an evening, a dozen men must serve for an army. The muttered asides of the villain must be pronounced in a tone audible to hundreds of people. The function of declaiming is also to create certain ideas in the minds of those who see and hear. It differs from acting, principally, in the increased number of disadvantages. No assistance can be gotten from scenery and stage contrivances, and but little from costume and cosmetics. The declaimer must get along without even a dozen men in his army. Still, imitation, though helped largely by suggestion, is the purpose of the declaimer. The hapless heroine wrings her hands and sinks swooning to the floor. The valiant warrior draws and flourishes his imaginary sword. The lash of the noble Ben Hur writhes and hisses, and hisses and writhes again &nd again over the backs of his four. 34 FORCE 35 The function of reading is very different from that of acting or declaiming. It is twofold, and the most important of the two purposes is not in acting or declaiming at all. More than nine-tenths of reading is silent reading, and its purpose is wholly the getting of thought. Of oral reading, the purpose is to convey thought, and to create ideas by means of suggestion, not at all by means of imitation. The sooner the teacher of reading gets the idea of imitating out of her mind, the better it is for her pupils. The idea of a person reading should not be the picture of a person speaking from a platform, but rather that of a gentleman in his library reading to his friends, or of a lady by the bedside of a sick friend, or of a school-boy standing by his seat reading to his fellows. With this idea of reading in our minds, let us turn to the subject of force. Force manifests the degree of mental energy in the mind of the speaker. It. results in an increased muscular tension of the organs of speech. When force is in the nature of an explosive utterance, followed by a diminishing of effort, it is said to have radical stress. The stress is on the first of the syllable or word. It arises from the personal energy or the personal emotion of the speaker. The teacher says, " Children, be quiet!" The expression shows her determin- ation to have silence. The force arises from her own energy. Another and less common kind of stress is final stress. This is found where the force arises from the object mentioned, not from the speaker, as for example, "What! you! is it you!" A third kind of stress is median stress. Here the energy is greatest at the middle of the expression; as " This was the noblest Roman of them all." This classification may be of service to the teacher, but not to the pupil. All work with the pupil must be 36 ESSENTIALS OF READING through the thought; and suggestion, not imitation, is the result. Take for example the lines from "Barbara Frietchie:" Up the street came the rebel tread, Stonewall Jackson riding ahead. Under his slouched hat left and right He glanced; the old flag met his sight. "Halt!" — -The dust-brown ranks stood fast "Fire!" — out blazed the rifle-blast. We should not attempt to have the pupil imitate the sound of the general 's voice, as he gave the command. If he spoke as the military officers of today issue commands to troops, what he said sounded far more like " Ho-o-o-w-w" than like " Halt." However, the question to the pupils, " How do you think he spoke the words?" is not out of place: for the ques- tion will bring to the minds of the pupils the fact that this man was the commander, that what he said was done without hesitation; and he said, "Halt!" "Fire!" If a pupil has this in his voice, as he speaks the words, a tone of energy and of command, this tone, this suggestion, is what we want, not loudness. When we reach the next words of the general, let the pupil think once more that this was the general, that his word was law, that if he should command his men to place a comrade against the wall and shoot him, it would be done. Let the pupil remember that this general knew his power, and that he used it, that he said what he meant and nothing but what he meant. With all this in mind let the pupil read : " Who touches a hair of yon gray head Dies like a dog ! March on, ' ' he said. The problem of the teacher is to get the reader to imag- ine the situation of the speaker in a selection* When this is FORCE 37 accomplished, the words of the reader will come with such force as to suggest the emotions of the original speaker. Let us be satisfied with this, and not attempt to secure imitation. Stress denotes the state of the mind. The only way to secure it in the right place is to secure the right state of mind. The following extracts show the kind of selections in the reading of which we may most easily get forceful expression from pupils. " One day we left our dolls under a big pine, while we ran off to wade for a few minutes. When we came back, not one was to be seen. " We hunted and hunted, and at last I happened to look up. What do you think I saw ? Those eleven dolls were hanging by their necks to the branches! " Donald stood near laughing. £ Santa Claus has given you a new Christmas tree,' he jeered, 'and more girl-dolls.' " Then he began to throw stones at them. We screamed and begged him to stop, but he kept on. "At last he hit Amy Marston's ' Flora,' and we heard the face smash in. Now Amy was a little girl, but we all loved her, and Donald had been her slave the summer before. " Amy turned perfectly white and screamed: 'You've killed her! You've killed my precious dolly! ' then she fell right on the ground. " We were so frightened! Some one ran and picked Amy up, and some one else ran for her mother. ' ' The Heath Readers, Book Three. Sheridan now put spurs to his steed, and galloped along the road, swinging his hat to the soldiers, who watched him dashing past. He called out cheerily to them : " Face the other way, boys; we're going back! ' ' Galloping thus for twenty miles, Sheridan rode on, mile after mile. But all through that long gallop his noble steed never faltered, and the men, hearing his "Turn boys, turn, we're going back!" followed him blindly. When Sheridan finally came up to the troops, he encouraged them by crying: " Never mind, boys, we'll whip them yet. W T e shall sleep in our old quarters to-night. ' ' H. A. Gueeber, Story of the Great Republic. 38 ESSENTIALS OF READING THE FLAG GOES BY Hats off! Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, A flash of color beneath the sky; Hats off! The flag is passing by! Blue and crimson and white it shines, Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines, Hats off! The Colors before us fly; But more than the Flag is passing by. Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great, Fought to make and to save the State; Weaiy marches, and sinking ships; Cheers of victory on dying lips; Days of plenty and years of peace; March of a strong land's swift increase; Equal justice, right, and law, Stately honor and reverend awe; Sign of a Nation, great and strong To ward her people from foreign wrong; Pride and glory and honor, all Live in the Colors to stand or fall. Hats off! Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, And loyal hearts are beating high; Hats off! The flag is passing by! Henry Holcomb Bennett. FORCE 39 OUTLINE OF CHAPTER IV FORCE The difference between reading, declaiming, and acting. Acting, — imitation. Declaiming, — imitation and suggestion. Reading. Silent, gleaming of thought, Oral, transfer of thought, suggestion. The function of force. Stress. Kinds of stress. Radical stress Final stress. Median stress. Method of work. The teacher's problem. Exercises. FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION i. What is the difference between acting, declaiming, and reading? 2. Under what circumstances is it profitable to have the pupils hear elocutionists and actors? 3. What idea of reading should a teacher have in mind? 4. What does force indicate? 5. Of what physiological condition is force the result? 6. What is stress? Distinguish the kinds of stress. 7. How should a pupil read, "I heard the thunder roll"? Why should he read it so ? 8. How can the teacher secure false or affected force ? 9. How can the teacher secure genuine, heartfelt force? 10. Name some selections suitable for reading to illustrate force. CHAPTER V QUALITY The quality of the voice of the reader indicates the emo- tion. A reader controls his utterance in regard to time, and thereby indicates the importance or largeness of the thought. He changes the pitch of his words, and thus exhibits motives. He uses different degrees of muscular energy, and thereby dis- plays his earnestness. By changing the condition of the organs of speech, he can change the actual quality of the sound of his voice. By movements of the tongue, the larynx, and the palate, he can affect the size and shape of the cavities through which the sound moves. He can do this to some extent voluntarily. The greatest changes are, however, caused by the influence of emotion. Thus we have come to recognize the emotional state of the speaker by the quality of voice resulting from these muscular changes. So the reader who wishes to express emotions must use tones of proper quality. If he wishes to express sorrow, his voice must have the quality that we recog- nize as the effect of sorrow. If he wishes to express hate, he must produce that quality given by the vocal organs when under the influence of hate. Enthusiasm, discouragement, benevolence, awe, anger, jealousy, all must be shown by the quality of the voice. In short, the good reader must be a master of a musical instrument, the human voice, in compari- son with whose marvelous power, flexibility, and delicacy, man-created instruments, even the master-pieces of Stradi- varius, or the greatest organs of the greatest builders, must sink in hopeless inferiority. The number of different qualities of the voice is almost 40 QUALITY 41 infinite. Some of the most common have been named and classified. That called by singers the bright, ringing quality is produced when the organs of speech are influenced by the emo- tions of joy, happiness, liveliness and the like. For example: Has there any old fellow got mixed with the boys? If there is take him out, without making a noise, Hang the almanac's cheat and the catalogue's spite; Old time is a liar! We're twenty to-night! We're twenty, we're twenty! Who says we are more ? He's tipsy, — young jackanapes! — show him the door! " Gray temples at twenty? " — -Yes, white if we please; Where the snowfiakes fall thickest there's nothing can freeze. Holmes. Hurrah, hurrah for Sheridan! Hurrah, hurrah for horse and man! And when their statues are placed on high, Under the dome of the Union sky, The American soldier's Temple of Fame, There with the glorious General's name, Be it said in letters both bold and bright; " Here is the steed that saved the day, By carrying Sheridan into the fight From Winchester, twenty miles away! ' ' Thomas Buchanan Read. What is called the dark, sombre, covered tone is produced by the influence of gloom, sorrow, sadness, discouragement, and the like. Good-by, proud world! I'm going home; Thou'rt not my friend, and I'm not thine; Long through the weary crowds I roam, A river ark on the ocean brine; Long I've been tossed like the driven foam, And now, proud world, I'm going home. Emerson. The organs of speech when not changed from the normal by any emotion give the quality called normal. Example: 42 ESSENTIALS OF READING If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces. It is a good divine that follows his own instructions: I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching. The brain may devise laws for the blood, but a hot temper leaps o'er a cold decree: such a hare is madness the youth to skip o'er the meshes of good counsel the cripple. Shakespeare. The voice when affected by deep, full, enlarged feeling takes a rich, full quality called the orotund. It is not necessarily accompanied by loudness. It comes naturally to the trained reader in reading passages of sublimity and grandeur. It is the evidence of exalted feeling. Examples: Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean — roll! Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain; Man marks the earth with ruin — his control Stops with the shore; upon the watery plain The wrecks are all thy deeds, nor doth remain A shadow of man's ravage, save his own, When for a moment, like a drop of rain, He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown. Byron. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining be- fore us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this na- tion, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that govern- ment of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincoln. The quality of the voice when influenced by harsh and severe emotions that contract the muscles of the throat is called guttural. Hate, scorn, derision, have this quality. Examples: QUALITY 43 Shylock (aside). How like a fawning publican he looks! I hate him, for he is a Christian, But more for that in low simplicity He lends out money gratis and brings down The rate of usance here in Venice. If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. Shakespeare. The aspirated quality may be produced by any emotion that produces the feeling of oppression. It may be fear, exhaus- tion, excitement, awe, terror, hate, or some others. Examples: Macbeth. Whence is that knocking? How is't with me when every noise appals me ? What hands are here? Ha! they pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red. Shakespeare. Macduff. Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight With a new Gorgon. Do not bid me speak; See, and then speak yourself. (Exeunt Macbeth and Lennox.) Awake, awake! Ring the alarm bell, — Murther and treason! Banquo and Donalbain! — Malcolm! awake! Shake off this downy sleep, death's counterfeit, And look on death itself ! Up, up, and see The great doom's image! Malcolm! Banquo! As from your graves rise up, and walk like sprites, To countenance this horror. Ring the bell. Shakespeare. These qualities are the principle ones recognized in manuals. As a matter of fact there are not only many more qualities, but those given mingle, sometimes in complicated ways. The emotion in the following description of Jean Valjean in the 44 ESSENTIALS OF READING Bishop's house is exceedingly complex. Fear, stealth, ferocity, remorse, all are mingled, and the quality of the voice is affected by all. When three o'clock struck it seemed to say, "To work." He took from his pocket a piece of iron, and walked toward the door of the ad- joining room. He found the door ajar. He pushed it boldly. A badly oiled hinge uttered a hoarse, prolonged cry. Jean Valjean started, shuddering and dismayed. A few minutes passed; nothing had stirred. He heard from the end of the room the calm and regular breathing of the sleeping Bishop. Suddenly he stooped, for he was close to the bed. Victor Hugo. All these qualities of the voice of the reader indicate the emotions. There is no mechanical way of gaining them or of putting emotion into reading. The old-time preacher who wrote in the margin of his sermons the notes, "Cry here" and "Solemn voice here," could hardly have touched his hearers. Professor Cumnock once told with great disgust how after he had read a selection that brought the tears to his eyes, a hearer, a theological student, came to him and said, " Mr. Cumnock, won't you please tell me how you make yourself cry ? " It is only the affected reader who tries to put into the reading, emotions that he does not feel. It is really a good thing that our healthy school boys refuse even to attempt to indicate emotion that they do not and cannot possibly feel. The teacher should not talk about Orotund and Aspirate Qualities, etc. She should select a text which appeals to emotions the children have felt. What boy can feel the words of the middle-aged man! Blessings on thee, little man, Barefoot boy with cheek of tan ! g£ He $ 4: $ $ From my heart I give thee joy, — I was once a barefoot boy. QUALITY 45 Many things the children have in their own experience, many things they can imagine. Select passages having these things; patriotism, love of nature, self-sacrifice, enthusiasm, curiosity, wonder, excitement, all of these can be used to affect the quality of the voice. Make them see the pictures of the scenes. Read them yourself. Emotion is catching. Before allowing pupils to begin the reading of an emotion- al selection, see that they catch the atmosphere of the selec- tion. By atmosphere we mean the general spirit of the selection. For example, before reading Tennyson's " Crossing the Bar," call to the pupil's attention the fact that when Tennyson wrote this poem he was eighty years old. He expected death at any time. He was looking straight into the future, and he was calmly resigned to meet whatever might come. Tennyson's " The Knights' Chorus " shows a different atmosphere. Call attention to the fact that Arthur is victorious, his kingdom is established, the king 's glory is being celebrated in the song of the Knights: — Blow trumpet, for the world is white with May; Blow trumpet, the long night hath rolled away! Blow thro' the living world — "Let the King reign!" The following examples illustrate atmosphere: — Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee Jest, and youthful Jollity, Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles, Nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles, Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, And love to live in dimple sleek; Sport, that wrinkled Care derides, And Laughter holding both his sides. Come, and trip it, as you go, On the light, fantastic toe; And in thy right hand lead with thee The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty; 46 ESSENTIALS OF READING And if I give thee honour due, Mirth, admit me of thy crew, To live with her, and live with thee, In unreproved pleasures free. Milton. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The iDwing herd winds slowly o'er the lea, The plowman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness, and to me. Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds, Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds. Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower The moping owl does to the moon complain Of such as, wandering near her secret bower, Molest her ancient, solitary reign. Beneath these rugged elms, that yew tree's shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mould 'ring heap, Each in his narrow cell forever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. Gray. OUTLINE OF CHAPTER V QUALITY Function of quality Different qualities. Bright, ringing. Dark, sombre. Normal. Orotund. Guttural. Aspirate. Other qualities. Necessity of reader's feeling the emotion. Selecting text. Necessity of catching the atmosphere of the selection. What atmosphere is. Examples of atmosphere. QUALITY 47 FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION i. What does the quality of the voice of a speaker or reader indicate ? 2. To what extent is the quality of the voice under the control of the speaker or reader ? 3. How can a reader control the quality of the voice ? 4. What are the qualities of the voice commonly named ? 5. What does each indicate ? 6. Through what means should a teacher strive to secure reading that portrays the emotions of a selection ? 7. What kind of text is best suited to children who are trying to read with emotion ? 8. What do we mean by the atmosphere of a selection? 9. How can the atmosphere of a selection be secured? 10. What is the atmosphere of Poe's " Raven " ? Wallace's " Char- iot Race " ? Milton's "Sonnet on His Blindness" ? Lowell's "Cortin,"? PART II INTERPRETATIVE READING CHAPTER VI TYPES An author wishes to make vivid the way in which a man passed through a certain town. He does not make the man say that he walked watchfully, and quietly, and fearfully, and alertly. He makes him say, " I stole cat-footed through the town." Why not say "calf-footed?" Because the author must select as the type that animal of all animals which has in the greatest degree the qualities of alertness, and stealth. An author often omits the name of the feeling or charac- teristic or idea he wishes to express. In its place he uses the name of some object that represents in a very high degree that feeling or characteristic or idea. For in- stance in "He was a lion in the fight," "lion" is used to represent bravery and fierceness. Such an object is said to be a type of the feeling or characteristic or idea it represents. Longfellow wishes to picture the beauty of the dew-laden trees of Arcadia. He says: — Bright with the sheen of the dew each glittering tree of the forest, Flashed like the plane-tree the Persian adorned with mantles and jewels. Sir Walter Scott wishes to emphasize the fickleness of love. He selects as a type the flowing and ebbing of the tide in Solway. I long wooed your daughter, my suit you denied, Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide. Macaulay wishes to show the greatness of the Etruscan army. He selects as his standard of comparison the ocean, an object 5i 52 ESSENTIALS OF READING that possesses in the highest degree the attributes of size and power. 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. The study of figures of speech is best taken up through types. Metaphor is that figure of speech in which one object is said to be another because of some type-quality discovered as common to both. One who has experienced the sense of pro- tection that comes from shelter behind a great rock in the des- ert at the time of a storm that threatened his safety, or who has escaped within the wajls of a fortress when attacked by a band of enemies, has concrete examples of conditions that afford a high degree of protection. It is natural that such a one should lay hold of these familiar objects to represent his sense of protection when under the care of Jehovah, and should exclaim, " Thou art my rock and my fortress.' ' He has in mind two distinct pictures, one of Jehovah and the other of a rock and a fortress. He declares Jehovah to be his rock and for- tress because his sense of protection under Jehovah's care is so great and so complete that in Jehovah he sees in the highest degree those qualities he had experienced in the inanimate forms. He takes Jehovah as his ideal of the quality he is trying to interpret. The protection afforded by the rock and the for- tress is subordinated to that given by Jehovah. This is meta- phor. If the writer had felt the sense of protection from Jehovah as less ideal in degree than that afforded by the physi- cal shelter, if his sense of satisfaction from some threatened danger had been realized more fully or at a later point of time in the case of the rock and the fortress, he would have said, TYPES 53 "Thou art like a rock and a fortress to me." This would be simile. Simile is that figure of speech in which one object is said to be like ^another. As in the case of metaphor, the analogy is due to some type-quality common to both. Again there must be two- pictures in the mind, but merely similarity is affirmed, not identity. " The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold. ' ' The reason 'the writer cast this in simile is be- cause to his mind the havoc wrought by the attack of the fierce wolf upon a defenceless flock of sheep represented to the highest degree the effect of that sudden descent of the Assyrians upon the unprepared and unsuspecting camp. It is difficult to conceive of more utter rout and disaster than happens to sheep under such circumstances, so that is taken as the type. The effect of the attack of the Assyrians is subordinated to it. Simile is used not because it is weaker, but because it best expresses the conditions of the scene. Allegory is that figure in which a literal expression is capable of figurative interpretation. To be pure allegory, it must be absolutely capable of either interpretation. It may be found in a word, a phrase, a clause, a sentence, a paragraph, or an en- tire book. It is commonly thought of in connection with the longer units, and is most important for elementary instruction in that form. Allegory resembles metaphor and simile in kind, but differs in degree. There is similiarity as the basis. It is also an attempt to visualize some spiritual quality through a familiar literal form. It differs from the two other figures in the fact that but one picture is in consciousness at first. The literal must be so vivid that it holds all the attention for the moment. The interpretation must be in sub-consciousness, or must follow a moment later. " Pilgrim's Progress " is the most famous type of extended allegory. Many of our best hymns are allegorical, though they 54 ESSENTIALS OF READING change their form, generally in an attempt to cause more com- plete interpretation of the feelings of the writer. " Rock of Ages, cleft for me, ' ' is mostly allegory. Parables are allegories that serve to teach some religious truth. Fables are allegories that are intended for ethical instruction. Figures change from one to another as best serves the writer's purpose. Teachers should make their own grasp of the sub- ject firm by working out many examples through all the de- grees of energy involved in each change so as to see to their own satisfaction that there is a reason for the form used. Good writers do not use figures merely as an embellishment, as is sometimes believed to be the case. If they are true to nature, they use the form that best carries their meaning. They may be over-imaginative, and their readers may fail to be moved as they were by the influence of the type-qualities portrayed. That is not the fault of the writer. It is the duty of the reader to try to put himself into a condition to be responsive in kind and in degree to the same feelings that moved the writer. It is the office of the teacher of reading to help pupils to retain that sensitiveness of imagination that is characteristic of youth. Almost every other subject of instruction is holding the pupil down to literal meanings. In reading the imagination can and should have full play. As a study in the change of forms, take the line, " Stonewall Jackson riding ahead.' ' In the origin of the term " Stone- wall, ' ' some enthusiastic person might have been so energized by the picture of that firm soldier in the midst of the wavering raw recruits of that first battle, that he exclaimed, "The Stonewall stayed the advancing line. ' ' One who was familiar with the incidents of that battlefield would recognize this as the effort of a vivid imagination to express how that firmness seem- ed to the narrator and while having first the mental picture of a stone wall, would find that it shortly or almost immediately TYPES 55 dissolved into that of the well-known general in advance of his wavering line, to whom his followers rallied to stop the movement of the oncoming charge. This would be sentence- allegory. Had the speaker recognized in Jackson the quality of firmness to such a degree that he was willing to take him for the moment as a type of firmness, to which all other instances of firmness might well be compared, he would have subordi- nated the same qualities as seen in a stone wall to those shown by Jackson, and would have said, " Jackson was the stone wall of the line at that crisis. ' ' Two pictures would then be in mind, one declared to be the same as the other, in some one respect. This is metaphor. If to the speaker the idea of firmness as shown by a stone wall, that cannot move, was the quality seen in the immobility of Jackson, who was held in his place by a sense of responsi- bility so strong that it took from him the power to move, even had he so desired, his attempt to represent that subordination of the human quality to that shown by the lifeless wall would take the form, " There stands Jackson like a stone wall. ' ' This is simile. To readers who are familiar enough with the setting to recog- nize any figure in the term "Stonewall Jackson," it is a meta- phor as used in the poem. In considering an upright man, the psalmist exclaims, " He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. ' ' Simile is natural here, for it would require an extreme activity of imagin- ation to place a man in the genus of trees, drawing sustenance from the ground. This very element of constant and abun- dant nourishment is the quality recognized but the tree is the better representative of the type, so the human is subordinated to it. When the hot winds sweep over the sandy plains, a tree that does not have its roots deep in an unfailing supply of water soon 56 ESSENTIALS OF READING gives evidence of the drain upon its vitality by its withered leaves. The external appearance shows the inward condition. So a man that is stricken by a blow that has deprived him of his courage, shows it soon externally. On the other hand, the man who can withstand adversity, calm and serene, sustained by a spiritual nourishment that gives him perennial vigor, so arouses the psalmist's enthusiasm that he accepts him as his type of that which has an abundant and unfailing source of nourishment. Under the unconscious influence of the simile just in mind, he boldly projects the one picture upon the other, accepts them as identical, and declares in the same sentence his simile, " His leaf also shall not wither." This is clause- metaphor. Metonymy is that figure of speech in which one thing is named instead of another of which the first is a type. " He kept the table in a roar. ' ' The table is the prominent thing connected with a banquet. " He arose and addressed the chair." The " chair" is the sign of the office. " Gray hairs should be respected." " Gray hairs," the type of age. Synecdoche is that figure of speech in which one thing is named instead of another of which the first is a typical part. " A hundred sail are in the bay." The sail is a typical part of the ship. " She was a child of ten summers. ' ' The summer is a typical part of the year. " He employed ten hands. ' ' The hands are the type for the whole men. Notice that in metony- my one thing is named for another, of which it is no part, but merely associated with it. In synecdoche the one thing is really the part of the other. Personification is that figure of speech in which inanimate things are given attributes of life. This is sometimes done by the use of adjectives; as, the howling wind. By means of verbs, inanimate things are represented as acting as if living beings; as, the wind howled. In combination with Apostrophe, the TYPES 57 figure is used in direct address; as " Come to the bridal cham- ber, Death!" Personification is metaphorical in its nature in the above illus- trations, inasmuch as two identical pictures are in mind. It can be allegorical, when the mind is primarily conscious of but one picture, which is that of some lifeless object endowed with life, or of an animal having human attributes. Fables and stories of the type of " Jack Frost" represent allegorical personification. Apostrophe is the direct address of the absent as if present, of the dead as if living, and of inanimate things as if living. It often includes personification, and can be either metaphorical or allegorical in its nature. " Thou hast taught me, Silent River, Many a lesson, deep and long. ' ' This is an apostrophe in which the river is metaphorically personified. , " O Death, where is thy sting ? ' ' This is an apostrophe in which death is personified in a way that might be allegorical to one having a vivid imagination. It is the business of the teacher to cultivate in the pupil the power to recognize and feel type-qualities. These exercises are profitable : — i. Have the pupils explain given types. 2. Have the pupils find and explain types. 3. Have the pupils tell certain things by means of types. 4. Have the pupils classify types according to the figures of speech. 5 8 ESSENTIALS OF READING EXERCISES PICK OUT, INTERPRET, AND CLASSIFY THE TYPES Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels. Longfellow. Fair as the earliest beam of eastern light, Shine martial Faith, and Courtesy's bright star. Scott. "Dance, Marabout, " shouted the reckless warders, as much delighted at having a subject to tease as a child when he catches a butterfly, or a school-boy upon discovering a bird's nest. The Marabout, as if happy to do their behests, bounded from the earth, and spun his giddy round before them with singular agility, which when contrasted with his slight and wasted figure and diminutive appearance, made him resemble a withered leaf twirled round and around at the pleasure of the winter's breeze. Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel, and shining morning face, creeping like snail unwillingly to school. And then the lover sighing like furnace, with woful ballad made to his mistress' eyebrows. Shakespeare. Once as I told in glee Tales of the stormy sea, Soft eyes did gaze on me, Burning, yet tender; And as the white stars shine, On that dark heart of mine Tell their soft splendor. As with his wings aslant, Sails the fierce cormorant, Seeking some rocky haunt, With his prey laden, So toward the open main, Beating to sea again, Through the wild hurricane, Bore I the maiden. Longfellow. Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Longfellow. TYPES 59 "Hence is the inner life of so many suffering women Sunless and silent and deep, like subterranean rivers Running through caverns of darkness, with endless and profitless murmurs." Thereupon answered John Alden, the young man, the lover of women: " Heaven forbid it, Priscilla; and truly they seem to me always More like the beautiful rivers that watered the garden of Eden, More like the river Euphrates, through deserts of Havilah flowing, Filling the land with delight, and memories sweet of the garden ! ' ' Longfellow. Then her tears Broke forth a flood, as when the August cloud, Darkening beside the mountain, suddenly Melts into streams of rain. Bryant. So, on the bloody sand, Sohrab lay dead; And the great Rustum drew his horseman's cloak Down o'er his face, and sate by his dead son. As those black granite pillars, once high-rear'd By Jemshid in Persepolis, to bear His house, now 'mid their broken flights of steps Lie prone, enormous, down the mountain side — So in the sand lay Rustum by his son. Matthew Arnold. By and by The ruddy square of comfortable light, Far-blazing from the rear of Philip's house, Allured him, as the beacon blaze allures The bird of passage, till he madly strikes Against it, and beats out his weary life. Tennyson. In conclusion, let us notice one of the finest poems in litera- ture, one built around a type. A beautiful thought came to the poet. He wished to give it to the world. He wished to give it in such a way that it would enter men's souls. He sought for a type. He found it in a little broken sea -shell cast at his feet by the waves. The tenant of the shell had built around himself 60 ESSENTIALS OF READING his first small abode. Then he had added a larger room to his home, moved into it, and walled up the old room, now too small for his use. So the Nautilus, for that is the name of the little being, built its spiral shell in gradually increasing cham- bers until the end of its little life came, and it left its empty shell, its last abode unwalled and open. The poet devotes three stanzas to a description of his type; one stanza, the fourth, to the introduction of the truth of which the chambered Nautilus is a type; and one stanza, the last, to the thought itself. THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign, Sails the unshadowed main, — The venturous bark that flings On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings In gulfs enchanted, where the siren sings, And coral reefs lie bare, Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair? Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl; Wrecked is the ship of pearl! And. every chambered cell, Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell, As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell, Before thee lies revealed, — Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed! Year after year beheld the silent toil That spread his lustrous coil; Still, as the spiral grew, He left the past year's dwelling for the new Stole with soft step its shining archway through, Built up its idle door, Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more. Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee, Child of the wandering sea, TYPES 6 1 Cast from her lap, forlorn! From thy dead lips a clearer note is born Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn! While on my ear it rings, Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings: — Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea! OUTLINE OF CHAPTER VI TYPES Function of types. Examples. Figures of speech. Metaphor. Simile. Allegory. Metonymy. Synecdoche. Personification. Apostrophe. Exercises. "The Chambered Nautilus." FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION i. What is a type? Why do authors use types ? 2. What is a type of purity ? Of humility? Of vanity? 3. Of what is the fox a type ? The goose? An oak? A reed? 4. What is a metaphor ? How is it based on types ? 5. How does simile differ from metaphor? 6. What is an allegory ? Name some famous allegories 7. Is an allegory necessarily long ? How long? 8. What figure in the parable of the Sower ? 62 ESSENTIALS OF READING 9. What is the purpose of a parable ? 10. What figure in the fable of the Fox and the Grapes ? 11. What is the purpose of a fable ? 12. In what respect are parables and fables similar? How do they differ? 13. What duty has the teacher toward the pupils in regard to figures ? 14. When should classification of figures be taught ? 15. Explain metonymy. Synecdoche. 16. What is personification ? Give an allegorical personification. 17. What is apostrophe? Give an example of apostrophe not in- cluding personification. 18. Give an example of apostrophe metaphorically personified. 19. Explain the figures in the "Chambered Nautilus." CHAPTER VII EFFECTS He strode to Gauthier, in his throat Gave him the lie, then struck his mouth With one back -handed blow that wrote In blood men's verdict there. North, South, East, West, I looked. The lie was dead And damned, and truth stood up instead. The lines are from Robert Browning's " Count Gismond." The Countess Gismond is telling a friend of the circumstances under which she first met her husband, and of the events that led to their union. She has told how at a time when she, as queen of a tournament, was at the climax of pride and happi- ness, Count Gauthier had suddenly and publicly accused her of a shameful crime. Stunned by the horror of the accusation, she was speechless, until Count Gismond " Strode to Gauthier," etc. Let us see how much the author has told us in the well-chosen words of the brief scene. " Strode ' ' tells us of the fearlessness and indignation of Gismond. Gauthier had " stalked forth." " In his throat, ' ' no beating about the bush, no polite introduc- tion of the subject, but words clear and strong. " Struck his mouth," shows the degree of Gismond's anger. " With one back-handed blow," Gismond thoroughly despised this dastard, but even this sentiment was energetic, for his blow " wrote in blood." " North, South, East, West, I looked," the heroine, though innocent, had been beaten down by the mere accusation; now she feels herself cleared. So we find something of the story, and very much of the char- acters and moods of the actors, told us in few words. Let us 63 64 ESSENTIALS OF READING see how this is accomplished. Gismond was fearless in charac- ter and indignant in mood. A result of this character and this mood was the particular way in which he walked. The same character and mood caused Gismond to give the lie to Gauth- ier " in his throat. ' ' The fact that Gismond despised and scorned Gauthier, had for its effect the " back-handed blow." The energy of the blow is shown by its effect, the drawing of blood. The regained assurance of the woman is shown in its effect in her looking " North, South, East, West. ' ' In fact all that we know of the characters and moods of these persons is told us by the effects caused by the characters and moods. The supreme source of strength in literature is the abil- ity to produce the greatest result by the fewest means. Authors do this by telling effects and allowing the im- agination and reason of the reader to construct the causes. The reader by the process of inference secures a much stronger idea than he could obtain from simple descriptive words. For example, McLaren wishes to make vivid the ob- stinacy of the Scotch, and he says: " And they stood longest in the kirk yard when the north wind blew across a hundred miles of snow. ' ' Again he wishes to show how great was the grief of the old doctor when he could not save the life of Annie, the wife of Tammas, and he says merely this, " a' saw the Doc- tor shake in his saddle. " The doctor finally saves the life of Saunders after a terrible combat with the fever. The author wishes to tell us how the old doctor felt over the victory. Does he use the words happy and joyful ? Not he. He tells us how Drumsheugh followed the old man, crippled by accident and stiffened by exposure, as he went out into the fields after the great exertions of the night. Then the author tells us how the old doctor flung his coat west and his waist-coat east, as far as he could hurl them, how he struck Drumsheugh a mighty blow, and began to fling his limbs about in strange and weird contor- EFFECTS 65 tions. " Then it dawns upon Drumsheugh that the doctor was attempting the Highland fling. ' ' From the physical effect of the doctor's joy, we know how great it must have been. Effects may be classified into effects of incident, effects of character, and effects of mood. Effects of incident are those from which the reader or hearer infers something which has happened or is happening or may happen, or some state or condition. Suppose that we are given this effect : " Two boys with blackened eyes and swollen noses slunk through the door and into their seats. ' ' We infer that there has been a personal encounter between the two young Americans. This is an effect of incident. Effects of character are those from which we infer some- thing concerning some person's character. This striking illustration appeared in an article in the Northwestern Monthly. " A minister shaved the hair above his forehead in such a way that his brow appeared higher." What was the character of the minister? We find this bit of characterization in the " Bonnie Brier Bush." " He lifted up the soiled rose and put it in his coat; he released a butterfly caught in some mesh; he buried his face in fragrant honeysuckle. ' ' Effects of mood are those from which we infer something concerning the mental state of some person. We find a fine example in " Enoch Arden. ' ' Philip and Enoch both love Annie. Philip by chance comes upon Enoch and Annie just after they have declared their love. The grief of Philip is shown by a powerful effect: Philip looked; Then as their faces grew together, groaned, And slipt aside, and like a wounded life, Crept down into the hollows of the wood. It is by an effect that the actor in " Shore Acres ' ' repre- 66 ESSENTIALS OF READING senting the old farmer, shows the dislike and irritability of the old man towards his daughter's worthless suitor. The old man is represented sitting on a box in his barnyard. He is whittling. The shavings drop off slowly and methodically as the old man whistles softly to himself. The young man approaches. The farmer does not appear to see him, no words are spoken, but the whistle ceases, and the shavings drop faster and faster until they fairly fly from the knife. What is the mood of the old farmer ? Effects can be classified as effects of kind and effects of degree. The purpose of an effect of kind is to show what is the particular incident, mood, or trait of character. The lit- erature of child-life, especially for the earlier years, will be con- cerned more with this form. More advanced grades of litera- ture will not be satisfied with ideas of kind, but will be concerned in showing how great was the intensity of the idea involved. King Midas had been told that the golden touch would leave him if he bathed in the river at sunrise. He started at once for the river, though it was many hours before sunrise. We infer not only that he wished to be released from this once desired power, but also how anxious he was for the change. When he runs with the pitcher to sprinkle water on the form of Mary, we infer not only his love, but what is more important, how great is that love. The spectacle of a king, accustomed to having every want attended by others, now running at utmost speed to relieve his daughter from her unfortunate condition, enables us to measure the degree of his feeling. The incident of the dog that tried to call his master's attention to the loss of his purse, and that crawled back to die beside it, after being shot by his master under the belief that he had gone mad, is told not so much to show that the dog was faithful, but because of ad- miration arising from the degree of faithfulness. Effects of degree can be used to include the effect of kind, or EFFECTS 67 they can be given to increase the strength of an idea already given. " For a long time Mary looked longingly at the pies and cakes in the baker's window. ' ' This is an effect of kind. From it we infer that Mary was hungry. " When the baker held out the bun toward her, her claw-like fingers snatched it. In two bites, it was gone. ' ' This effect tells us nothing more about Mary's peculiar condition. It gives us an idea of the degree of her hunger, and is an effect of degree. All effects of degree are effects of kind, but the purpose of the effect is different. It is not a valuable exercise in elementary schools to have pupils classify effects into formal lists of kind and degree, but it is most helpful to have them conscious of the purpose of degree effects as they occur in a passage for the aid it gives in interpreting the meaning. It gives the author's point of view. It is the business of the teacher to train the pupil to de- tect effects and feel their power. No new power need be sought. A fair degree of reason is all that is needed. Children select their friends by inferring causes from effects. The employer selects his employee thus. Even a dog judges the sentiments of a person toward dogs, from effects. We all judge mood from the curve of the lip, the flush of the face, the wrinkling of the brow. These exercises are valuable: — 1. Have the pupils draw inferences from given effects. 2. Have pupils find and interpret effects of a specified kind. 3. Have pupils tell certain things by effects. 4. Have pupils classify effects into effects of incident, mood and character. In all this work, the teacher should keep the direction of the work under her control, and see that the emphasis is given to the noble and the beautiful. If undirected, it is liable to degen- erate into unkindness and caricature. 68 ESSENTIALS OF READING The following is given as a further illustration of effects and the method of work. It is intended for the use of the teacher. The use of dialed selections with pupils is not to be advised. THE CORTIN' James Russell Lowell. God makes sech nights, all white an' still Fur'z you. can look or listen, Moonshine an' snow on field an' hill All silence an' all glisten. What was the season ? What was the place ? (Effects of incident.) Zekle crep' up quite unbeknown An' peeked in thru' the winder, An' there sot Huldy all alone, 'Ith no one nigh to hender. Who was Zekle ? (Effect of incident.) How did he feel ? (Effect of mood.) Does Huldy's being alone tell you any- thing about the thoughtfulness of Huldy's family ? (Effects of character.) A fireplace filled the room's one side. With half a cord o' wood in — There warn't no stoves (tell comfort died) To bake ye to a puddin' : The wa'nut logs shot sparkles out Toward the pootiest, bless her, An' leetle flames danced all about The chiny on the dresser Agin the chimbley crook-necks hung An' in amongst 'em rusted The old queen's-arm that Gran'ther Young Fetched back from Concord, busted. What adjectives would you use in describing this home? What kind of people lived there? (Effect of character.) What part of the country was this ? EFFECTS 69 The very room, cos she was in, Seemed warm from floor to ceilin'; And she looked full ez rosy agin Ez the apples she was peelin'. What kind of a girl was she ? Does the following stanza do anything more than confirm your idea ? 'Twas kin' o' kingdom come to look On sich a blessed cretur, A dog-rose blushin' to a brook Ain't modester nor sweeter. He was six foot o' man, A-i, Clear grit an human natur'; None couldn't quicker pitch a ton Nor dror a furrer straighter. What do the last two lines tell you about Zekle ? What do the next four tell you? He'd sparked it with full twenty gals, He'd squired 'em, danced 'em, druv 'em, First this one, an' then thet, by spells — All is, he couldn't love 'em. But long o' her his veins 'ould run All crinkly like curled maple; The side she brushed felt full o' sun Ez a south slope in Ap'il. What was the trouble with Zekle ? What kind of an effect ? She thought no v'ice hed sech a swing Ez hisn in the choir; My! when he made Ole Hundred ring, She knowed the Lord was nigher. An' she'd blush scarlet, right in prayer, When her new meetin'-bunnet Felt somehow thru' its crown a pair O' blue eyes sot upon it. 70 ESSENTIALS OF READING What was the trouble with Huldy ? What effects ? Thet night, I tell ye, she looked some! She seemed to've gut a new soul, For she felt sartin sure he'd come, Down to her very shoe sole. What effects in these lines: She heered a foot, and knowed it tu, A' raspin' on the scraper, All ways to once her feelin's flew Like sparks in burnt-up paper. He kin' o' litered on the mat Some doubtfle o' the sekle, His heart kep' goin' pity-pat, But hern went pity-Zekle. What effects here? What kind of effects? An' yit she gin her cheer a jerk Ez though she wished him furder, An' on her apples kep' to work Parin' away like murder. Why did she act so ? Was it an effect of character ? What is Lowell's explanation? See four lines below. "You want to see my pa, I s'pose?" "Wal — no — I come desigin'" — " To see my ma ? She's sprinklin' clothes Agin tomorrer's inin'." To say why gals act so or so, Or don't, 'ould be presuming Mebby to mean YES an' say NO Comes nateral to women. He stood a spell on one foot fust, Then stood a spell on t'other, An' on which one he felt the wust He couldn't ha' told ye nuther. EFFECTS 71 What effects of mood ? Says he, "I'd better call agin" ; Says she, "Think likely, Mister"; Thet last word pricked him like a pin, An' — wal, he up an' kist her. Does the last line throw any more light on Zekle's nature? Whem ma bimeby upon 'em slips, Huldy sot pale ez ashes, All kin' o' smily round the lips An* teary round the lashes. What kind of a mother had Huldy? Notice "bimeby" and remember that " There sot Huldy all alone. " What kind of a nature had Huldy ? Are the following lines necessary ? Do they not merely confirm the inference gained by these effects ? For she was jes' the quiet kind Whose naturs never vary, Like streams that keep a summer wind Snow-hid in Jenooary. The blood clost roun' her heart felt glued Too tight for all expressin'; Till mother see how metters stood, An' gin 'em both her blessin'. Then her red come back like the tide Down to the Bay o' Fundy, An' all I know is they was cried In meeting come nex' Sunday. The crying of the banns is an effect of incident. What do you infer from it? For further practice interpret and classify the effects in the following: — 72 ESSENTIALS OF READING EXERCISES Suddenly Ichabod heard a groan, — his teeth chattered, and his knees smote against the saddle: it was but the rubbing of one huge bough upon another, as they were swayed about by the breeze. Irving. He only meant to walk up and down her street, so that she might see him from the window, and know that this splendid thing was he. Barrie. She answered not with railing words, But drew her apron o'er her face, And sobbing glided from the place. Whittier. He had the keenest eyes in Clanruadh and was a dead shot. Yet he never stalked a deer, never killed anything for mere sport. MacDonald. There is an old poor man, Who after me hath many a weary step Limped in pure love: till he be first sufficed. Oppressed with two weak evils, age and hunger, I will not touch a bit. Shakespeare. A yellow claw — the very same that had clawed together so much wealth — poked itself out of the coach-window, and dropt some copper coins upon the ground. Hawthorne. As the life boat returned from the wreck, the men on shore shouted themselves hoarse, the women laughed and cried. Anon. The old man read the notice, pulled down his hat over his eyes, drew his cloak closely up under his chin, and went quickly down the dune. Hugo. Some of the men began to lag behind, dragging their guns and limp- ing with bleeding feet. Other men with bloody bandages about their heads could be seen in the hurrying wagons. Anon. The two young Cratchits crammed spoons into their mouths lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came to be helped. Dickens. EFFECTS 73 He broke in twain his single crust, He broke the ice on the streamlet's brink, And gave the leper to eat and drink. Lowell. He placed the guns together with a good supply of ammunition, under the loop-holes by which the enemy must advance. Anon. OUTLINE OF CHAPTER VII EFFECTS Function of effects. Examples. Classification of effects Incident. Character. Mood. Kind. Degree. The duty of the teacher. Exercises. FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION i . What is the supreme source of strength in literature ? 2 . What are effects ? 3. Why is the name appropriate ? 4. How may effects be classified ? 5. How early in the grades is effect work profitable? 6. How does an effect of degree differ from an effect of kind ? 7. Of what value is the classifying of effects as a school exercise? 8. What is the duty of the teacher in regard to effects? 9. How can a teacher tell when her duty is accomplished? 10. How does effect work influence the child's liking for literature? 1 1 . Give some exercises in effects ? 12. Discuss the frequency of inferring effects in every day life. 13. What kind of effects should not be studied? 14. What authors are especially skillful in using effects? 15. Can the use of effects be overdone ? PART III METHODS CHAPTER VIII PRIMARY READING Before discussing the method of teaching primary reading most effective for the average teacher, in the average school with the average equipment, it would be well to notice the principles on which the most common methods of teaching are based. The Alphabet Method is the oldest. It is the one naturally adopted by the untrained teacher. It rests upon the assump- tion that the unit of teaching reading should be the letter, that the progress should be from the part to the whole, that the operation of learning should be synthetic, the putting to- gether of letters to form words. According to this method the alphabet is taught first, then the letters of the alphabet are put together to form words. Under the older form the letters were put together to form anything that might happen to result. We find the first page of the old New England Primer, a primer built on the alphabet method, to have this literature for the chil- dren 's first reading lesson: ab eb ib ob ub ac ec 1C oc uc ad ed id od ud af ef if of uf ag e g ig °g ug al el il ol ul am em im om um an en in on un ap ep ip op up ar er ir or ur as es is OS us 77 78 ESSENTIALS OF READING The alphabet method has proved less effective than other methods for a number of reasons. The letter is not the most convenient unit for teaching on account of the number of sounds in our language indicated by the same letter. This method does not make a direct connection between the word and the thing that the word means. This results in reading that is not thoughtful. Hugh Miller has given evidence of the fact that a child may learn to read, if such a process can be called reading, by this method, without finding that reading is merely " the art of finding stories in books. ' ' The Phonic Methods. In the so-called phonic methods the unit adopted is not the letter, but the sound. This method also works from the part, the sound, to the whole, the word. It is synthetic in that it builds words out of sounds. Very many of the devices of the followers of this method prove of great value to primary teachers. One of these is the linking of the sounds of the letters to common sounds. Thus we may say that a is the sound that the lamb makes, p is the steamboat sound, f is the sound that the kittie makes; v is the sound of the June bug; w is the sound of the wind; h is the breath; d, the young pigeons; z, the bees; r, the dog's growl; th, the goose; th, the woolen mill; t, the watch; ch, the locomotive; !*, the little pigs; and oo, the rooster. K is the fish-bone sound; sh is the sound that means hush; 6 means " Be careful; " u is a hiccough; ow means a hurt; ugh is the sound you make when you see a worm. Some of the similarities are rather slight, but the de- vice is useful nevertheless. Another device to assist in remembering sounds is to make use of the names of pupils in the class. For instance, B is Bertha's sound, D is Dan's, F is Frank's, etc. The grouping of words according to combinations of sounds is also of much value. For instance: back, lack, smack, sack, rack, Jack, all belong to the " ack "family; hand, land, sand, grand, belong to PRIMARY READING 79 the "and " family; while thank, frank, blank, and crank belong to the " ank " family. The presence of mechanical reading instead of thoughtful reading on the part of pupils taught by a purely phonic method is caused by the fact that this method sets up the sound between the word and the thing that the word represents. In a strictly phonic method the sound is taught first and the pupils learn words as made up of sounds. This seemingly trivial thing is fraught with serious consequences in the child's future work. In its proper place, phonic work becomes the back bone of pri- mary reading. The Word Method is based upon the assumption that the word is the proper unit in teaching primary reading. Words are presented and connected directly with the objects which they represent. In this respect the method is entirely cor- rect. However, the word method may be pursued too far in that more words and more words and more words may be pre- sented, until after a long time phonic work is commenced. The word method is essentially an analytic one. The words are analyzed into sounds or letters. This method contemplates the use of words in sentences from the very first. The founda- tion principles of this method are right; but it is very easy when using it to neglect some of the important things emphasized by other methods. The Sentence Method is based on the assumption that the proper unit is not the letter, nor the sound, nor the word, but the sentence. It is argued that all speech is in sentences, that even single words when spoken alone are sentences. For instance, the word " Drink " when spoken by a thirsty child, is really a sentence. Without entering into this dispute, it may be said that both the word and the sentence methods require the use of the sentence from the first, and that the word is the most effect- ive unit for teaching, whether or not it may be the unit of language. 80 ESSENTIALS OF READING An Eclectic Method. The method of teaching primary reading that seems most successful in the hands of the average teacher is an eclectic one. It is based upon the following principles : i. The most convenient unit in teaching primary reading is the word. 2. Words should be grouped into related sentences as soon as possible. 3. The connection between words and the things they mean should be immediate. 4. The sounds, the sound symbols, the analysis of words into sounds, and the synthesis of sounds into words, should be taught as soon as possible without interfering in the immediate connection of words and the things that the words mean. 5. There should be a large use of the child's love of action. Most children enter school with a comparatively large vocabulary. They are familiar with all the words in common use in the homes from which they have come and with those used among their friends and playmates outside. The problem of the teacher is to help the pupils, (1) to recognize through sight, words already familiar through sound; (2) to use the words so recognized as the means of receiving thoughts with the same ability already existing through speech; (3) to give these thoughts to others when desiring so to do; (4) to enlarge their vocabulary; and (5) to enrich the meaning of words, old and new, through association. While the approach is through words, yet words have no use in language except as elements in thoughts and emotions, and reading must not be allowed to de- generate into mere recognition of words. Desire to read. The teacher must first of all kindle in the child a desire to read. The task is an easy one. It may be done by reading half of an interesting story, breaking off in the middle of it, and then asking the little ones, " Wouldn't you PRIMARY READING 81 like to be able to read the remainder of it yourselves ? ' ' The teacher may show the pupils a book with interesting pictures, and may suggest that those who can read can find out the story that the pictures illustrate. Children who can read and write can send letters to Santa Claus, and can read the replies. The ingenious teacher can find very many ways of creating the desire to learn to read. As a matter of fact, many, if not most, of our beginners come to school with the desire to learn to read already developed. Words. Our children now having the desire to learn to read, we will begin to satisfy them. Suppose that we wish to give them first the words " leaf " and "ball." We will hold up a leaf, a real leaf. They will recognize it, and give us its name. We turn to the blackboard and draw a few crooked marks. They recognize the marks as a picture of a leaf. They know that these lines mean leaf. We now give them another way of indicating leaf by writing the word on the board. We write the word in various places, and in various sizes. They know the thing it indicates as soon as they see the marks. They think of the sound only incidentally. The image of a leaf arises in the mind as the eyes rest on the written word. In like manner we present the word " ball;" first the object, then the picture, fin- ally the word. They get the idea that both the picture and the word mean ball. Next week we will give them the word " run. ' ' Then we will drill on the three words. We call John to the floor. We write the word " leaf. ' ' John finds and holds up the leaf. We write "ball." John finds the ball. We write the word "run," or " John, run." John runs to his seat. The knowledge has been expressed. The teacher usually will find that John recognizes his own name as well as the names of his fellows. This fact aids the teacher in making sentences for drill. Write " John." John arises. Add the word ' ' Run. ' ' John runs around the room and back to his seat. 82 ESSENTIALS OF READING Our list of words to be taught must be carefully made. It should include these elements: i. Names of common objects that can be kept in the school room. 2. Names of actions that can be performed in the school room. 3. The first words from the primer that the class are to use. 4. Parts of the body and parts of the room. 5. Common expressions, such as "to," "the," " I see," " I have," etc., for use in sentences. These words should number from fifty to eighty. They should be used in sentences from the first week. Two months at least should pass before books are given out, and before any words are analyzed into sounds. During this time, spelling should not be taken up; though it is sometimes wise in rural schools to teach the alphabet slowly, not as an aid to reading, and not in connection with stock words, but merely as letters. It will not assist in learning to read, but it may make smoother relations between the school and the home. One effective word list is as follows, the object words from the reader being determined by the reader to be used: First list, 20 words; time, 4 weeks. Action words: — Run, hop, skip, bow, clap. Parts of the room: — Chair, door, window, floor. Parts of the body: — Hand. Extra expressions: — ■ To, the, is, I see. PRIMARY READING 83 Object words from the reader: — Leaf, flower, stem, bud, red, green, yellow. From another reader the words would be : — Baby, mama, doll, kitty, book, slate. From still another, they would be: — Ball, box, cup, apple, green, red, blue. Second list, 20 words; time, 2 weeks. Action words: — Walk, fly, look, touch, find, wave. Parts of the room: — Ceiling, floor. Parts of the body: — Face, feet, eyes. Extra expressions: — I can, I have, and. Object words from the reader, such as: — Seed, nut, brown, white, black. Third list, 20 words: time, 2 weeks. Action words: — Point, swing, eat, drink, sleep, cry. Parts of the body: — Right, left. Extra expressions: — See, sees, I like. From the reader: — Not, it, I am, has, do you, man, sun, tin, sand. These words are to be taught as words in sentences. They are not to be spelled, or analyzed into sounds, they are to be used in related sentences from the first, sentences like these: " Run. " " Run to the door. ' ' The words can be taught in any order. Do not teach all the action words together. Mix 84 ESSENTIALS OF READING them up. Teach two words at a time. It has been found that children remember two words at a time with very little more difficulty than one at a time. It is the comparison that helps. All the words are to be in script. It will be found help- ful to write all new words on pieces of cardboard four inches wide, and long enough to accommodate the word. These cards can be used in building sentences by being arranged along the base of the blackboard, or can be exposed one at a time for drilling on the stock words, or can be used as copies for writing at the board or at the seat. From the first, the pupil should be required to write the words and simple sentences on the board. As an aid the teacher should call attention to her movements while she writes the word or the sentence several times, so the pupil will see the place of starting and the order of movement. It may be necessary to take hold of his hand and guide it while the first attempts are made. This writing, as in all the writing of the earlier years, should be large and free, so as to avoid cramped movements that result from writing too small letters. The same word or sentence should be written on paper at the seat, if not the first time writing is attempted, very soon after. It not only helps to fix the form, but it serves as busy work. Some occupation should fill all the time of the pupils. Trouble will be avoided for the future if the pupils from the first learn that school is a busy place. If the teacher cannot use all the children's time, she should fill full all that she can, and send them home or from the room to play the rest of the time. As reading is the foundation subject of instruction in the primary grades, the first forms of busy work must be planned with relation to that study. An excellent plan is to have as many sets of new words as there are members of the class, to be written on small slips and given out at the close of the recitation. These should be kept at the seat in pasteboard boxes, to be used in building the sentences used in the recitation, PRIMARY READING 85 and left on the board for that purpose. They may also be used in building such review sentences as may be desired or as the teacher may suggest. This gives occupation that does not tire the pupils, and that can be used indefinitely, alone or in connection with copying one or more sentences. Little children cannot write long without harmful effects, but they will sort out words or letters and build sentences with pleas- ure and profit for a long time. After they are far enough ad- vanced to use letters, they should be given boxes of assorted let- ters to be used in building words and sentences. Phonics. We remember our fourth fact, " The sounds, the sound symbols, the analysis of words into sounds, and the synthesis of sounds into words should be taught as soon as possible without interfering in the immediate connection of words and the things that the words mean. ' ' We wish to put into the hands of the children as soon as possible that key to our language, phonics. If, however, we begin too soon to show how words are composed of sounds, we run the risk of setting up in the pupil's mind the sound between the word and the idea. At the end of two months of sentence reading, this danger should be past. We can now begin to pick out sounds in words. Some work can be done even earlier, if done at a different period from the reading. The sounds a, e, 0, /, /, m, r, s, ing, ings, ight, ights, should be taught during the first six weeks. Let it be understood that the work in phonics is to be at a different time and unconnected with the work in reading. In all sound teaching the children should first hear the sound correctly given by the teacher. This in itself calls for considerable knowledge on the part of the teacher. She should know how each sound is produced by the organs of speech, and she should be able to give each one correctly and distinctly. The pupils should then give the sound. It must 86 ESSENTIALS OF READING be seen that each child gives it correctly. The next step is to have them compare this new sound with old ones, noticing the differences. The final exercise is distinguishing this new sound and sounds already known. The order of teaching a sound is, (i) giving the sound to the children; (2) having them give the sound; (3) having them compare the sound with other sounds; (4) having them pick out the sound from other sounds. A useful device is another pack of cards from four to six inches square. On each card is written large and plain one sound symbol. The teacher exposes these cards one at a time, the pupils giving the sound as the teacher exposes the card. New cards should be added as new sounds are added. The teacher can vary the exercise by calling on individual pupils for sounds, and the class for help in mistake or delays. Analysis of words begins at the beginning of the third month. The child can be given the book, provided the book begins with script. He now knows some sixty words at sight, and some ten sound symbols. The teacher begins to let him discover that words are made up of sound symbols. He finds that "sing " is merely 5 and ing, that "light " is / and ight, etc. The teacher encourages him to pursue his investigation. All new words that are capable of being taught by sound, are so taught. For instance, the word " might ' ' occurs for the first time. The teacher covers the m with her hand, and the pupils recognize an old friend in the ight part of the word. M is no less easily recognized. The teacher removes her hand entirely and the pupils put together the two old sounds. They now have a word added to their vocabulary, but they also have gain- ed some power in the control of phonics. The teacher should devote considerable time to this drill. Most of the sixty words already learned can now be analyzed. Many new words can also be given. Some words, however, like cough, Hiawatha, tongue, beautiful, must still be taught by the sight. Such words PRIMARY READING 87 are those whose spelling does not indicate the sound of the word. Our language is so constituted that there will always be some words that the children must learn by sight. For some weeks the teacher continues the work as before, the children reading the script lessons in the book, the teacher giv- ing new sight and new phonic words, and new sound sym- bols. In about four weeks she can introduce the children to the printed letters. During this time they can be taught some fifteen or twenty new sounds. In case the reader that the teacher must give to the children has no script, the books should not be given out so soon. The transition from script to print is best made in blackboard work. This change is not really as difficult for the children as it is often supposed to be. It should be made gradually. In fact it can be made and the children hardly be conscious of it. As the teacher places the script work on the board, she can now and then put a word in print. The children will recognize the word, and will pass it with but slight hesitation. More and more words can be printed until the class are reading print almost without noticing it. This very effective device has been called the " primary slide. ' ' Another very useful device is the writing of the sentences twice, once in script, and once immediately below the script, in print. After the children are reading from the print of the reader, the work continues in all the elements as before. For all of the first and second year of school the teacher still gives more sounds, and drills constantly on the old sounds. More and more words are phonetic words as the pupils have a larger and larger stock of sound symbols. The teacher still continues the training of the children to separate words into sounds. Order of Sounds. In the arrangement of the order in which the sounds are to be given to the children, these prin- ciples should be observed : First, sounds that are the easiest 88 ESSENTIALS OF READING should be given as early as possible; second, sounds that are most common should be given as early as possible; third, sound signs not found in the dictionaries should not be used; fourth, very common combinations of letters such as ight, old, eat, ail, should be treated as single sound symbols. COURSE IN PRIMARY READING FIRST PERIOD Characteristic. — Teaching sight words and sounds sepa- rately. Time. — Eight to ten weeks. Reading. — Sixty to a hundred words by sight. Phonetic Work. — Teaching the symbols, a, e, i, u,-e, d, 1, n, p,t. SECOND PERIOD Characteristic. — Introducing the book and teaching analysis of words into sounds. Time. — Four weeks. Reading. — From the reader, both sight and phonetic words. Phonetic Work. — Teaching the symbols o, un, Tc, Tp, k, Tck, r, b, bl, br, pi, f, ch, m, ing, ight, tr, s, ter, y; training pupils to recognize sounds in words, and to make words out of sounds whose symbols are known. THIRD PERIOD Characteristic. — Change from script to print. Time. — About four weeks. Reading. — From the reader, both sight and phonetic words. Phonetic Work. — Teach symbols dr, ck, a, e, 1, ly, less, ness, s. Continue the sound training. PRIMARY READING 89 FOURTH PERIOD Characteristic. — Increasing proportion of phonetic words. Time. — The remainder of the first vear of school. About five months. Reading. — From the readers. Many new phonetic words. Some new sight words. Much easy reading. Phonetic Work. — Much training in sounds. Much drill on old and new phonetic words. Sound symbols a, a, cl, cr, c, g, gl, gr, g, j, h, sh, ish, th, v, 00, 06, ph, ful, 6, ou, o, o, ow, u, u, w, wh, y, and a and e italicised. This course leaves for the work of the second year the re- maining sounds, including a, a, a, ar, ar, §, e, er, ear, gh, 1, i,Tr, n, 6, 0, 5r, oi, oy, q, qu, u, u, ur, x,x, z. The sound training should be continued in the second year. Indeed all through the eight grades there should be constant work with sounds and the diacritical marks. DRAMATIZATION An appeal to dramatic instinct leads children to a freer use of the imagination. The formality of the school room tends to repress that natural activity of the imagination that is so characteristic of children at play. While there must be a certain amount of restraint in an organization, there should be a counteracting influence at times in connection with read- ing, especially in the primary classes, or the pupil will lose the spirit in the exactions of the effort to secure the form. There are many selections where a part or all of the story can be easily dramatized and given in dialogue. Generally this will follow the study of the exercise in the regular way. Sometimes the change ca_i be introduced for a part of the time in the regular development of the lesson, when the pupils are having difficulty in expressing the meaning because they do not have the point of view. 90 ESSENTIALS OF READING The children enjoy acting parts. Especially is this true when it includes the novelty of representing animals and inani- mate objects that are endowed with the power of speech. Let one pupil represent the cat, and another the girl, and clear- ness of meaning with the attendant naturalness of expression will follow from this simple dialogue: Girl. Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, Where have you been ? Cat. I've been to London To look at the queen. Girl. Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, What did you there ? Cat. I frightened a little mouse Under the chair. LITTLE BOY BLUE To dramatize "Little Boy Blue, ,, have a pupil lie down and go to sleep on a recitation seat. It does not require many stage accessories to satisfy little children. Then two pupils enter, searching for some one. First. Little boy blue, come blow your horn, The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn. Second. Where's the boy that looks after the sheep ? First. {pointing to him). He's under the haycock, fast asleep. Second. Will you wake him ? First. No, not I — For if I do, he'll be sure to cry. This arrangement is better than the prose paraphrase sometimes used as it preserves the literary form of the original. LADY MOON Child. Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving ? Moon. Over the sea. Child. Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving ? Moon. All that love me. PRIMARY READING 9i Child. Moon. Child. Moon. Child. Moon. Are you not tired with rolling and never Resting to sleep ? Why look so pale and so sad, as forever Wishing to weep ? Ask me not this, little child, if you love me; You are too bold. I must obey my dear Father above me, And do as I'm told. Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving ? Over the sea. Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving? All that love me. THE FLOWER GIRL Boy. Little girl, little girl, where have you been? Girl. Gathering roses to give to the Queen. Boy. Little girl, little girl, what gave she you ? Girl. She gave me a diamond as big as my shoe. THE MILK-MAID Boy. Little maid, pretty maid, whither goest thou ? Girl. Down in the forest to milk my cow. Boy. Shall I go with you ? Girl. No, not now, When I send for thee, then come thou. WILLY BOY Girl. Willy boy, Willy boy, where are you going? I will go with you, if that I may. Boy. I'm going to the meadow to see them amowing, I'm going to help them to make the hay. THE NEIGHBORS First. What's the news of the day, Good neighbor, I pray? Second. They say the balloon Is gone up to the moon. 9 2 ESSENTIALS OF READING Sometimes poems can be used with slight changes that do not destroy the form. "The Three Kittens" is one of this type. THE THREE KITTENS Kittens (crying). O mother dear We very much fear Our mittens we have lost. Mother. What, lost your mittens! You naughty kittens! Then you shall have no pie. Kittens. Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. Mother No, you shall have no pie. Kittens. Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. Kittens. O mother dear, See here, see here. Our mittens we have found. Mother. Oh, found your mittens You darling kittens, Then you may have some pie. Kittens. Purr-r, purr-r, purr-r, Oh, let us have some pie. Purr-r, purr-r, purr-r. Kittens. O mother dear, We greatly fear Our mittens we have soiled. Mother. What, soiled your mittens! You naughty kittens! To wash them you must try. Kittens. Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. Mother. Yes, to wash them you must try. Kittens. Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. Kittens. O mother dear, Do you not hear, Our mittens we have washed. Mother. Ah, washed your mittens! You are good kittens. But I smell a rat close by! PRIMARY READING 93 Kittens. Hush, hush! mee-ow, mee-ow! We smell a rat close by. Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. BLACK SHEEP Boy. Bah, bah, black sheep, Have you any wool? Sheep. Yes, sir; yes, sir; Three bags full: One for my master, And one for my dame, And one for the little boy Who lives in the lane. THE THREE CROWS 1st. What do you think I saw this morn? 2nd. I know, I know; it was some corn. 1st. How many crows will go with me ? 2nd. Be quiet, friends, a man I see. 1st. Caw, caw! Caw, caw, he has a gun! yd. Now let's be off; fly, every one. Often monologue is quite effective. There are many poems that can be used in this way. There must always be two or more acting, though but one speaks. Speaker. Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow ? With cockle-shells and silver bells And pretty maids all in a row. THE STORY I'll tell you a story About Jack a Nory, — And now my story's begun, I'll tell you another About his brother, — And now my story is done. 94 ESSENTIALS OF READING THE BEGGARS Hark, hark, Hark, hark, The dogs do bark, The beggars are coming to town; Some in tags, Some in rags, And some in velvet gowns. No change should be made that alters materially the form of a poem. The form is an inseparable part of the poem. The rhythm and the rhyme are as important elements as are the words. The presentation of the characters of the Mother Goose melodies in prose dialogue is neither pleasing nor edifying. They should not be spoiled in this manner. Monologue poems of length can be assigned to several pupils. Among those well adapted are "I Love Little Pussy," by Jane Taylor; " The North Wind doth Blow; ' ' " If I were a Sunbeam," by Lucy Larcom; " Don't Kill the Birds," by Thomas Colesworthy; " The Fairies," by William Allingham; "Suppose," by Phoebe Cary. Prose can be adapted with more freedom. The form is not so closely associated with the meaning. Any change that preserves the spirit is proper. The story of "Little Red Hen ' ' is well suited to dramatic purposes. The characters are the little Red Hen, the Mouse, the Pig, the Cat, and the Chicks. Will Scene i. Little Red Hen. Here is a grain of wheat, you little mouse ? Who will plant it ? Mouse. No, indeed, not I. Little Red Hen. Will you plant it, pig ? Pig. I will not. Little Red Hen. Will you plant it, cat ? Cat. No, I will not. bittle Red Hen. Well, I will plant it myself then. PRIMARY READING 95 Scene ii. Little Red Hen. My wheat is grown. Who will cut it ? Mouse. Not I. I wish to play. Little Red Hen. Will you cut it, pig ? Pig. I will not. Little Red Hen. Will you cut it, cat ? Cat. No, I am too sleepy. Little Red Hen. Well, I will cut it myself, then. Scene hi. (Develop the threshing similarly.) Scene iv. (Develop the grinding similarly.) Scene v. (Develop the baking similarly.) Scene vi. Little Red Hen. See my fine loaf of bread. Who will help me eat it ? Mouse. I will. Pig. I will. Cat. I will. Little Red Hen. No, you will not. The chicks and I will eat it. Come, chick! chick! chick! Among other prose selections well adapted to dramatization are " The Three Goats and the Turnip Patch, ' ' " The Boy and the Wolf," "Silver Locks," "Chicken Little," "The Ant and the Grasshopper, " " The Field Mouse and the Town Ant Mouse. ' ' These are merely suggestive. The teacher will find an abundance of material for this purpose by studying the selections in the best primary readers. 96 ESSENTIALS OF READING OUTLINE OF CHAPTER VIII PRIMARY READING Various methods. Alphabet method. Phonic method. Word method. Sentence method. An Eclectic method. Principles. Words. The child's vocabulary. The desire to read. Teaching the first words. Word list. Using the words in sentences. Phonics. Importance. Beginning of phonic work. Change from script to print. Order of sounds. Dramatizing. Advantage — clear understanding. Children enjoy acting a part. Examples for practice. FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION i . What are the principal methods of teaching primary reading ? 2 . What is the distinctive element of each ? 3. Why is the alphabet method the one naturally adopted by the untrained teacher ? 4. What disadvantage does the method have ? 5 . Can children be taught to read by the alphabet method ? 6. What advantages has a phonic method ? What disadvantages ? 7. What good points has a word method? What dangers? 8. What is the source of disagreement between the word method and the sound method adherents ? 9. Which do you think is right ? 10. What is an eclectic method? PRIMARY READING 97 11. What should be the foundation principles in teaching primary reading ? 12. What proportion of children already desire to read when they enter school? 13. How many words do children know when they enter school? 14. Do any of them know the alphabet? 15. What else are they likely to know? 16. Is it a good thing for parents to try to teach the children some- thing of reading before they start them to school ? 17' Of what importance is a desire to read? 18. How can it be created? 19. Why is it not best to teach the children to spell or sound words at first? 20. What should the first words be ? 21. Why are many action words desirable? 22. How many words can best be taught at once? Why? 23. Why teach such expressions as " I have," " to the," etc? 24. How early should books be given out ? 25. Should children be started with script or print? 26. When should the other be introduced? 27. How can the change be made? 28. What differences should be made on account of the particular book the teacher expects to use ? 29. When should writing be begun ? Spelling? 30. How many times a day should beginners be heard in reading? 31. When should phonic work begin ? 32. What should the first phonic work be? 33 . When can analysis of words into sounds begin ? Why not sooner ? 34. Does it make any difference what sounds are taught first? Why? 35. How can the teacher make the old words help in teaching the new ? 36. What kind of words should not be taught by sound ? Why? 37. What are the characteristics of the four periods of primary reading ? 38. How many readers should the children read in the first year? 39. What primary reader do you like best? Why? 40. Why have the children use the blackboard for the first writing? 41. How does the writing help the reading? 42. Of what value is dramatizing selections? 43. What cautions are to be observed? CHAPTER IX THE DIVISION OF A READING RECITATION AND ASSIGNMENT OF THE LESSON Division of a reading recitation. The time allotted to the recitation in reading should be carefully apportioned to the different operations of a reading recitation. These oper- ations are four in number: ist. — The recitation proper, consisting of hearing the pupils read, questioning them on the thought, and interpreting what needs interpretation. 2nd. — Drilling in articulation. 3rd. — The assignment of the new lesson. 4th.— Supplementary reading. The time apportioned to each operation. No universal division of time can be recommended. At one time a teacher may find it necessary to give more than usual attention to exercise in articulation. At another time she may find it best to devote an unusually long time to questions on the thought, thereby shortening the time for drill in articulation. Again, a teacher may find the lesson she expects to assign contains such a number of new words and strange ideas that she must take half of the recitation period to make the assignment. It may be that the lesson to be assigned contains no new word or ideas. Then the amount of time necessary for this operation becomes zero. Under average conditions a thirty minute reading recitation should be divided into about seventeen minutes for oral reading, questioning, and inter- preting, three minutes for exercise in articulation, five minutes for the assignment of the new lesson, and five minutes for supplementary reading. Very often this last time can be 98 ASSIGNMENT OF LESSON 99 saved by having this reading done in the period of some other class, or in the opening exercises. The assignment of the reading lesson. It is economy of time to make a careful assignment of the new lesson. A minute at this operation may save misunderstandings that would require many minutes to detect and clear up. Four things must be considered in assigning a reading lesson: first, the selection of the lesson; second, the length of the lesson; third, the development of the new words and ideas; fourth, the exposition of the work to be done by the pupils in the process of preparation. The selection of a lesson. The teacher should select the lesson before she comes to her class. She should bear in mind that the lesson should be of a nature suited: first, to the class; and, second, to the purpose of the teacher. It should be of such a nature as to be likely to interest the pupils. It should be of such difficulty as will test their power, but not over-tax it. The purpose of the teacher. The teacher may see that her pupils lack facility in the reading of material in which there are no new words. She should select lessons of this nature until the pupils gain the desired facility. Then her purpose may change. She may wish them to increase their vocabulary. The lesson selected will then contain many new words. It may be that she finds the pupils unable to read verse well. She consequently assigns those lessons which are in verse. She may find her pupils much inter- ested in some poem by Longfellow. It would be well, for her to assign another lesson from the same author. If she wishes to familiarize the class with types and effects, she must assign lessons suitable for that work. If she wishes to cul- tivate the power of gleaning thought by silent reading, she should select lessons of more than ordinary difficulty, and LOFC ioo ESSENTIALS OF READING should devote the recitation period to questions on the thought. Let her realize that order in the book is a consideration not to be compared with the reasons mentioned above. The length of the lesson. This also must be suited to the pupils, and to the purpose of the teacher. It may vary from a few lines in work in types or effects, to pages in gain- ing facility in recognizing old words. It must always be the subject of careful judgment. The development of new words and ideas. A certain lovable and scholarly professor of Greek in a large college held to the opinion that he could judge a student's knowledge of a page of Thucydides, by the way the student pronounced the text. His classes could have given him much information as to the fallacy of his belief, had it been to their advantage to speak. A small boy may pronounce very glibly words and sentences whose meaning to him is not at all what it is to the teacher. A schoolboy insisted that a dirty tramp ran out from under the bridge and caught Ichabod Crane by the ear. He cited as proof the exact words of Irving, "Just at this moment a plashy tramp caught the sensitive ear of Ichabod." Another original thinker spoke of Annie Laurie's donkey, and when questioned as to his sources of information concerning the beast, triumphantly pointed to "Maxwel- ton's braes are bonnie." The boy would doubtless have read the line with good expression, but with a mental picture somewhat different from that of the teacher. The mistake would not have occurred had the teacher in assigning the lesson, spoken of the meaning of the word "braes." The dictionary will not do the work of the teacher. Nevertheless the dictionary is very helpful. Each child above the fourth grade should be supplied with one, and should be trained to use it. The dictionary, however, gives the mere skeleton of a meaning. The teacher must make the ASSIGNMENT OF LESSON 101 new idea live in the mind of the pupil. A certain common school dictionary defines lobster as "an edible marine crus- tacean." What an assistance to a ten-year-old boy! The teacher must see to it that the pupils have the ideas necessary to enable them to understand the new lesson. If possible, she should show them a lobster. If that is impossible, then a picture of a lobster, speaking of its color, appearance, and use. It is not necessary to make a detailed study of the thing, inquiring into its anatomy, habits of life, methods of catching it, etc. Such a study would be interesting, and possibly profitable, for nature study or for the purposes of composition work; but not much read- ing could be done if every object mentioned were studied in such a fashion. The important thing is that the child have a correct, though maybe not detailed, conception of the objects mentioned in the new lesson. It is a good plan to review the new and difficult words at the opening of the recitation of the lesson. An example. In the lesson "The Lark and the Farmer " (Chapter Three), the teacher will find it necessary to explain these words and probably others: Lark, field, neighbors, frightened, reapers, hurry, kinsfolk, harvest, notice, whet, scythes. It would be well to show the children a scythe, or a picture of a scythe, and to call up to their recollection some larks' nest. In "The Village Blacksmith " (Chapter Two) , the teacher must see that the children have ideas of these: Spreading chestnut tree, sinewy, brawny, crisp, tan, bellows, sledge, sexton, village, forge, smithy, threshing floor, choir, anvil, repose. Many words do more than designate certain objects, attributes, or actions. These words not only express the ideas that they are expected to convey, but they also excite the feelings to greater or less degree. Each of the words io2 ESSENTIALS OF READING storm, ocean, tornado, mouse, causes in the mind of the hearer a slight degree of the same emotion that would be caused by the presence of the object itself. If the hearer has seen the object, the effect is of course much greater than other wise. The scenes in his experience rise again in his mind. The emotional effect of the word is great in just the propor- tion in which the memory of his experience is vivid. If the word indicates something not in one's experience, it may still rouse the emotion through the imagination. Such a word to most people is the word Arctic. The word sets up in the mind a mental image of the frozen North, and a feel- ing of fear and dread is aroused. One who does not have this feeling cannot appreciate Whittier's lines, The wolf beneath the Arctic moon, Has listened to that startling rune. Our work in reading fails of one great end, if it does not help our pupils to understand and to appreciate literature. It therefore becomes the duty of the teacher to increase the emotional value of words to pupils. In assigning a lesson the teacher should so use the child's experience and imagination as to enable the poetic words and phrases to touch his emotions. She should cause the pupil to tell the experiences that the word brings into his mind, when it was, where it was, etc. Such an operation increases the facility of the action of the word on the feelings, the very end we desire to gain. This exer- cise should not be confined to the assignment of the lesson. It should be part of the assigned work. It should continue until all such words and phrases as misty light, sea, sea of dew, flaming forge, measured beat, dove, sting, Venice, touch the emotional nature of the child. Assigned work. The assignment of the lesson is of course incomplete unless specific directions are given to the ASSIGNMENT OF LESSON 103 pupils as to the work to be done in preparation for the next recitation. One reason why we have not had the results in reading that we have had in other branches, is that the assign- ment of work has not been so definite. A pupil knows when he has prepared his arithmetic lesson, and he does not hope to conceal his failure when he has not prepared it. The assignment in reading, "Take the next two pages, and study them carefully," is likely to get the scanty considera- tion that it deserves. The assignment should be in the form of detailed directions telling what to do, or questions to be answered either orally or in writing. The questions may be about words, meanings, types, effects, or any other sub- ject connected with the selection. The directions may include the looking up of meanings, the making of lists of words; for instance, a list containing all the words in the lesson that recall agreeable experiences, a list of all the words that are hard to spell, or a list of all the words whose meaning is not clear to the pupil. It is usually found best to put the assign- ment on the blackboard. Model assignment for "The Lark and the Farmer." Where did the Lark build the nest? How many young Larks were there? In what danger were they? What time of the year was this? How did the Mother Lark feel as she flew away? Why was not the old Lark frightened on the first two days ? What kind of a man was the farmer ? Make a list of words hard to spell. Model assignment for "The Village Blacksmith." Read it through three times. What is a smithy? A bellows? An anvil? Did you ever see a flaming forge? When? What tree does "spreading chestnut tree" make you think of? What kind of a man was the blacksmith? Copy the first stanza and mark the groups. At least five minutes of each day should be spent in 104 ESSENTIALS OF READING oral supplementary reading. The children should also be supplied with an abundance of interesting easy read- ing for silent reading. In most schools this work is limited by financial conditions. The oral supplementary reading, however, requires but little expense. Two or three books, a current events paper, or the Sunday school papers are all that is absolutely necessary. But one book or paper of a kind is needed; indeed, it is better to have but one. The work is individual. The pupil is given the book a day or two in advance. He is told what selection or part of a selection he is to read. He studies it over, probably at home, usually with some help from parents or teacher. He knows that all depend on him for the understanding of the selection. He is put into the right mental attitude. (See Mental Atti- tude.) When the time comes, he walks to the front of the room, faces the pupils and reads. The use of the reading period alone limits this work to one or two pupils a day. The 'geography period can be used also in reading from such books as " Around the World," Carpenter's "Geo- graphical Readers," "The World and Its People," the "Youth's Companion Series of Geographical Readings." The same thing can be done in the history class. This reading, instead of injuring the work in geography and history, actually strengthens it. The opening exercises can include some reading, possibly in the nature of current events or nature study. The pupils of a room can be divided into groups for the purpose of giving greater opportunity for individual oral reading. Two or three times a week twenty or thirty minutes can be taken. At the signal the pupils gather in groups in the assigned parts of the room. Let us describe such an exercise. Group A, in the northeast corner of the room, are seated on the recitation seat and two of the front ASSIGNMENT OF LESSON 105 seats. There are ten pupils in this group. To-day five of them will read about five minutes each from Gould's " Mother Nature's Children." In the northwest corner by the organ are gathered eight children. They are reading "Five Little Peppers." They are interested. The hum of the other groups disturbs them not at all. The teacher passing from one group to another as she sees fit, does not find it necessary to withdraw any child from this group on account of mis- behavior. That group just back of the center of the room, the pupils sitting two in a seat, is reading Coffin's " Drum- beat of the Nation," while that group in the extreme rear of the room is reading " Viking Tales." By such a plan, each pupil receives four times as much practice in oral reading, as he otherwise would receive. Just a caution or two. The books or selections must be interesting and easy. The periods must be frequent enough to maintain interest. The teacher must watch order carefully, persistently, and unob- trusively. An alternating program can be used with advantage. Let one day of the week be set apart for the regular reading exercises, using the standard material of the grade. One day can be used for sight reading, the study time to be spent in composition, or drawing, or both, as suggested in the chapter on the Classification of Material. One day can be used for the study of difficult material, with class discussion of the contents and meaning, and with the oral reading of such passages as may seem best. One day can be used for individual reading, when two or more pupils read lessons which they alone have studied, or when they recite memo- rized selections or tell stories. One day can be used for the study of longer selections of minor value, to be given in substance only. This program affords variety and brings to the pupils in turn each motive that can be used to increase io6 ESSENTIALS OF READING the interest or stimulate the effort in reading, both silent and oral. OUTLINE OF CHAPTER IX DIVISION OF A READING RECITATION AND ASSIGNMENT OF LESSON Division. Time apportioned to each division. Selection of lesson. Suited to purpose of teacher. Suited to pupils. Length of lesson. Suited to purpose and pupils. Development of new words and ideas. Value of the dictionary. The teacher's duty. Illustrative lesson. Word content. Emotional words. The teacher's duty. Assigned work. Model assignment. Time and character of the supplementary reading. Grouping pupils for oral supplementary reading. Alternating program. FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION i. What points should be covered in a recitation in reading? 2. When should articulation drill be given? 3. How much can we omit the testing to find out if the directions have been followed? 4. What would be the result this part of the recitation were habitually slighted? 5. Why not combine articulation drill and oral reading? 6. How would you divide a twenty-minute recitation period . 7. How can supplementary reading be done in other classes? 8. Of what importance is the assignment of the lesson? 9. What points should be covered in the assignment of the lesson? ASSIGNMENT OF LESSON 107 10. What proportion of the children should be supplied with dictonaries ? 1 1 . Can less than the right number be used to advantage ? How ? 12. What is the best dictionary for each grade? 13. Can a pupil use a word correctly in a sentence and be ignorant of its meaning? 14. Can a pupil give a correct definition of a word and still be ignorant of its meaning ? 15. What function in literature do words have beyond designating the actions, objects and attributes? 16. What kind of words can be called experimental words? 17. How can the child's responsiveness to emotional words be increased ? 18. Of what value is supplementary reading? 19. How many supplementary readers of the same kind should the teacher have ? 20. How can there be supplementary reading without supple- mentary readers? 21. What is the element gained in supplementary reading that is missed in ordinary reading ? CHAPTER X CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIAL Most reading books contain four distinct kinds of material which should be separated and used by the teacher to serve the ends for which they are best adapted. Each is valuable in its place. All are necessary to a well-balanced course of instruction in reading. If they are not found in the texts used by the class, they should be supplied from other sources. The fault so often existing is due to the effort of the teacher to use all classes of material in the same way. The first class consists of the selections that are well suited to the pupils in degree of difficulty and that are intrinsically worthy to be studied thoroughly. These should constitute the greater part of the reading book and the presence of a good proportion of this class of material is the distinguishing mark of a good standard reader. In order to be suited in degree of difficulty, the subject-mat- ter should be within the understanding and experience of those who are to read it, and the language should be within or but slightly beyond the vocabulary of the class. This kind of material is primarily for oral reading, and it should not contain too many difficulties, otherwise it will lead to dis- couragement. There should be but few unfamiliar words, and these should be explained and pronounced before the recitation begins, or before the paragraph is read aloud, so that the pupil will be able to use them unconsciously in giving expression to the thought. The presence of a single formi- dable word in a sentence will draw to it the thought of the timid 108 CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIAL 109 reader, and will conceal the meaning of the sentence. The pupil cannot consciously do two things at the same time. There will not be good oral reading unless the mechanical difficulties have been reduced to such a minimum that they do not come into consciousness. The pupil should be trained to know when the sentence is within his power, and should not attempt to read it until it is. He should ask questions and not attempt the pronunciation of unfamiliar words until he is sure of his grasp, and then should give the sentences with the expression of the thought as the end of his effort. A few sentences read in this way are of more value than many pages that have been merely pronounced. It is better still to have the selection so well suited to the ability of the class that a reasonable amount of effort will enable the pupils to get the thought with ease and express it with accuracy. It will then be read with pleasure. Reading should be pleasurable. It will be generally, if the material is kept within the interest and the difficulties within the increasing power of the pupil. The taste can be regulated and the power can be increased but it can be done only by starting where the pupil is and by increasing the distance by so small intervals that there is no time a severing of the connection. To be intrinsically worthy of being studied thor- oughly, the subject matter should be such as will interest the class. It must be attractive. Without this element there will not be that spontaneous mental activity that is essential to the most valuable form of attention. It need not appeal to the adult mind, nor to more mature children, but it must attract the child who is to study it. It is a serious error to suppose that everything good and attractive will interest all ages and all conditions. Even more than adults, children demand something new and interesting. They insist upon a fair return. The effort will be made gladly no ESSENTIALS OF READING and, for a short time, intensely, provided they realize a product that repays in satisfaction or pleasure. But it is not suffi- cient that the subject matter be attractive. The most inju- rious form of literature is that which has this sole merit. Reading matter which is to be studied carefully should be of a nature that will bring to the reader a positive growth mor- ally or intellectually. It should deal with the beautiful and the noble or with related facts that are of deep concern. The mind of the child should be caused to dwell upon the acts and lives of those who evince a beautiful spirit or a char- acter of worth. The opposites of these should be little in evidence in the reading matter of the young. When present, they should appear merely as a foil for the more valuable qualities. This does not mean that every trait of character must be labeled, and that the selection should close with the once familiar, "Haec fabula docet." Generally there will be the identification of the type of character, and the meaning of the story will sink into the consciousness of the pupil, if the selection has been well read. There should be, however, exercises that will enable the pupil to recognize the types of character readily when presented through language; and to identify those qualities that he recognizes unconsciously in the concrete. Also, there should be frequent attempts to give wording to the meaning of a selection as a whole. An important end of all education is character building, and there is no medium more favor- able for this than the subject of reading. It is through the reading-matter of the first and second classes, as suggested in this chapter, that most of this character training will be effected; so this should be the subject of the most serious consideration on the part of teachers and parents. The second class consists of the few selections that will bear reading again and again. They are the highest CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIAL in type of literature suited to the age and development of the pupil. They are the selections that grow upon the pupil with each hearing or perusal. The better they are known, the more they are enjoyed. They are the ones that pupils call for repeatedly when given a choice. They should be read as often as the interest will warrant. The pupils should be encouraged to tell them to the class as stories. They should be dramatized and presented in this form whenever they are suited to such treatment, thus causing them to enter the experience of the child through appeal to his dramatic in- stincts. After their meaning is well developed many of them, especially the poems, should be memorized as standards of literary form and as types expressing feelings and emotions common to all. The third class of literature is that which should not have close study, but which will repay being read once for general information or because of some special feature of the selection. This corresponds to the great mass of reading matter that will come to the eye of the pupil throughout life and some intelligent direction in this connection is of the utmost value. Much time is wasted because pupils do not learn to discriminate in values, but give to unimportant mat- ters the same time and effort that is required for subjects of serious concern. It is as important that they learn how to obtain easily and quickly the substance of materials of minor value, as that they be able to master the contents of more worthy selections. The habits formed in school should be such as are valuable later in life. Pupils should learn to scan a page rapidly, obtaining a correct impression of the whole, at the same time having the ability to give discriminative attention to the important parts. Much material should be studied by giving the class a limited time to read a definite part of a selection, and then calling for a statement of what ii2 ESSENTIALS OF READING has been read. Pupils should be required to give the sub- stance of the passage, the use of the exact language not being encouraged. The class criticism should be directed to show- ing wherein the pupil has obtained quickly and stated briefly the substance, or wherein he has failed in the subordination of parts. The effort should be to reduce the time necessary for accomplishing the end. This power acquired in school will serve the pupils well by enabling them to become widely- read, well-informed men and women, keeping in touch with the press and with current literature without feeling it a bur- den, after reaching the busy years of active life. It will spare them the laborious word-by-word reading of matter of minor importance, and yet will make them sure that they have not failed to see all that is of real concern. Mr. Frank McMurray is authority for the statement that school children, even in the best schools, do not possess initia- tive in study. He conducted a series of experiments in the subject of geography. He found that the pupils seemed to lack a desire to go ahead for their own purposes and on their own responsibilities. They depend on the teacher. They refer to maps when told to do so, look up words, when directed. When not directed to do anything, they do nothing. His conclusion is verified by the investigations of others. This condition is true in the subject of reading, also. We find pupils in their silent readings stumbling over a string of words, with no desire to discover the unperceived thought, and with little knowledge of how to discover it, should they so desire. It becomes the duty of the teacher to train the pupils how- to study. Her opportunity to do this is at the recitation time. Hence some of these periods should be called study periods and should be given up to studying with the children with the hope that this study may increase their power to study alone. The good teacher is one who trains the pupils to do without her. CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIAL 113 The books will be kept open, the teacher will have a para- graph read as a unit, then sentence by sentence. She will ask many questions; like, "Should we stop here for thought and discussion?" "Is this thought important?" "What is the principal thought in this paragraph?" "What is this paragraph about ? " "What do we know now that we did not know an hour ago?" "Are there any words here whose meanings are not clear to us?" She can go farther than this. She can have the pupils make outlines of the material studied. This is an exercise in deciding upon the relative importance of points. Two things in which the teacher should give training are: first, the grouping of related ideas; second, the judging of the comparative importance of different ideas. This results in the pupil having a definite notion of the state of his own knowledge. He makes a conscious judgment of his attain- ment. He knows when he has come to what Miss Arnold has called the "don't know line." He can say to himself, "I know this," "I understand that." He is impelled to say also to himself, "This next thing I do not understand. I will now devote myself to the mastery of it." Such a condition is most favorable to mental growth and thought glean- ing. This training can be done in what has been called the study-recitation. If followed up, it will increase in a remark- able degree the initiative and power of the pupils. The fourth class of material consists of that which is too difficult for ordinary class use. Often it contains mechanical difficulties that discourage the class. There may be too many new words. The presence of these is a barrier to the thought. Even when the thought is reached clearly, the fact that the words have not been pronounced often enough to be uttered unconsciously, causes the reader to hes- itate in giving the passage orally. The overcoming of the mechanical difficulties generally detracts from the pleasure ii 4 ESSENTIALS OF READING of the pupil's effort. Frequently the order of words and the arrangement of clauses are so involved that the pupils find it hard to understand the meaning. Sometimes there are allusions that are not familiar and that occur too seldom to repay investigation. The value of an allusion depends upon the immediateness with which it is discerned. Pupils take no more pleasure in tracing out an obscure allusion than do adult readers. They can be brought to do some work of this kind, but the instances must not be too frequent in a pas- sage, or lack of interest will follow. Again, there are selections that present experiences be- yond those of childhood, except in extreme, abnormal cases. Neither pleasure nor profit comes from considering these in advance of their time. All selections that are too diffi- cult, from whatever cause, should be used primarily for study and discussion, having the story told by different members of the class, calling for the reading of such parts as may seem best, as shown by the interest of the class or by the desire of individuals. In this way, pupils who are developed sufficiently to understand the selection will get the meaning, while the others will not be burdened with the attempt to realize that for which their stage of development has not as yet prepared them. Many readers contain much material of the class that is too difficult for the grade for which it is intended. It is valuable for silent reading, with discussions of the substance of the passages. With its use in that way will come the ability to use it for oral reading, also. But children are able to read silently with pleasure and with more or less profit much matter that they should not attempt to read orally. That which is to be read aloud, and much that is for silent reading, should be read with ease, if it is to be read with pleasure. Teachers can verify this assertion by CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIAL 115 studying their own reading. Writers of the cheap, flashy literature that is the bane of boyhood know this principle, and have written their books on this basis. The words are familiar or are such as catch the attention and affect the imagination. The sentences are short, and run with remark- able clearness. The paragraphs are brief and are arranged to carry the eye from point to point of interest. The story almost reads itself. Add the element of the unreal and the glamour of adventure, and it is not strange that boys devour its pages. Teachers of reading could learn valuable lessons from studying the elements that appeal to the boy who is absorbed by cheap novels. It is possible to use the same conditions, supplying better ideals instead of the distorted heroism, and to change the boy's tastes to appreciate good literature. All good literature is not difficult. We must make more use of the simpler forms. The knowledge that many children "nose through" all grades of literature and that some of them receive much benefit from these unguided excursions has led to the false notion that all children should be required to take such material entire and has brought into our readers selections that -cannot be used to advantage, except in the way last suggested. The fifth class, material for sight reading, is of great value. Most of the reading done outside of the school- room must be at sight, without time or opportunity for study. Especially is this true of the reading of later life. Accord- ingly pupils should be trained to read at sight. Sight read- ing also offers an excellent opportunity for adding to the interest of the work by the introduction of new and attrac- tive reading matter. The material for sight reading should be much easier than the standard material of the grade. From the nature of the use intended, it should not be found in the regular reading book of the class. It is of the utmost n6 ESSENTIALS OF READING importance that it be kept from the class until it is to be read, otherwise there is no way of preventing previous study by the pupil. Children eagerly devour everything in their books that looks at all easy or interesting. Much of the benefit from this kind of reading matter comes from the interest given to the class work by the element of curiosity that is added to the recitation. The new subject-matter secures and holds the attention. From one to three books are enough for a class in sight reading. If more than one book is used, one can be in the hands of the teacher, though it is better for the teacher to insist that the reading be so well done by the pupil that she will not need a book. The very fact that she has no book will enable her to judge the exercise as it should be judged, on the basis of effective oral expression. Sight reading can be given a few minutes of the time of each lesson, as sug- gested in the chapter on Conducting the Recitation, or it can take the place of the regular reading lesson one day in the week. The important thing is that it have a good propor- tion of time regularly, as it will repay well the time and effort given to it. If sight reading is to take the place of the regular lesson, the study period can be spent on a list of words on the board, selected from the lesson. This should include all that could give any trouble in recognition or meaning, and they should be made familiar by the advance study. They can be written in sentences, showing that their mean- ing is understood, and they should be pronounced from the board until the organs of speech become accustomed to them. The advance study can be varied by having the pupils write short stories, using as the title the subject of the coming lesson. The list of words should be on the board, as before, to be pronounced before the study period as well CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIAL 117 as before the recitation. The pupils should be asked to use such of the words as suggest themselves in the development of a story of the given title. There should be no studied effort to use all the words, but they should be used just as they occur naturally in such a story as the pupil may invent in connection with the title and with the use of a few of the important words of the list. The fact that a story is about to be read from a book on the same subject and the novelty of trying to parallel an unknown plot will kindle the imagi- nation so as to make the exercise an excellent language lesson, and at the same time will arouse an interest in the coming reading lesson. Each pupil will write better under the influence of the desire to achieve a definite end, and will also read and listen better in the desire to compare his own efforts with the production in the published story. One of the stories written by the children should be read at the beginning of the recitation. The rest should be taken up by the teacher, and can be used on subsequent days as the teacher thinks best, either being read to the class, exchanged and criticized by the pupils, or marked and returned to the writer as the time and plan of the teacher may warrant. To add to the interest and vary the work, the class is asked to plan the story for oral presentation. Part of the time for preparation is used in drawing a picture to illustrate the center of interest in the story. In conducting the recitation with sight material, a pupil takes one of the books. He looks at the sentence, hands the book to another, indicating the place, then gives the sentence. If there is another book, it is placed in the hands of a pupil in another part of the class, who gives the second sentence similarly. By this time, the pupil receiving the first book should be ready with the third sentence, and so the story is continued around the class. n8 ESSENTIALS OF READING The purpose in having the pupil pass the book before giving the sentences is to compel him to have the entire thought in mind before attempting to give it, and to pre- vent dwelling upon the words, one at a time. It trains him to sweep the eye rapidly along the sentence, and helps him to overcome the slavish clinging to the words with his eye. As soon as the pupil has become natural and free he should be encouraged to read an entire paragraph before handing the book to the next pupil. He should be brought back to giving the single sentence without the book whenever he begins to depend too much upon the book or when the presence of book causes him to be unnatural. Faults in expression can be overcome sooner, and more easily in connection with sight-reading than in any other way. In sight-reading, as in all oral read- ing, much depends upon the skill of the teacher in questioning the pupil. If the pupil has failed to grasp the main idea in the sentence, a carefully planned question will lead him to see the relation of the ideas involved. As the sentences are short and the words are mostly familiar, the mechanical difficulties will not hinder him, so the ex- pression will generally be natural. The fact that no one has access to the story but the one .reading, places on the reader the responsibility for giving his part so that all can get the meaning. If the story is an interesting one, and the teacher must select one that will be interesting, the other pupils will insist that it be given so^they can understand it. The reader is under the conditions that exist in public speaking as nearly as they can be realized in connection with reading in the school room. The fact that the story is new, places the class in receptive attitude, and brings to the help of the reader the presence and inspiration of good listeners. The teacher should call upon those listening to give a sentence CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIAL 119 from time to time, as a training in following a theme by ear only. This is a training perhaps equal in value to the ability to receive the message through the eye. At the con- clusion or on the following day, the class should be required to reproduce the story without reference to the book. Sight reading has the advantage that several classes can be combined in the exercise. Thus time can be saved for other subjects that are so often crowded out, or given too little time in the program. This can be done with no detri- ment to the work in reading, as the larger class is often an advantage to the reading exercise from the fact that it affords an audience. The one danger to be avoided is that of using material that is marked as designed for a class younger than the one that is to read it. Pupils do not object to reading easy stories, providing their pride is not hurt by the name applied to the book. A pupil who would be indignant at being asked to read in a second reader would read with pleasure an interesting story of the same grade if there was nothing about it to designate where it belonged. Stories can be cut out of papers and magazines and the paragraphs pasted on pieces of card board. These should be distributed face downward, with the numbers on the back. They are not to be turned over until the moment they are to be read. In this way, a great amount of the best material can be obtained at no expense. It is a very convenient and satisfactory way of conducting the recitation, as it does away with the neces- sity of passing the book. All the publishing houses have good collections of supple- mentary readers now, and as so few copies are needed, it is possible with no increase in the cost of books, to have an unlimited amount of the best material, thus enlarging greatly the range of the pupil's reading, with the added increase in interest in and appreciation of good literature. 120 ESSENTIALS OF READING OUTLINE OF CHAPTER X CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIAL Five kinds of material. First class. Average degree of difficulty. Subject matter. Vocabulary. Intrinsically worthy. Interesting to pupil. Valuable morally or intellectually. Second class. Highest grade of literature adapted to age and development of the class. Read repeatedly. Told in story form. Dramatized. Memorized. Third class. For reading for substance only. Training in subordination. The study recitation. Fourth class. Too difficult for oral reading. Silent reading. Discussion. Oral reading of passages. Fifth class. Sight reading. Importance. Easier than standard reader. Strictly at sight. Use of books. Time. Preparation. Language Lesson. Drawing. Conducting the recitation. Combining classes. Material. Papers and magazines. Books. CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIAL 121 FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION 1. What four kinds of material do most readers contain? 2. What is the characteristic of each kind? 3. What do we mean by material in degree of difficulty well suited to a class ? 4. What is meant by having material intrinsically worthy of study? 5. What effect has the meeting of a very hard word among familiar words ? 6. Why not let pupils attempt to read sentences containing un- familiar words ? 7. Why should the material be interesting? 8. What kinds of material do you think is most interesting to boys of the intermediate grades ? To girls of the same grades ? To boys of the grammar grades ? To girls of the same grades ? 9. What qualities should material have besides attractiveness? 10. Name some selections of the first class. 1 1 . Should pupils be required to commit selections ? Why ? 12. Give a list of selections belonging to the second class. Why should they be memorized ? 13. Is the habit of reading a newspaper in three or five minutes an un- mixed evil? 14. Is Frank McMurray's statement correct? What makes you think so ? 15. What is the teacher's duty in such a case? 16. How can she perform it ? 17. How should difficult selections be handled? 18. Why do boys like dime novels? 19. What should this teach us ? 20. What kind of material should be used for sight reading? 21. How many copies of the selections for sight reading are necessary ? 22. Why is it well for the teacher to conduct the reading lesson with- out a text in hand. 23. When all the period is to be given to sight reading, what assign- ment can be made for the study period ? 24. How can reading and language be correlated? 25. How can drawing be used to add interest to the work in reading? 26. How can an exercise in sight reading be conducted? 27. What purpose in having the pupil pass the book before giving the paragraph ? 28. How can classes be conbined for sight reading? 29. Of what value is reproduction in reading? CHAPTER XI OBSTACLES TO GOOD EXPRESSION Many things that prevent pupils from acquiring good expression in reading can be removed by intelli- gent work on the part of the teacher. Some of the obstacles are so simple and can be controlled so easily that there is no excuse for their existence. The " reading tone " needs first attention. It is that painful, high monotone, usually accompanied by an unvary- ing stress on each word resulting in an absence of melody. It is so well known that it needs no description. So prev- alent is it that from the time the child first hears about school it has fixed in advance his idea of what constitutes reading. Listen while little children, before school age, "play school." They talk naturally enough until called upon to perform some school exercise, when they assume at once the "reading tone." This is true not only when they attempt to read, but in everything that is supposed to be a formal recitation. It is most marked in reading, and the presence of a book in the child's hand completes the change, if any thing was needed to make the attitude entirely unnatural. As this is before the child has been in school to form any habits, good or bad, it must be due to an indirect influence from the school. The child is doing its best to attain its ideal of con- ditions that prevail in school, and it does these absurd things because the atmosphere of the school-room has moved out- ward, and has established among children generally the idea that this attitude is necessary to the school-room, and that this strange, unnatural process is reading. OBSTACLES TO GOOD EXPRESSION 123 It is extremely unfortunate that children should enter school with wrong ideals. It is certainly not econ- omy of time and effort to permit the formation of any habit or ideal that is not to endure. Since this ideal is a true reflection of school-room conditions, it must be corrected there, if at all. That it is a reflection of the school-room, cannot be questioned. Let any one not a teacher enter many school-rooms, and he will be impressed with the unnaturalness of the manner of speech and recitation. Many teachers are so accustomed to it that it fails to attract attention. This is the main reason for the existence of the reading tone. It could be corrected in all schools in a single term if teachers could but hear their schools as others hear them, and could have their ears attuned to catch this displeasing sound. The condition is most evident in the reading lesson. It probably owes its existence primarily to that subject. The reading lesson should be the point of first attack. It will be found, in varying degree, in all classes of most schools. It is most marked in the primary classes, but is most disap- pointing in the advanced classes, where most is expected from the pupils. The ideal must be changed. There must be established the conception that reading is not something new and strange, but is the very simple process of talking, with the slight dif- ference that some one else supplies, through the medium of the written or printed page, the thoughts that are to be uttered by the one talking. This is so old and so well known that it seems trite, and yet it is the kernel of the whole matter. It is accepted as a truth, but is a truth for theory only, and it has not become a working principle in the every-day life of the school-room. Only in exceptional schools do children read as they talk, and when they do, it is because excep- tional teachers have caused them to recognize and feel the i2 4 ESSENTIALS OF READING real nature of reading. Once let this idea be established in a school, and reading becomes a source of unlimited pleasure to teacher and pupil alike. The book is often an obstacle. The physical presence of the book or paper makes it difficult for the pupil to realize that reading is merely talking from the written or printed page. There is the evidence to his senses that the thoughts are not primarily his own, and even when he has made them his own in fact, the physical conditions keep calling him back to the foreign source, and rise as an obstacle to the free utter- ance of the thoughts. The first lessons in reading are usually given from the board. As nearly all primary teachers are careful to have pupils "talk from the board," there is not so much trouble here. On placing the book in the hands of the pupil, he should be required to read silently an entire sentence, asking questions about words not known, and then to give it without the book. Reading in this natural way with the book in hand, is the ideal to be attained, but the book should be removed whenever its presence causes unnaturalness. The frequent request, "Please tell me that," will serve to call the pupil back to plain, natural talking at every point of departure. Having secured natural expres- sion by this request, the recitation should move on. The pupil should not be asked to "read" the sentence, as if that were different from what had just been done. The mechanical difficulties of recognizing the words often bring the pupil acutely to the consciousness that he is not giving his own thoughts, but the thoughts of another. So much of an obstacle is this at times that the pupil fails to pass beyond the process of the mere recognition and repetition of a series of words. The concentration of attention upon the isolated words prevents the reception of the thought. As no thought has been received, none can OBSTACLES TO GOOD EXPRESSION 125 be given. The remedy lies in reducing the mechanical dif- ficulties temporarily and in giving the pupil more power in surmounting them when they occur again. Often there is need of a radical reduction in the degree of the difficulties, which can be effected only by using easier material. While trying to overcome extreme faults in naturalness, the diffi- culties should be reduced to a minimum by using readers two or three years lower than the normal reader of the grade. Simple stories that have nothing about them to indicate the grade for which intended, are best for this purpose. If the subject matter is interesting and if it is well-written, it can hardly be too easy. Temporarily, the easier, the better. After placing the pupil in a natural condition by reducing the degree of the difficulties, it is equally important that he be given more power to surmount difficulties. This can be accomplished by frequent, extended, and persistent drill in recognizing isolated words from board-lists, by careful work in phonetics, and by the formation of the habit of using the dictionary. Pupils must be taught how to study a les- son, and one of the most important elements in this study is to locate the words that are obscure in meaning or uncer- tain of pronunciation and to find from the dictionary the needed information, or to obtain the assistance from the teacher at the beginning of the recitation. He should learn never to attempt to read orally a sentence that does not mean anything to him. Frequently pupils recognize words fairly well, but fail to see readily, their relation in the development of the thought. This results in as serious faults in expression as does the failure to recognize the words. This condition generally results from the inability of the pupil to move the eye rapidly along the sentence in search of the key to the meaning. Such pupils. should be encouraged to take in short 126 ESSENTIALS OF READING sentences with a single glance, the length to be increased with the increase in power. The mental attitude of the reader is often a serious obstacle to good expression. Oral reading is an art allied to oratory. It differs in the source from which the material for speech is obtained. The orator presents original thoughts, or at least thoughts that express the personal attitude of the speaker. The reader disclaims personal responsibility, but endeavors to bring to the listener the message of another. The reader and the orator are alike in the source of their effectiveness. Both must have a message, must have ability to give the message, and must have a listener in a receptive attitude toward the message. The higher the degree of excellence realized in each of these respects, the more effect- ive will be the effort of either reader or speaker. Let any one of the elements be lacking, and the effect is partial failure. Whatever the ability of the orator, there can be no great ora- tion without a great theme and the presence of an audience responsive to the occasion. The nearer we can realize in the school-room the interest of audience and enthusiasm of speaker the greater will be our success in teaching reading. The usual method of conducting a reading recitation violates two of the three principles upon which oral reading is dependent. The speaker feels no responsibility, the hearers no deep source of interest. It accomplishes good and proper ends in teaching a careful analysis of the mate- rial of thought as taken from written forms, and it gives very valuable drill in oral expression. It does not put the reader or the listener into the mental attitude so necessary if the higher, finer influence is to be secured. Both are in equal possession of the message, so the reader does not feel the responsibility for its delivery. The listener, having no de- sire for a message already known, assumes a critical, instead OBSTACLES TO GOOD EXPRESSION 127 of a receptive, attitude. His sole interest in the exercise, if there be any interest, is to criticise the way the recitation is made. Many pupils, especially in the grammar grades, do poor oral reading because of these conditions. The greatest orator that ever graced a platform could not main- tain himself with his audience if each member held in hand a copy of his address which had previously received an ex- haustive study, and if the attention was riveted on the minor, unimportant details; as, the omission, transposition and mis- pronunciation of words, or the bodily attitude of the speaker. Give the pupil the sense of responsibility for the delivery to his class of a message that is in his sole possession. Let it be a message that has intrinsic value, so that the class readily desires to receive it. Give him suffi- cient time for preparation so that he can feel on sure ground, and he will not fail to rise to the occasion. No matter if he makes a few mistakes, he will receive more benefit from such a lesson than from a long series of short, criticised reci- tations. The books of the teacher and most of the class should be closed during the recitation. This will place more responsibility on the one reading, even in the regular recita- tions. It will give in part the conditions under which oral reading should be practiced. All should insist that the exercise be read so they can understand it without the book in hand. The lack of melody is often due to the number lessons. The condition cannot be corrected by attention to its exis- tence in the reading lesson alone. The teacher must become conscious of its presence in every formal recitation, and must banish it from every position held. When pupils count, each number of the series, except the last, has that high, 128 ESSENTIALS OF READING unnatural tone. It is, "one, two, three, four, fi ve .» This is similar to, "John is on the s i e d.» Teach the pupils to count in an ordinary tone of voice, giving each number of the series the falling inflection, just as they give the last, and as each would receive if it stood alone. If the knowledge of the other numbers in the series prevents giving a number the falling inflection, cover the others, and the number will be given with perfect naturalness. Num- bers should be added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided with the same nice discrimination in expression. Let it be remembered that the digits as elements in computing in the fundamental operations, have no thought relation. As numbers they are related, and this relationship should be clearly shown. The recitation of the multiplication tables, instead of a monotonous chant, affords an excellent oppor- tunity for thought discrimination. The table of twos should be given as follows: Two times 0NE are two. Two times TW0 are F0UR - Two times THREE are SIX - Two times E0UR are EIGHT ' Problems in analysis would be given as follows: If ONE PENCIL costs EIVE CENTS ' what will E0UR pencils cost? If 0NE pencil costs EIVE cents, r0DR pencils will cost four TIMES five cents, which are TWENTV cents. Therefore, if 0NE PENCIL costs EIVE cents, E0UR pencils will cost TWENTY cents. TWELVE ; s TWO-THIRDS of what number? If TWELVE is TW0 -thirds of a number, 0NE -third of that OBSTACLES TO GOOD EXPRESSION 129 number is on e - HALF of twelve, which is SIX ' if SIX is 0NE third of a number, THREE ~thirds, or the number, are three TIMES six, which are eighteen. Therefore, TWELVE is two-thirds^ eighteen. Lists of words have no connection in thought, so each word should be pronounced as though it stood alone. The faulty way in which spelling lists are pronounced is one more influence tending to make unnaturalness in the school room. Often each word of the series is given with a pecu- liar rising inflection. This is due to the sense of incom- pleteness, from the knowledge that more words are to follow. Usually it can be corrected easily by covering the words below or following the one to be pronounced, thus helping the pupil to think of it as independent of the other words, when the expression becomes natural, the word receiv- ing the falling inflection. If this fails, or as a variation, ask the pupil, "Is the word ?" naming any word of similar or even opposite meaning. This will generally help him to isolate the word from the others of the series. Language exercises need special attention. Pupils should read their own language exercises better than any- thing else, for the words are familiar and they know the thought. As a matter of fact, they often show no special improvement, for they are so influenced by the unconscious idea that reading is a peculiar process that even here it asserts itself and the monotonous drone appears. All subjects of normal recitation should be matched carefully. Unnaturalness can be corrected only by atten- tion at every point where it can exist. i 3 o ESSENTIALS OF READING OUTLINE OF CHAPTER XL OBSTACLES TO GOOD EXPRESSION Obstacles can be removed "Reading tone" Acquired before entering school Occurs in playing school A reflection of school life Wrong ideals unfortunate Most in evidence in reading lesson Ideal must be changed Reading not a new process Book an obstacle Remove temporarily Correct use of book the ideal Difficulty of words Reduce Increase power Thought relations Mental attitude an obstacle Oral reading allied to oratory Source of effectiveness Violation of principles Conditions explain poor reading Remedy Responsibility Most books closed Number lessons Counting Analysis Spelling Language Other subjects FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION i. What is the "reading tone" ? 2. What causes it ? 3. How can it be overcome ? OBSTACLES TO GOOD EXPRESSION 131 4. How can the book be an obstacle? 5. How can this obstacle be overcome ? 6. How can the obstacle of two difficult words be overcome ? 7. How can the difficulty of taking in the thought by groups of words be overcome? 8. What disadvantage has the usual method of conducting recita- tions ? 9. How does the art of oral reading resemble oratory? What differ- ence? 10. Upon what does the effectiveness of an oral reader depend? 11. How does it help the pupil for him alone to have the book open? 1 2 . What should be the mental attitude of a reader ? 13. What may prevent gaining this attitude? 14. How may the methods of the number class effect expression in reading ? 15. How may they help expression? 16. What care is to be exercised in pronouncing lists of words? CHAPTER XII ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS There are two familiar stories that are opposite types and that are excellent illustrations of the principle that emphasis is always dependent upon what is known to the one for whose benefit the story is being told. These are "The House that Jack Built," and "Chicken Little." The first begins, "Thisisthe house that Jack built." The word "this" indicates that the idea of "house" is in conscious- ness, made so by a picture or other visible presentation. The speaker is pointing at the house or its picture, otherwise "this" could not be the opening word. Evidently the purpose of the sentence is, not to bring before the reader the idea of a house, but to tell something important about a house already known. To read the sentence, as is so often done, with the emphasis on " house," when it follows the demonstrative "this" which denotes presence, is to presume that the hearer cannot recognize a house when it is seen. Then the relative "that" indicates that the restrictive clause following is of more importance than the antecedent, as is true of all restrictive clauses. A con- ception of the word "house" includes the knowledge that it has been built. So the only important word in the clause is "Jack." "This" is a strong demonstrative and is emphatic by nature. All other words in the sentence are unimportant, and must be subordinated. This subordination can be effected most naturally by leaving them in a lower plane, in pitch, in 132 ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 133 stress, and in the attitude of the reader toward them. Accord- ingly the sentence should be read : THIS is the house that J ACK built. In connection with the next sentence, there is, or should be, a picture of a sack marked "malt." The pupil will probably not know what the word means, but this sentence as given in the story assumes that he does. Where the story originated the word was well known. If the purpose were to tell that the substance is malt, it would read, "This is malt, which lay in the house that Jack built." The evident purpose of the sentence is to tell something about some malt that is already in mind. Again "this" is emphatic because it is a strong demon- strative. "Malt" is brought into consciousness by the picture with its label. "The house that Jack built," was brought out in the first sentence. Evidently the main idea is the relation of the "malt" to "the house that Jack built." It "lay in "or "was in" the place previously mentioned. Accordingly it should be read: Tms is the malt that LAY IN the house that Jack built. If the pupil is caused to think especially of "this" and the relation as expressed by "lay in," he will naturally subordinate the rest of the sentence, reading the words in a smoothly connected monotone, lower in pitch and with less stress than the two important words. The pupils should dwell upon the first two sentences until they have acquired sufficient control of their powers of expression to give the sentences with proper subordination of the known to the new. The first difficulty will be to secure such subordination in thought as to cause the pupil to have the right mental attitude toward the different ideas in the sentence. He must feel that everything is unimportant but the ideas, "This," and "Jack," or "this" and "lay in." When this is accomplished, the mechanical expression of this i 3 4 ESSENTIALS OF READING relation becomes comparatively easy. It does no good to tell him to emphasize certain words, or to have him imitate some one else. He must be brought to understand that we do not care for the rest of the sentence because we already know about it. We want what is new. The next sentence is accompanied by a picture of a rat. The absurdity of looking at the picture and declaring it a rat must be evident. The purpose of the sentence is to tell that that particular rat ate the malt under discussion. It should be read : — THIS is the rat that ATE the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. The rest of the story should be read: THIS is the cat that CAUGHT the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. THIS is the dog that W0RRIED the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. THIS is the cow with the crumpled horn that T0SSED the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. THIS is the maiden all forlorn that mLK1LT > the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. THIS is the man all tattered and torn that HSSED the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. THIS is the priest all shaven and shorn that MARRIED the man all tattered and torn that kissed the maiden all for- lorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 135 Tms is the cock that crowed in the morn that WAKED the priest all shaven and shorn that married the man all tat- tered and torn that kissed the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. THIS is the farmer sowing his corn that p the cock that crowed in the morn that waked the priest all shaven and shorn that married the man all tattered and torn that kissed the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This story could be written so as to change the meaning and the emphasis. The antecedent of each clause could be made emphatic, having each bring into consciousness the idea of which it is a sign. This would be necesssary in the absence of a picture or other visible presentation. It would read:— Once there was a H0USE which JACK built. There was some MALT ' which LAY IN the house that Jack built. Along came a RAT > which ATE the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. There was a CAT ' which CAUGHT the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. Both versions of the story can be used with advantage, and they will be productive of nice discriminations by even young pupils. They can -be used profitably with all ages. Stories of this type are popular with young children. This is probably due to the fact that new words are serious obstacles to the child, and the occurrence of the same word again and again makes it pleasing. It is like happening upon an old friend, whom he meets with pleasure. When he finds not only the same words, but the same combinations of words repeated 136 ESSENTIALS OF READING so often, he is pleased with the consciousness that he can use the them, and use them easily. They fairly roll from his tongue. Not only are such stories popular, but they are among the most valuable exercises that can be given to a class, if read correctly. The longer they grow, the more it is impressed upon the reader that the true meaning must be shown, regard- less of the number of words included. The self control that is acquired by subordinating nicely the long, involved, almost meaningless repetitions, is of the utmost value. But if they are read with no appreciation of the relative importance of the ideas, they become more jingles, forming vicious habits in thought getting and thought expressing. The story of Chicken Little is under quite different condi- tions. There is frequent iteration of the same ideas, but in each instance the story is new to the listener, so it must be told in the same way. CHICKEN Lhtle (l) was in a GARDEN, where she had NO MGHT to be, when a R0SE leaf fell on (2) her TAIL ' AWAY she ran in great ERIGHT until she met HENNY PENNY ' "O, HENNY penny/ , she cried) „ the SKY ig FALLING!" ( 3 ) " How do you KN0W ? " asked Henny Penny (1). " Oh ! I SAW it with my EYES ' and I HEARD it with my EARS > and a PART of it FELL on my TAIL ' I >m G0ING to TELL the KING." (4) "Let me go WITH (5) you," said Henny Penny. So they ran to DUCKY Lucky. " DUCKY Lucky !" cried Henny Penny, the SKY is calling." "How do you KN0W? " asked Ducky Lucky, ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 137 "CHICKEN Liule TOLD me> „ -How do Y0U ( 6 > know, CHICKEN little?" (7) " oh! " answered Chicken Little, "I SAW it with my EYES > I HEARD it with my EARS > and a PART of it fell on my TAIL - I'm G0ING to TELL the KING -" W "Let me go WITH you", said Ducky Lucky. So they ran until they came to G00SEY Loosey. " G00SEY Loosey," cried Ducky Lucky, » the SKY is FALL " ING. " "How do you KN0W ' Ducky Lucky?" " HENNY Penny T0LD me." "How do Y0U know, HENNY PENNY? " " CHICKEN Littletold ME." (g) "How do YOU know, CHICKEN Little?" "OH! j SAW ; t w ; th my EYES, and j HEAKD ; t ^ ffly EAES > and a PARI of it fell on my ™ L - I'm G0ING to TELL the KING." "Let me go WITH you," said Goosey Loosey. So they ran until they met TURKEY Lurkey. "Turkey Lur k ey ! " cried Goosey Loosey, "the SKY is FALLING." "How do you KN0W > G00SEY L00SEY? ' " DucKY Lucky T0LD me." "How do Y0U know, DtTCKY EtTCKY? ' " HENNY Penny told ME -" ( 8 > 138 ESSENTIALS OF READING "How do Y0U know HENNY penny?" "CHICKEN LMe tol( j ME." "How do Y0U know, CHICKEN "TTLE?" "OH! j SAW h wkh my EYES, j HEARD ; t ^ my EARS, and a PAET of it fell on my TAU " I'm G0ING to TELL the KING. " "Let me go WITH you," said Turkey Lurkey. So they ran with all their MIGHT until they met E0XY Loxy. "OH! EOXY LOXY," cried Turkey Lurkey the SKY ig FALL. ING." "How do you KN0W? " asked Foxy Loxy. " G00SEY Loosey T0LD me." "How do Y0U know, G00SEY lg °sey?" " DUCKY Lucky told ME '" "How do Y0U know, DUCKY LUCKY " "HENNY PENNY fQl^ME." "How do YOTT know, HENNY pe nny?" "CHICKEN L ittle told ME " "How do Y0U know, CHICKEN ™™?" " 0H! I SAW it with my EYES > I HEAKD it with my EARS > and a PAET of it fell on my TAIL - I'm G0ING to TELL the^ '" "COME WITH ME," ^jj Foxy Loxy> "I wi U SHOW yQU ^ WAY to the king." So Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, Goosey ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS 139 Loosey, and Turkey Lurkey (9) all followed Foxy Loxyj just as he T0LD them to do. He led them into his DEN ' and they NEVER CAME 0UT again. NOTES (1). Stress emphasis is closely related to accent. In the case of compound words or of phrases equivalent to compound words, the emphasis follows the most important part of the word or phrase. (2). A verb-phrase compound of the verb "fell" and the preposition " on.' ' It is equivalent to "struck. " (3). (4). Force emphasis, showing strong emotion. Almost every word is emphatic. (5). A verb-phrase composed of the verb "go" and the preposition "with". It is equivalent to the verb "accom- pany. " (6). Emphasis of contrast, indicated by increasing the stress and raising the pitch, accompanied by a circumflex of the voice. Notice that the ideas involved in the words "how" and "know" have lost their importance. The purpose is to refer a topic under discussion to another person present. The main idea is the contrasting of the sources of information. (7). Emphasis of direct address. The effect of the rising inflection on the last word raises it, also, into a position of emphasis. (8). Emphasis of contrast. (9). Notice how unimportant all these nouns are. They are repeated merely to please the child by referring to these friends as often as possible. The main idea is the assertion that they did follow, as they were told to do. CHAPTER XIII THE USE OF THE DICTIONARY Children should be taught to use the dictionary in Study. This training should begin in the fourth grade and should continue throughout the course. No one ele- ment of instruction is more important than this, as it leads to independence and cultivates the true spirit of investigation. The most natural place to emphasize the importance of using the dictionary is in connection with reading. Pupils should study the reading lesson with a dictionary at hand, to verify the pronunciation and the meaning of the words. The pupils should be provided with dictionaries, individually, or in small groups. A dictionary for every pupil is the ideal condition. It is not difficult to accomplish this. Part of the money used for full sets of supplementary readers can well be used for this purpose, and the work, in reading can be as satisfactorily done with fewer copies of the text. Every school should have an unabridged dictionary and several abridged dictionaries, but if there are not funds to provide both, it is more helpful to have a good supply of the smaller works. Where pupils buy their own books, it is cheaper and better to have them purchase a book of the grade of Webster's High School dictionary at first. This will serve all purposes below the high school. High school pupils should have a book of the grade of the Academic dictionary. Districts that own the dictionaries will find it cheaper and equally satisfactory to buy primary dictionaries for the fourth grade, common school dictionaries for the fifth and sixth 140 USE OF THE DICTIONARY 141 grades, high school dictionaries for the seventh and eighth grades, and academic dictionaries for the high school. When public funds are not available, the books should be supplied by other means. Some schools are accomplishing this by forming a school sentiment such that the pupils buy their own dictionaries. In districts where text-books are free, this is an excellent plan. The very fact that the dictionary is the one book that is owned by the pupil places it in a favored class in importance. High school pupils who have used a book for four years, will be more liable to continue using the same book after leaving school. It has become an inseparable companion in study. Whatever dictionary a class is using, the teacher should see that the pupils are familiar with its table of contents. There are valuable purposes of each part of the dictionaries mentioned above, if used in the grades suggested. Often pupils complete the course of instruction with no knowledge of the use of a dictionary other than for the pro- nunciation and definition of the words given in the body of the book. These are important uses, but a knowledge of these purposes only does not make the dictionary the tool that it is possible of becoming in the hands of a trained student. The key to the symbols as given in the guide to pronunciation should be studied and memorized. The schools are doing an excellent service in teaching phonetics in the primary grades but it should be continued in the grades following. The child in those early years, when subjects of interest are fewer and when verbal memory is so active and reliable, can memorize all the words he has occasion to use. If the study of phonetics is to stop at the end of three years, as is so often the case, the time and effort required to secure this knowledge is not warranted by the benefits. The system of phonetics in the primary grades should use the diacritical i 4 2 ESSENTIALS OF READING marks employed by the dictionary that is used in the schools, and the knowledge acquired in the primary grades should be put into daily use in the succeeding years. A very little atten- tion here, if continued, will hold easily the great advantage gained. If the children have not been taught phonetics, the key to the symbols should be taken up when the dictionaries are put into the hands of the class, and should be studied indefinitely. The work should be begun gradually and should be pursued persistently. The ability to indicate and express the sounds as found in accented syllables should be acquired first. The sure and accurate use of all sounds should be established before the pupils leave the grammar grades. One reason why students do not consult dictionaries more of their own initiative is because unfamiliarity with the symbols employed makes it a process of great effort with slight satisfaction in return. When the pupils, after going to the trouble to find a word, must consult a key or a list of type-words to know how to pronounce it, the process is not very satisfactory and is not conducive to repeating the same effort at another time. It is extremely unfortunate that the alphabet does not represent the sounds of the elements, but since it does not, two sets of symbols must be taught, or pupils will have little independence in handling new words. The key to the symbols should include the table of equivalents, so as to render it unnecessary to re-write a word to indicate its pronunciation, except in rare instances. The study of the alphabet in detail aids in correcting inaccuracies in the use of the elements in types common to many words. A small amount of effort here will accom- plish more than much time spent upon individual words. There are common errors widely prevalent that are disclosed by this means, and that are not difficult of correction if begun in the earlier years. A systematic study of the sounds of the letters USE OF THE DICTIONARY 143 as given and illustrated in this part of the guide is most helpful. These sounds are best established by means of type-words. A study of the vowels in detail brings to light a few principles common to many. Attention can be called to them, and they can be verified by having the student examine lists of words. Among these are the following : — 1. Long sounds of vowels occur only under accent. As, ate, late, mak-er, pro-fane; eat, me-ter, re-plete; ice, mind, mi-ter; in-vite; old, ov-er, e-mo-tion, lo-co-mo-tive; use, du-ty, a-muse. Some apparent exceptions to this are due to the fact that secondary accents are not always marked. An effort to pronounce the word will disclose the necessity of the missing accent. Thus, ad-vo-cate (v) , em-u-late, re-form, to form a new. 2. Removing the accent from a long vowel results in a modified sound, indicated by the suspended bar. Thus, ate, sen-ate; eve, e-vent; i-dem,i-de-a; o-vate, o-va-tion; u-nion, u-nite; hy-drate, hy-drau-lic. This same sound occurs in many French words that have been transplanted into our language; as, debris (da bre), cafe (ca fa). These words really have no word accent, and must be pronounced with a suspense of the voice, as if anticipating another syllable. 3. Short vowels, excepting i or y, can neither close a syllable nor stand alone. Thus, man-ner, at-tend; par- i-ty, guar-an-ty; er-ror, a-mend; in-tel-lect; un-til; di-vide; a-bil-i-ty; dog, oc-cur; re-com-mit; un-der, sub-scribe. 4. Unaccented « a f standing alone or at the end of a syllable has the "short italian" sound, indicated by a dot above it. In speech this often falls into the sound of the so-called neutral vowel. This is one of the most difficult characters in the list of symbols, in as much as it is really equivalent to four different sounds, according as it is accented or unaccented, or as it is followed by letters that modify its sound. It occurs under accent before sk, ff, ft, th, ss, sp, st, nee, nt, and i 4 4 ESSENTIALS OF READING nd. In practice this is often either sharpened to short a, or is given so broad a sound as to result in affectation. The cor- rect sound can be acquired by having the pupil take the position of the organs for pronouncing are, then raising the main part of the tongue, closing slightly the mouth, and giving the sound a quick utterance. If this is begun in the lower grades, it will result in a purity of speech tending to correct the sharp, harsh sounds so common in connection with this letter. 5. Short o under accent should not degenerate into broad a. They are correlatives and it is helpful to change from one to the other in acquiring the correct sound. Give the sound of a as in all; open the mouth a little more, and a quicker utterance of the sound gives short o. 6. A vowel is short before r followed by a syllable beginning with r or another vowel. Exceptions, parent, parentage, garish; changes made by verb inflection or the suffix er; and cases where an a follows the sound of w. In the latter case, the sound of a is equivalent to short o; as warrant, quarrel. Examples, arrow, charity, character, farrier, barren, error, sirrah, orange, myriad, syrup. A most common error is giving a in instances like the fore- going the sound of a as in air. Compare air and arrow, chair and charity, fair and farrier, bear and barren. Note also sir and sirrah, orb and orange. Have the pupils turn to the letter a in the dictionary and copy, with marks, the words that follow this rule. At least twenty-five words beginning with ar- will be found, most of which are commonly mispronounced. Over forty words will be found beginning with par- that are commonly pronounced incorrectly. The list can be extended indefinitely by finding other combinations. Note the difference USE OF THE DICTIONARY 145 in the sound of the vowels in the words Mary, marry, and merry. Ordinarily they are given as the same sound. It is helpful to study how the sound of a vowel is affect- ed by a change of accent, by changing its position in the syllable, and by the presence of other letters in the same or in the following syllable. Below are given lists of words that illustrate the effect. The numbers refer to the principles of pronunciation given before in this chapter. bar, bare, bear, bar-on (6), bar-rel (6), ba-ri-um (1), ba-rom- e-ter (4). car, care, ca-ret (1), car-et (6), ca-reer (4). err, er-ror (6), er-u-dite (6), e-ra (1), e-rupt (2). or, o-ral (1), or-a-tor (6), or-ris (6), o-ra-tion (2). sir, sire, si-ren (1), sir-rah (6), syr-up (6). Grammar grade pupils will be aided by a study of the more common prefixes and suffixes. Definite lessons of this nature will be of great economy in determining the meaning of words. The knowledge that un- means not gives a short route to the meaning of over one hundred words as listed in dictionaries of the academic grade. The meaning of com- in its various assimilated forms throws light upon many words in common use. One section contains rules for spelling certain classes of words. A few of these are very valuable, such as the rule for / and I at the end of monosyllables, the rules for deriva- tives of monosyllables, for derivatives of words ending in e, for derivatives of words ending in ie, for derivatives of words ending in y, and for the plural of nouns. There is a list of the abbreviations used in the dictionary. Many pupils have no knowledge of the meaning of these abbreviations. Unless they are directed by the teacher where to find this information and are required at times to turn to the table and verify certain abbreviations, they will 146 ESSENTIALS OF READING pass over them with indifference, thus failing to receive the full meaning of words studied. No assistance is obtained from examining the word "abandon," unless the pupil knows the meaning of the abbreviations v.,t.,n. } and F. In determin- ing the meaning and the pronunciation of " contract," it is necessary to understand the abbreviations v., t., i., a., and n. The systematic and helpful use of the main part of the dictionary is an end to be sought. The dictionary should be a working tool to assist in the study of every lesson. Not only should the teacher require an investigation of all new or unfamiliar words, but the pupils should be conscious of the fact that a strange word is a barrier to the thought and should investigate it of their own initiative. This attitude is the first characteristic of a good student. Pupils must be taught how to use the dictionary. The teacher should work with them in using it. She will find that many pupils do not know how to find words arranged alphabetically. Some of them do not know the order of the letters. This is a natural result of the minor emphasis given to the alphabet by the modern primary methods. Even when they know the alphabet, they do not have a definite idea of the relative position of the letters. They cannot tell promptly whether r comes before or after m. As an aid in finding words quickly, ask the class to turn to letter after letter in different parts of the book, until they are not only sure of the relation of the letters to each other, but also have a definite idea of the relative space occupied by each in the dictionary. After pupils are ready in finding the first letter of the word, they must still be shown how to find the exact posi- tion of the word. They must learn that words are arranged according to the sequence of each letter in the word. If the pupil is looking for frontis- piece, he should open the book as near fr as possible. At the USE OF THE DICTIONARY 147 top of the page he will look for the words in heavy type giving the first and the last word on the page. He will find fra, fre, fri, jrou. On the page beginning with frightful and ending with frouzy, he will see that the second column begins with frol. The eye follows rapidly down, — from, fron, front, fronti, frontis- piece. He finds the word divided into syllables and accented with a primary accent mark. The secondary accent on the last syllable is not indicated. The last two syllables are re-written and marked diacritically. As the first syllable is not marked he must look back to where the syllable front first occurs. Here it is found marked frunt. Now returning to the word and noticing the marks of the two other syllables, the whole is easily pronounced. It is not a small matter to be able to find a word in the dic- tionary. It really requires considerable thought, and skill is acquired only as the result of practice. Too many teachers assume knowledge and skill not possessed by the average pupil. Time spent in acquiring facility in using the dictionary will greatly increase the occasions when pupils will go to it for assistance. Pupils need to be taught the meaning of the accents, both primary and secondary, and should have much drill in exer- cises including the use of both accents. The fact that words have different meanings is a source of confusion. The pupils will need help in determining mean- ings suited to particular instances. This aid can be given by working with the pupils at first, and then by assigning exercises that will call for discrimination as to meanings. Most dictionaries contain a pronouncing vocabulary of biblical, classical, mythological, historical and geographical proper names. Pupils should be familiar with this section, and should be encouraged to refer to it, especially in connection with the reading; lesson. 148 ESSENTIALS OF READING The quotations of words, phrases, and proverbs from foreign languages, the list of abbreviations used in writing and printing, and the dictionary of Greek and Roman mythology are all valuable parts of a dictionary and are liable to escape notice unless pupils are required to use them until their location in the dictionary is definitely known. Pupils trained to use the dictionary will use other reference books. The spirit of investigation so engendered will result in students not satisfied with surface meanings. The discriminative study of words will pass over into an inten- sive study of things. The student that has become conscious of the line separating known from the unknown will never rest content until he has passed beyond it, using every available means. This is the highest kind of intellectual training, as it results in power. OUTLINE ^OF CHAPTER XIII THE USE OF THE DICTIONARY In connection with reading. Dictionaries to be provideded. By district. By pupils. Teach table of contents. Key to symbols. Trough phonetics in primary grades. From dictionary. Alphabet in detail. Long vowels. Modified long vowels. Short vowels. Unaccented a. Short o. Vowels before r. Change of sound of vowels. Prefixes and suffixes. Rules for spelling. USE OF THE DICTIONARY 149 Abbreviations in dictionary. Body of dictionary. Pupils must be taught. Order of letters. Relative position. Relative space. • Exact place of words. Syllabication. Accent. Diacritical marking. Meanings. Vocabulary of proper names. Quotations. Abbreviations. Dictionary of Mythology. Influence on pupils. FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION 1. When should children begin to use the dictionary? 2. What dictionaries should a school have ? How many? 3. How can dictionaries be secured? 4. What difference as to the plan of text-book ownership in the dis- trict? 5. Why should the table of contents be studied? 6. Why is teachings of phonetics important? 7. Why should the diacritical marks be taught? 8. How important is familiarity with the marks of pronunciation? 9. What benefit will come to a school from studying and verifying the suggested rules for the sounds of certain vowels? 10. What is the most valuable end to be gained by teaching the use of the dictionary? n. How would you teach pupils to find, pronounce and determine the meaning of words? 12. What valuable indirect influence comes from the persistent use of the dictionary ? CHAPTER XIV ARTICULATION The Chicago Tribune vouches for the truth of the following conversation between two girls: " Aincha hungry ? ' ' "Yen." "So my. Less go neet." "Where?" "Sleev go one places nuthur." "So dy. Ika neet mo stennyware, Canchoo?" "Yeh. Gotcher money?" "Yeh. Gotchoors?" "Yeh. Howbout place crosstreet?" "Nothing teet there. Lessgurround corner." "Thattledoo zwell zennyware. Mighta thoughta that 'tfirst. Get- cher rat?" "Ima gettinit. Gotcher money?" "Yeh. Didn' cheer me say I haddit? Allready?" "Yeh." "Kmon." The conversation is not improbable. After a little investi- gation one is ready to believe that the incident is a true one. Nearly every one says "canchoo" instead of "can't you." "Thattledoo' ' is very common for "that will do." "Howdudoo " passes current for "How do you do." One frequently finds himself at a loss to understand the words of a friend when he has no context upon which to base a guess as to the meaning of his friend's vocalization. This should be an embarassing condition to the friend, for there is no more certain evidence of culture than an elegant and distinct enunciation. A good articulation has a commercial value. From a ISO ARTICULATION 151 boy's articulation, the prospective employer unconsciously judges the boy's character. An indistinct, mumbled sentence indicates to him inaccuracy, carelessness, or laziness. A dis- tinct articulation indicates self-control, energy, carefulness, and courage. It is important, therefore, that the schools should attend to articulation. The reading class is the one to whose share the exercise rightly belongs. Time should be taken each day for practice. The time should be at the beginning of the period, in order that it may not be crowded out. The teacher should not expect to attend to articulation during oral reading. A pupil cannot think at the same time of both thought and words, of both expression and articulation. The one thing is certain to injure the other. Sometimes a pupil will render a sentence with good expression, and when asked to repeat it pronouncing a certain word more distinctly, he will give an incorrect or inane expression. The cause of this is that the articulation of the word now sways the mind of the reader, not the thought of the sentence. Therefore, the drill in articulation should be distinct from the work in expression. If the text is used for drill, the teacher should not ask for good expression, while requiring good articulation. Articulation exercises should be systematic. Those sounds that are the hardest to pronounce distinctly should be practiced most. The consonant sounds will be found the most difficult. Exercises are added to this chapter on the most difficult of these. One exercise a day can be placed on the board, practiced, and copied into note books for review. A pupil who practices faithfully the few exercises given here will acquire the habit of careful articulation. Have pupils drill in concert, then individually, on both words and sentences. Insist that the sounds be distinctly heard. The list of exer- cises can be indefinitely extended. The exercise consisting 152 ESSENTIALS OF READING of the many long words is intended to help overcome the habit of omitting syllables in long words. We often say "par-tic- lar-ly," instead of "par-tic-u-lar-ly." For review work ordinary text can be used. Insist that every syllable and every sound be made distinct.* Method of instruction. In giving a lesson it is well for the teacher to require both concert and individual work. In the concert work, have all pronounce the words together, urging force on the desired sound. Work with them, urge them, almost force them to use energy. In the individual work let each pronounce a word or a sentence distinctly. In using long words, take up one word at a time. Have it pronounced very slowly and distinctly, then more and more rapidly, see- ing to it that each syllable is still pronounced distinctly. Stand in the corner of the room farthest from the speaker, and insist that every sound be so pronounced as to make you hear it. It takes energy to make the d's and t's carry. See to it that the pupils place the organs of speech correctly, and that they stand or sit correctly. The exercises are grouped according to the organs principally used in their formation. Exercises 1-6 include the labials, the sounds made principally with the lips. See to it that the lips are active in pronouncing these. Exer- cises 7-15 include the dentals, the sounds affected most by the teeth. See to it that the lips do not obstruct these sounds. Draw them back out of the way. Exercises 16-18 include the palatals, sounds affected most by the palate. Exercises 19-20 are drills on the nasals, sounds in which part of the sound is sent through the nose. Exercises 21-22 are drills on the liquids, those sounds which easily unite with other sounds. Exercise 23 is a drill on the aspirate h; while 24-31 are drills on hard combinations. No attempt has been made to give a complete drill in articulation. The sounds on which exercises are given ARTICULATION 153 are the ones most likely to be given improperly, thereby causing indistinct articulation. It would be well, if we could also drill our pupils on vowel sounds, thereby gaining pure tones in addition to distinctness. The point of attack, however, in the public schools is distinctness. We shall be satisfied if we gain that. The exercises are therefore confined to the con- sonants. LABIALS 1. B bear bat bill rub dab tub brute bob battle A big black bug bit a big black bear. Brother Bill beat brother Ben. Bees build beautiful abodes. robber button hubbub pet trip repeat pipe pup supply pint pinch simply People partake plenteously of supper. The parson prays for peace. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. prepay suppose purpose 3- fan elf fin muff fame scarf Finny fishes furnish fine food. Fun and frivolity follow foolish fancies. French fried fritters fill folks full. finish famish profanity defame twelfth folk i54 ESSENTIALS OF READING 4. V vine love knives vision vim save very revive hive move vanish bereave His voice revived the vile villain The violent vandals vanished. The valiant victor saved the bereaved lover. 5. M man mum number famish mule mill family lament ham sum molest amble The miserable mule moves mournfully. The nimble monkey mixes the melons. Money may make much misery. 6. W wig went wraps wiggle wart wear wish western bow woe wail wrinkle The wan widow wears worn wraps. William was wishing to wind the clock. The warrant for the wanderers was wisely withheld. DENTALS 7-T tickle tattle titter fit mitten teeth cat tar fat tread boat tote Two tame tigers taught Timothy timidity. Betty thought "Twice Told Tales" thrilling throughout. Ten troops went straight to the fort. 8. D dent paid afraid bidder did date demand slender made bide deduct ladder ARTICULATION 55 Daisy devotedly dug dandelions. Daniel did his duty diligently. The road led through the wood. 9. CH chair bench charm chain chew cherry birch much flinch Chums cherish each other. Chiggers chew the childrens' chief champion. The cheerful child chatters much. 10. J or G just jerk singe gem gin huge jewel gill jelly George Jones jeers the gypsies. James gently suggests a journey. A large major unjoints a fragile gymnast. 11. S sun slip mistress hiss moss insist sat soup parson Swan swam over the sea, swim, swan, swim. The last fruits are the sweetest. Six misses sat beside the priest. 12. S or Z buzz surprise ease zinc freeze shoes tears The prize pleased the visitors. The reason for those things is easy. Please excuse Susie's sneeze. expose husband chisel chicken enchant giraffe majestic magic Susan solar mistake busy because amaze i56 ESSENTIALS OF READING i3- SH shoe shed flesh shinny- shake mush dash fashion wash ship sugar friendship The shape of the ship shows shrewdness. She shook the shrieking shrew sharply. Shall she wish sugar and shun mush ? 14. TH path through bath thistle both thick thrush thousand thrash think smith thrift Theophilus Thistle thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb. Thousands of thrifty thrushes thronged through the thickets. 15. TH then that those bother the with other rather scathe lithe than neither Neither of them bothers the other. They loathe the southern weather. A farthing withers in this northern place. PALATALS 16. K or-G can milk rebuke looking kind drink acorn kitten cow frisk dictate Yankee Kate kindly killed the kittens. The cat drank and crept away. This key can conquer creaking locks. 17 G get gas garter garden gift ghost m uggy govern gum guide begin giggle ARTICULATION iS7 19. N lantern ' Minnie canteen niggard begin tenant Disguised guards gathered the guns. Gertrude giggled and gasped. The rogue wriggled and got away. 18. Y yet yacht yeomen yellow yield yeast youth yesterday yard yolk yelp yiddish The yellow dog yelps at the yeoman. Yesterday's yield is not yet in the yard. The youth yells at the yawning yachtsman. NASALS not gun tin nine Ned nun Names mean nothing if not noted. Nine nuns began normal work. The gunner nicked the lantern. 20. NG ring song single belong bang among clanging hanger fling throng singer mangle Singing mingled with the clanging noise. Stinging bees are thronging among them. Moaning and groaning he flung himself over. long link hall old large mule All listen to the liquid melody. Large bells excel in loudness. Laughter lasts longer than melancholy. LIQUIDS 21. L languish belate expel laughter liquid lily i5« ESSENTIALS OF READING 22. R rat car rattle rarify ring bore marl hurry roll mire heart martyr Her remarks were ready and reproachful. The roar receded as it rapidly retired. He hurries to resist the ravenous rascals. ASPIRATE 23. H hat hitch humble hubbub hem hard hushing handle hole huge hickory harm He hesitates to hurt his hearers. Harry hurries to hide his history. Heavy hindrances are hastily hustled hither. HARD COMBINATIONS 24. BS mobs tubs grubs hubbubs rubs bobs stubs imbibes tubes hubs cabs describes The cubes were made from slabs and clubs. He daubs the orbs with paint from the tubes. He stabs the leader of the tribes in the ribs. 25. DS buds gads yards unloads lads hides beholds ballads loads dudes abodes succeeds The words of the ballads hides the moods. He adds the loads of beads to the goods. One of the lads grabs the swords. 26. GS dregs sags rags hags bags bogs rugs dogs kegs tags lags pegs ARTICULATION 59 The dregs of the jugs gags even hogs. The bags contain frogs' legs. The fags bring the jugs, and arrange the figs and eggs. 27. PS maps pups glimpse tops ropes pumps laps scraps lips One of the maps flaps against the lamps. The man with the caps reaps the crops. He leaps and grasps the ropes. 28. KS or X box flax mixture necks larks oxen lakes strikes ducks Wrecks on the lakes vex the Mexicans. Rex strikes the oxen on their necks. The packs of books go the Arctics. 29. ST must most wildest cast dust request rust roost warmest The largest post made the greatest mast. The wildest beast will fight the most. He still insists he sees the ghost. escapes gossips perhaps appendix lilacs attacks digest insist contest 30. WH what whim whether meanwhile when which whither whinny why wharf whisper whistle Where are the whisperers? Why are the wheels whirling ? Would you whistle, whine, or whisper ? i6o ESSENTIALS OF READING 31. ZH usual visual measure pleasure rouge azure leisure delusion seizure treasure diversion composure Decision, precision, and composure were usual traits. The Hoosiers in confusion destroyed the illusion. In conclusion, the explosion was a delusion. 32. in com plete al to geth er con sci en tious mis er a ble af fee ta tion ex pe ri ence con cep tion bois ter ous ly ex trav a gant di rec tion Brit tan ni a us u al ly moun tain ous ge og ra phy re frig er a tor neg a tive col lee tion im me di ate ly al ti tude com pli ca tion un con di tion al 33- The goods are not at all satisfactory. The government makes it obligatory to label oleomargarine. Collection and direction need particular care. Pronounce carefully usually and immediately. 34- ar tic u la tion ca pit u lar cal or if i ca tion im pen e tra ble cir cum nav i gate in ter de pen den cy par tic u lar ly the o log ic al e jac u la to ry al i en ate in com pre hen si ble gen er al is simo cam phor at ed a mal ga ma tion id e o graph ic al ly cal um ni a tor cal is then ic al ly in ex tri ca ble 35- He spoke of it particularly and peremptorily declared it inex- plicable. The incomprehensibility of the calumniator was impenetrable. ARTICULATION 161 He is the generalissimo of the antidisestablishmentarian amal- gamation. 36- The following exercises are added for further drill, i . His cry moved me. His crime moved me. 2. He can pay nobody. He can pain nobody. 3. The battle last still night. The battle lasts till night. 4. The culprits ought to be punished. 5. The culprit sought to be punished. 6. He can debate on either side of the question. 7. He can debate on neither side of the question. 8. They never imagined such an ocean to exist. 9. They never imagined such a notion to exist. 10. They discovered naught but wastes and deserts. 11. They discovered naught but waste sand deserts. 37- 1. The wild beasts straggled through the deepest shade. 2. The finest streams through the tangled forests strayed. 3. The heights, depths, and breadths of the subject. 4. Ice cream, not I scream; an ice-house, not a nice house. 5. Then rustling, crackling, crashing, thunder down. 6. The strife ceaseth, and the good man rejoiceth. 7. He was most mindful in memory of that mysterious mummery. 8. The rough and rugged rocks rear their hoary heads high on the heath. 9. He had great fear of offending the frightful fugitive in his flight. 10. The vile vagabond ventured to vilify the venerable veteran. 1 1 . We wandered where the whirlpool wends its winding way. 12. The stripling stranger strayed through the struggling stream. 162 ESSENTIALS OF READING 13. The swimming swan swiftly swept the swinging sweep. (Swim, swam, swum! — well swum, swimming swan!) 14. Round and round the rugged rocks, the ragged rascals ran. 15. No sheet nor shroud enshrined those shreds of shrivel'd clay. 16. Sam Slick sawed six slim, sleek saplings for sale. 17. Six brave maids sat on six broad beds, and braided broad braids. 18. Amidst the mists and coldest frosts, With barest wrists and stoutest boasts, He thrusts his fists against the posts, And still insists he sees the ghosts. 38. ALPHABETICAL ALLITERATION AND ARTICULATION Alderman Affluent always adjudicated with admirable ability. Brother Ben boldly beat, battered, and bruised the British with his bludgeon. Columbus Capricorn was cross, crabbed, crooked, carbuncled, and crusty. Deborah Diligent danced delightfully with a droll and dex- terous drummer. Elizabeth Edmonson cooked eleven eggs with excellent edibles. Frederick Firebrand fiercely fought a funny and fidgety fiddler. Gregory Gobbleum gaped and gabbled like a goose or gander. Hercules Hardheart hit a hawk on the head with a hatchet. Isaac Ingham inhabited an inclement and isolated island in Italy. Jemima Juniper with joy did jump a jig in jeopardy. Kate Kirkman kindly kissed her knowing kinsman. ARTICULATION 163 Lem Lawless was a loudly laughing, lounging, long, lean, lank, lazy loafer. Maximilian Mettlesome magnanimously met a mutinous mountaineer. Nancy Nimble, with a nice new needle, netted neat nets. Omar Overall ordered Oliver Ollapod to overawe Owen Oldbuck. Professor Punch and Paulina Polk performed the Patagonia polka perfectly. Quintuple Quorum quickly questioned a queer and quizzical quidnunc. Roderic Random ran a ridiculous race on the Richmond railroad. Sophonisba Scribblewell was superlatively and surprisingly sentimental. Theophilus Talkative told tremendous, terrible, terrific, and tragic tales. Ursula Urgent uninterruptedly and universally used an um- brella. Valentine Vortex victoriously vanquished a vindictive villager. Wilhelmina Whirligig warbled with winning and wonderful witchery. X-ecrable X-antippe x-hibited x-traordinary and x-cessive x-citability. Young Yankee, a youthful yeoman, yawned at Yarmouth. Zedekiah Zigzag was a zealous zoological zoophite in the frozen zone. 1 64 ESSENTIALS OF READING OUTLINE OF CHAPTER XIV ARTICULATION Importance. Duty of the schools. Systematic drill. Method of instruction Exercises. i-b 2-p 3-f Labials ■< 4-v 5-m 6-w L7-t fS-d 9-ch 10-j Dentals -{ 1 i-s 12-z-s 13-sh L 14-th [6-k Palatals -J 17-g -y J17- (18- Nasals j l^* ( 20-ng Li( l uids { 22-r Aspirate 23-h ' 24-bs Hard Combinations - 25-ds 26-gs 27-ps 28-ks 29-st 30-wh L3i-zh 32-Long words. 33-Sentence of long words. 34-Long words. 35-Sentences of long words. ARTICULATION 165 FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION 1. Is the Chicago Tribune example of bad articulation probable? 2. What is the quality of the articulation of the average person? 3. Of what commercial value is good articulation? 4. Of what social advantage is it? 5. How does good articulation indicate character? 6. How does it influence character ? 7. Why not require careful articulation in all oral reading? 8. Do children all know how to place the organs of speech in pro- nouncing words ? 9. What difficulties in articulation have children of different nation- alities ? 10. What consonant sounds are usually pronounced poorly ? 1 1 . What are the most difficult to pronounce ? 12. Some sounds are easy to make, but very hard to be heard at any distance ? What are these sounds ? 13. What vowel sounds ought to be studied if time permits? 14. Of what value are the long word exercises? PART IV SELECTIONS FOR PRACTICE CHAPTER XV DIDACTIC AND MORAL THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TEACHER'S WORK AND THE VALUE OF PROPER IDEALS Theodore Roosevelt [ The following selection is the -first -part of the address to the National Educational Association on July ph, 1905, at Ocean Grove, New Jersey. It is given here, not only for its literary value, but also for its peculiar importance to the teaching profession.] I am particularly pleased to have the opportunity of addressing this Association because in all this democratic land there is no more genuinely democratic body than this; for here each member meets every other member as his peer, without regard to whether he is president of one of the great universities or the newest recruit to that high and honorable profession which has in its charge the upbringing of the boys and girls who in a few short years will them- selves be engaged in settling the destinies of this nation. It is not too much to say that the most characteristic work of the Republic is that done by the teachers; by the teachers, for whatever our shortcomings as a nation may be — and we have certain shortcomings — we have at least firmly grasped the fact that we cannot do our part in the difficult and all-important work of self-government, that we cannot rule and govern ourselves unless we approach the task with developed minds, and with what counts, for more even than developed minds, with trained char- acters. You teachers — and it is a mere truism to say this — you teachers make the whole world your debtor, and of you it can be said, as it can be said of no other profession save the profession of the ministers of the gospel themselves; if you teachers did not do your work well, this republic would not outlast the span of a generation. 169 i7o ESSENTIALS OF READING Moreover, as an incident to your avowed work, you render some well-nigh unbelievable services to the country. For instance, you render to this republic the prime, the vital service of amalga- mating into one homogeneous body the children alike of those who are born here and of those who come here from so many dif- ferent lands abroad. You furnish a common training and com- mon ideals for the children of all the mixed peoples who are here being fused into one nationality. It is in no small degree due to you, and to your efforts, that we of this great American repub- lic form one people instead of a group of jarring peoples. The children, wherever they have been born, wherever their parents have been born, who are educated in our schools side by side with one another, will inevitably grow up having that sense of mutual sympathy and mutual respect and understanding which is abso- lutely indispensable for working out the problems that we as citizens have before us. And now I wish to speak of another service that you render which I regard as inestimable. In our country, where altogether too much prominence is given to the mere possession of wealth, we are under heavy obligations to a body such as this which sub- stitutes for the ideal of the mere accumulation of money the infinitely loftier non-materialistic ideal of devotion to work worth doing simply for that work's sake. I do not in the least under- estimate the need of having material prosperity as the basis of our civilization, but I most earnestly insist that, if our civilization does not build a lofty superstructure on that basis, we can never rank among the really great peoples. We need the material pros- perity as a foundation, but it serves only as a foundation, and woe to us as a people unless upon that foundation we build a building of use to mankind. A certain amount of money is, of course, a necessary thing — a necessary thing as much for the nation as for the individual, and there are few movements in which I more thoroughly believe than the movement to secure better pay, better remuneration for the teachers. While I hope for the success of that movement, it remains true that the service you render is incalculable because DIDACTIC AND MORAL 171 of the very fact that by your lives you have shown that you believe ideals to be worth sacrifice, and that you are eager to do non- remunerative work — non-remunerative as judged by the ordinary standards — provided only that work is of genuine good for your fellow men. To furnish in your lives such a realized high ideal, not merely to speak about, but to live up to, is to do great service to the country. The chief harm done by the men of swollen for- tunes to the community is not the harm that the demagogue is apt to depict as springing from their actions, but the fact that their success sets up a false standard, and so serves as a bad example for the rest of us. If we did not ourselves attach an exaggerated importance to the rich man who is distinguished only by his riches, this rich man would have a most insignificant influence over us. Now let me keep your minds upon my exact meaning. I speak of the rich man who is distinguished only by his riches, not of the rich man who uses his wealth aright as a means to an end. I ask you to remember the explanation of the parable of the rich man's difficulty in finding entrance to heaven. The parable shows how hard it shall be for the rich man who trusteth in his riches. It is the rich man who trusteth in his riches that I am speaking of, not the man who is a first-rate citizen, whether rich or poor. Although it is eminently right to take whatever steps necessary in order to prevent the exceptional members of his class from doing harm, it is wicked folly to let ourselves be drawn into any attack upon the man of wealth merely as such. Remember, you teach- ers, that it is just as wicked to attack the man of wealth as such as to attack the man of poverty as such. Moreover, such an attack is in itself an exceptionally crooked and ugly tribute to wealth, and therefore the proof of an exceptionally crooked and ugly state of mind in the man making it. Venomous envy of wealth is simply another form of the spirit which in one of its manifestations takes the form of cringing servility toward wealth, and in another the shape of brutal arrogance on the part of cer- tain men of wealth. Each one of these states of mind, whether it be hatred, servil- ity, or arrogance, is in reality closely akin to the other two; for 172 ESSENTIALS OF READING each of them springs from a fantastically twisted and exaggerated idea of the importance of wealth as compared with other things. The man who is rendered arrogant by the possession of wealth is precisely the man who, if he didn't have it, would hate with envious jealousy the man who had it. The man who is roused to a fury of sour discontent, of envy, because he sees another man very well off, would with absolute certainty misbehave himself if he became well off in his turn. The clamor of the demagogue against wealth, the snobbery of the social columns of the newspapers which deal with the doings of the wealthy, and the misconduct of those men of wealth who act with brutal disregard of the rights of others, seem superficially to have no fundamental relations; yet in reality they spring from shortcomings which are fundamentally the same, and one of these shortcomings is the failure to have proper ideals. If the community pays proper heed to the right type of ideal, and admires the men most who approximate most closely to that ideal, you will not find in it any of these unhealthy feelings toward wealth. The failure to have the right type of ideal must be remedied in large part by the action of you men and. women here, and your fellow-teachers throughout this land. By your lives, even more than by your teachings, you show that, while you feel, as all of us ought to feel, that wealth is a good thing, you regard other things as still better. It is absolutely necessary for each of us to earn a certain amount of money. It is a man's first duty to those depen- dent upon him to earn enough for their support; but after a certain point has been reached, money-making can never stand on the same plane with other and nobler forms of effort. The roll of American worthies numbers men like Washington and Lincoln, Grant and Farragut, Hawthorne and Poe, Fulton and Morse, St. Gaudens and MacMonnies; it numbers statesmen and soldiers, artists, sculptors, inventors, explorers, bridge-builders, philanthropists, moral leaders in great reforms; it numbers all these and many others like them; it numbers men who have de- served well in any one of countless fields of activity; but of rich men it numbers only those who have used their riches aright; who have treated wealth, not as an end, but as a means; who have shown DIDACTIC AND MORAL 173 good conduct in acquiring it, and not merely lavish generosity in disposing of it. Thrice fortunate are you to whom it is given to lead lives of resolute endeavor for the achievement of lofty ideals, and to instill by living and teaching, those ideals into the minds of the next gen- eration, who will, as its boys and girls of to-day and as men and women of to-morrow, determine finally the position which this ration is to hold in the history of mankind. THE POWER AND WORTH OF CHARACTER William Jennings Bryan The graduation oration spoken by William Jennings Bryan at Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illinois, Thursday, June 2, 1881, is at the same time one of his most polished and most thoughtful pro- ductions. As with the selection from Theodore Roosevelt's address, this text contains thoughts of peculiar value to teachers. Perhaps we could not find better illustrations of the power and worth of character, than are presented in the lives of two of our own country- men — names about which cluster in most sacred nearness the affections of the American people — honored dust over which have fallen the truest tears of sorrow ever shed by a nation for its heroes — the father and savior of their common country — the one, the appointed guardian of its birth; the other, the preserver of its life. Both were reared by the hand of Providence for the work entrusted to their care; both were led by nature along the rugged path of poverty; both formed a character whose foundations were laid broad and deep in the purest truths of morality — a character which stood unshaken amid the terrors of war and the tranquility of peace; a character which allowed neither cowardice upon the battle-field nor tyranny in the presi- dential chair. Thus did they win the hearts of their countrymen and prepare for themselves a lasting place of rest in the tender memories of a grateful people. History but voices our own experience when it awards to true nobility of character the highest place among the enviable possessions of man. Nor is it the gift of fortune. In this, at least, we are not creatures of circumstances: talent, special genius may be the gift of nature; position in society, the gift of birth; respect may be bought with wealth; but 174 ESSENTIALS OF READING neither one nor all of these can give character. It is a slow but sure growth to which every thought and action lends its aid. To form character is to form grooves in which are to flow the purposes of our lives. It is to adopt principles which are to be the measure of our actions, the criteria of our deeds. This we are doing each day, either consciously or unconsciously; there is character formed by our association with each friend, by every aspiration of the heart, by every object toward which our affections go out, yea, by every thought that flies on its lightning wing through the dark recesses of the brain. It is a law of mind that it acts most readily in familiar paths, hence, repetition forms habit, and almost before we are aware, we are chained to a certain routine of action from which it is difficult to free ourselves. We imitate that which we admire. If we revel in stories of blood, and are pleased with the sight of barbaric cruelty, we find it easy to become a Caligula or a Domitian; we picture to ourselves scenes of cruelty in which we are actors, and soon await only the opportunity to vie in atrocity with the Neroes of the past. If we delight in gossip, and are not content unless each neighbor is laid upon the dissecting table, we form a character unenviable indeed, and must be willing to bear the contempt of all the truly good, while we roll our bit of scandal as a sweet morsel under the tongues. But if each day we gather some new truths, plant ourselves more firmly upon principles which are eternal, guard every thought and action that they may be pure, and conform our lives more nearly to that Perfect Model, we shall form a character that will be a fit background on which to paint the noblest deeds and grandest intellectual and moral achievements; a character that cannot be concealed but which will bring success in this life and form the best preparation for that which is beyond. The formation of character is a work which continues through life, but at no time is it so active as in youth and early manhood. At this time impressions are most easily made, and mistakes most easily cor- rected. It is the season for the sowing of the seed; — the springtime of life. There is no complaint in the natural world because each fruit and herb brings forth after its kind; there is no complaint if a neglected seed-time brings a harvest of want; there is no cry of injustice if thistles spring from thistle-seed sown. As little reason have we to murmur if in after-life we discover a character dwarfed and deformed by the evil thoughts and actions of to-day; as little reason have we to impeach the DIDACTIC AND MORAL 175 wisdom of God if our wild oats, as they are called in paliation, leave scars upon our manhood, which years of reform fail to wear away. Character is the entity, the individuality of the person, shining from every window of the soul, either as a beam of purity, or as a clouded ray that betrays the impurity within. The contest between light and dark- ness, right and wrong, goes on: day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment our characters are being formed, and this is the all-important question which comes to us in accents ever growing fainter as we journey from the cradle to the grave, "Shall those characters be good or bad?" ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD Thomas Gray The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea, The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me. Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight, And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds. Save that, from yonder ivy-mantled tower, The moping owl does to the moon complain Of such as, wandering near her secret bower, Molest her ancient, solitary reign. Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, Each in his narrow cell forever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. The breezy call of incense-breathing morn, The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed, The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn, No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed. For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, Or busy housewife ply her evening care; No children run to lisp their sire's return, Or climb his knees, the envied kiss to share. 176 ESSENTIALS OF READING Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke; How jocund did they drive their team afield! How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke! Let not Ambition mock their useful toil, Their homely joys and destiny obscure; Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile The short and simple annals of the poor. The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Await alike th' inevitable hour: — The paths of glory lead but to the grave. Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault, If memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise, Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault The pealing anthem swells the note of praise. Can storied urn or animated bust Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? Can Honor's voice provoke the silent dust, Or Flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of Death ? Perhaps, in this neglected spot is laid Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire; Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed, Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre. But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page, Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll; Chill Penury repressed their noble rage, And froze the genial current of the soul. Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear; Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. Some village Hampden, that with dauntless breast The little tyrant of his fields withstood, Some mute, inglorious Milton here may rest; Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood. DIDACTIC AND MORAL 177 Th' applause of listening senates to command, The threats of pain and ruin to despise, To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land, And read their history in a nation's eyes. Their lot forbade; nor circumscribed alone Their growing virtues, but their crimes confined; Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne, And shut the gates of mercy on mankind; The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide, To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame, Or heap the shrine of luxury and pride With incense kindled at the Muse's flame. Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife Their sober wishes never learned to stray; t Along the cool, sequestered vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. Yet e'en these bones from insult to protect, Some frail memorial still erected nigh, With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture decked, Implore the passing tribute of a sigh. Their names, their years, spelt by th' unlettered Muse, The place of fame and elegy supply; And many a holy text around she strews, That teach the rustic moralist to die. For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey, Their pleasing, anxious being e'er resigned, Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind? On some fond breast the parting soul relies, Some pious drops the closing eye requires; E'en from the tomb the voice of Nature cries, E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires. For thee, who, mindful of th' unhonored dead, Dost in these lines their artless tale relate, If 'chance, by lonely contemplation led, Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate, — 178 ESSENTIALS OF READING Haply some hoary-headed swain may say, "Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn, Brushing with hasty steps the dews away, To meet the sun upon the upland lawn. There, at the foot of yonder nodding beech That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high, His listless length at noontide would he stretch, And pore upon the brook that babbles by. Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn, Muttering his wayward fancies, he would rove, Now drooping, woful-wan, like one forlorn, Or crazed with care, or crossed in hopeless love. One morn I missed him on the customed hill, Along the heath, and near his favorite tree; Another came; nor yet beside the rill, Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he; The next, with dirges due, in sad array, Slow through the churchway path we saw him borne. Approach, and read (for thou canst read) the lay Graved on the stone beneath yon aged thorn." THE EPITAPH Here rests, his head upon the lap of Earth, A youth, to fortune and to fame unknown. Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth And Melancholy marked him for her own. Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere; Heaven did a recompense as largely send: He gave to misery, all he had, a tear, — He gained from Heaven ('twas all he wished) a friend. No farther seek his merits to disclose, Or draw his frailties from their dread abode, (There they alike in trembling hope repose,) The bosom of his Father and his God. CHAPTER XVI ORATORICAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS Abraham Lincoln On November 19, 1863, two orators met on the memorable field of Gettysburg. One was gifted in oratory, learned in schools and from books; the other was skilled in the "witchery of speech" as gathered from the river, the forest, and the plain. Both spoke. The speech of one lies dumb and meaningless, unread and unremem- bered, while the speech of the other, rooted in the memory of man and oft repeated, will live with the literature of the race, growing grander and sweeter in pathos and in beauty as the years shall gather around and about it. One was a brain effort, the other was a heart effort. One spoke words that were heard, the other words that were felt. One was art, the other genius. One was Edward Everett, the gifted scholar of New England; the other was Abraham Lincoln, the gifted railsplitter of the West. Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the propo- sition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. 179 180 ESSENTIALS OF READING It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that govern- ment of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth. ABRAHAM LINCOLN Charles H. Fowler Probably the finest analysis of the character of the great Presi- dent is contained in the following eloquent words selected from Bishop Fowler's lecture on Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was the representative character of his age. No man ever so fully embodied the purposes, the affections, and the power of the people. He came among us. He was one of us. His birth, his education, his habits, his motives, his feelings, his ambitions, were all our own. Had he been born among hereditary aristocrats, he would not have been our President. But born in the cabin and reared in the field and in the forest, he became the Great Commoner. The classics of the schools might have polished him, but they would have separated him from us. But trained in the common school of adversity, his cal- loused palms never slipped from the poor man's hand. A child of the people, he was as accessible in the White House as he had been in the cabin. His practical wisdom made him the wonder of all lands. With such certainty did Lincoln follow causes to their ultimate effects that his foresight of contingencies seemed almost prophetic. While we in turn were calling him weak and stubborn and blind, Europe was amazed at his statesmanship and awed into silence by the grandeur of his plans. Measured by what he did, Lincoln is a statesman without a peer. He stands alone in the world. He came to the government by a minority vote, without an army, without a navy, without money, without munitions. He stepped into the midst of the most stupendous, most wide-spread, most thoroughly equipped and appointed, most deeply planned rebellion of all history. He stamped upon the earth, and two millions of armed men leaped forward to defend their country. He spoke to the sea, and the mightiest navy the world had ever seen, crowned every wave. He is radiant with all the great virtues, and his memory shall shed a ORATORICAL 181 glory upon this age that shall fill the eyes of man as they look into history. An administrator, he saved the nation in the perils of unparalleled civil war. A statesman, he justified his measures by their success. A philanthropist, he gave liberty to one race and freedom to another. A moralist, he bowed from the summit of human power to the foot of the cross and became a Christian. A mediator, he exercised mercy under the most absolute abeyance to law. A leader, he was no partisan. A commander in a war of the utmost carnage, he was unstained with blood. A ruler in desperate times, he was untainted with crime. As a man, he has left no word of passion, no thought of malice, no trick of craft, no act of jealousy, no purpose of selfish ambition. He has adorned and embellished all that is good and all that is great in our humanity, and has presented to all coming generations the representative of the divine idea of free government. THE SOUTHERN SOLDIER Henry Grady You of the North have had drawn for you with a master's hand the picture of your returning armies. You have heard 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 eyes. 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 splendor? Let me picture to you the footsore Confederate soldier, as, buttoning up in his faded gray jacket the parole which was the testimony to his children of his fidelity and faith, he turned his face southward from Appomattox in April, 1865. Think of him as ragged, half -starved, heavy-hearted, enfeebled by want and wounds; having fought to exhaus- tion, he surrenders his gun, wrings the hands of his comrades in silence, and lifting his tear-stained and pallid face for the last time to the graves that dot the old Virginia hills, pulls his 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 years' 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 house in ruins, his farms devastated, his slaves free, his i82 ESSENTIALS OF READING 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. Crushed by defeat, his very traditions are gone; without money, credit, employment, material, or training; and beside all this, confronted with the gravest problem that ever met human intelligence — the estab- lishing 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 in his prosperity, inspired him in his adversity. As ruin was never so overwhelming, never was restoration swifter. The soldier stepped from the trenches into the furrow; horses that had charged Federal guns marched before the plow, and fields that ran red with blood in April were green with the harvest in June. Never was nobler duty confided to human hands than the uplifting and upbuilding of the prostrate and bleeding South, misguided, perhaps, but beautiful in her suffering. In the record of her social, industrial, and political evolution we await with confidence the verdict of the world LIBERTY AND UNION Daniel Webster The peroration of Webster 1 s reply to Hayne. Blaine says of this speech, "It revolutionized traditions, changed conclusions, and was like an amendment to the constitution." I profess, sir, in my career hitherto, to have kept steadily in view the prosperity and honor of the whole country, and the preservation of our federal union. It is to that union we owe our safety at home, and our consideration and dignity abroad. It is to that union that we are chiefly indebted for whatever makes us most proud of our country. That union we reached only by the discipline of our virtues, in the severe school of adversity. It had its origin in the necessities of disordered finance, prostrate commerce, and ruined credit. Under its benign influences these great interests immediately awoke, as from the dead, and sprang forth with newness of life. Every year of its duration has teemed with fresh proofs of its utility and its blessings, and although our territory has stretched out wider and wider, and our population spread farther and ORATORICAL 183 farther, they have not outrun its protection or its benefits. It has been to us all a copious fountain of national, social, and personal happiness. I have not allowed myself, sir, to look beyond the union, to see what might lie hidden in the dark recess behind. I have not coolly weighed the chances of preserving liberty when the bonds that unite us together shall be broken asunder. I have not accustomed myself to hang over the precipice of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, I can fathom the depth of the abyss below; nor could I regard him as a safe counselor in the affairs of this government whose thoughts should be mainly bent on considering, not how the union should be best preserved, but how tolerable might be the condition of the people when it shall be broken up and destroyed. While the union lasts, we have high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, for us and our children. Beyond that I seek not to penetrate the vail. God grant that in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise. God grant that on my vision never may be opened what lies behind. 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 dis- honored fragments of a once glorious union; on states dissevered, discor- dant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now known and honored thoughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original luster, not a stripe erased or polluted, not 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 afterwards; 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 heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart — Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable! CHAPTER XVII DRAMATIC LOCHINVAR Sir Walter Scott O, young Lochinvar is come out of the west, Through all the wide Border his steed was the best, And save his good broadsword he weapons had none; He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone. So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war, There never was knight like the young Lochinvar. He stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for stone, He swam the Eske river where ford there was none; But, ere he alighted at Netherby gate, The bride had consented, the gallant came late: For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war, Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar. So boldly he entered the Netherby hall, Among bride's-men and kinsmen, and brothers and all: Then spoke the bride's father, his hand on his sword (For the poor craven bridegroom spoke never a word), "O, come ye in peace here, or come ye in war, Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?" "I long wooed your daughter, my suit you denied; — Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide, — And now I am come, with this lost love of mine, To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine. There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far, That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar." The bride kissed the goblet; the knight took it up, He quaffed off the wine, and he threw down the cup, She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh, With a smile on her lips and a tear in her eye. 184 DRAMATIC 185 He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar, — "Now tread we a measure! " said young Lochinvar. So stately his form, and so lovely her face, That never a hall such a galliard did grace; While her mother did fret, and her father did fume, And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume; \nd the bride-maidens whispered, " 'Twere better by far To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar." One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear, When they reached the hall-door, and the charger stood near; So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung, So light to the saddle before her he sprung! "She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur; They'll have fleet steeds that follow," quoth young Lochinvar. There was mounting 'mong Graemes of the Netherby clan; Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran: There was racing, and chasing, on Cannobie Lee, But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see. So daring in love, and so dauntless in war, Have ye e'er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar? BARBARA FRIETCHIE John Greenleae Whittier Up from the meadows rich with corn, Clear in the cool September morn, The clustered spires of Frederick stand Green-walled by the hills of Maryland. Round about them orchards sweep, Apple and peach tree fruited deep, Fair as the garden of the Lord To the eyes of the famished rebel horde, On that pleasant morn of the early fall When Lee marched over the mountain-wall; Over the mountains winding down, Horse and foot, into Frederick town. 186 ESSENTIALS OF READING Forty flags with their silver stars, Forty flags with their crimson bars, Flapped in the morning wind: the sun Of noon looked down, and saw not one. Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then, Bowed with her fourscore years and ten; Bravest of all in Frederick town, She took up the flag the men hauled down; In her attic window the staff she set, To show that one heart was loyal yet. Up the street came the rebel tread, Stonewall Jackson riding ahead. Under his slouched hat left and right He glanced; the old flag met his sight. "Halt! " — the dust-brown ranks stood fast. "Fire! " — out blazed the rifle-blast. It shivered the window, pane and sash; It rent the banner with seam and gash. Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf. She leaned far out on the window-sill, And shook it forth with a royal will. " Shoot, if you must, this old gray head, But spare your country's flag," she said. A shade of sadness, a blush of shame, Over the face of the leader came; The nobler nature within him stirred To life at that woman's deed and word; "Who touches a hair of yon gray head Dies like a dog ! March on!" he said. DRAMATIC 187 All day long through Frederick street Sounded the tread of marching feet: All day long that free flag tost Over the heads of the rebel host. Ever its torn folds rose and fell On the loyal winds that loved it well; And through the hill-gaps sunset light Shone over it with a warm good-night. Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er, And the Rebel rides on his raids no more. Honor to her ! and let a tear Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall's bier. Over Barbara Frietchie's grave, Flag of Freedom and Union, wave! Peace and order and beauty draw Round thy symbol of light and law; And ever the stars above look down On thy stars below in Frederick town! PAUL REVERE'S RIDE! Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, " If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light,- One, if by land, and two, if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, 188 ESSENTIALS OF READING Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm." Then he said "Good night !" and with muffled oar Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, Just as the moon rose over the bay, Where swinging wide at her moorings lay The Somerset, British man-of-war; A phantom ship, with each mast and spar Across the moon like a prison bar, And a huge black hulk, that was magnified By its own reflection in the tide. Meanwhile his friend, through alley and street, Wanders and watches with eager ears, Till in the silence around him he hears The muster of men at the barrack door, The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, And the measured tread of the grenadiers, Marching down to their boats on the shore. Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread, To the belfry-chamber overhead, And startled the pigeons from their perch On the sombre rafters, that round him made Masses and moving shapes of shade, — By the trembling ladder, steep and tall, To the highest window in the wall, Where he paused to listen and look down A moment on the roofs of the town, And the moonlight flowing over all. Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead, In their night encampment on the hill, Wrapped in silence so deep and still That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread, The watchful night-wind, as it went Creeping along from tent to tent And seeming to whisper, "All is well !" A moment only he feels the spell DRAMATIC 189 Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread Of the lonely belfry and the dead; For suddenly all his thoughts are bent On a shadowy something far away, Where the river widens to meet the bay, — A line of black that bends and floats On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats. Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. Now he patted his horse's side, Now gazed at the landscape far and near, Then, impetuous, stamped the earth, And turned and tightened his saddle-girth; But mostly he watched with eager search The belfry-tower of the Old North Church, As it rose above the graves on the hill, Lonely and spectral and sombre and still. And lo ! as he looks, on the belfry's height A glimmer, and then a gleam of light ! He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry-burns ! A hurry of hoofs in a village street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet: That was all ! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night; And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, Kindled the land into flame with its heat. He has left the village and mounted the steep, And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep, Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides; And under the alders that skirt its edge, Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge, Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides. It was twelve by the village clock, igo ESSENTIALS OF READING When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. He heard the crowing of the cock, And the barking of the farmer's dog, And felt the damp of the river fog, That rises after the sun goes down. It was one by the village clock, When he galloped into Lexington. He saw the gilded weathercock Swim in the moonlight as he passed, And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare, Gaze at him with a spectral glare, As if they already stood aghast At the bloody work they would look upon. It was two by the village clock, When he came to the bridge in Concord town. He heard the bleating of the flock, And the twitter of birds among the trees And felt the breath of the morning breeze Blowing over the meadows brown. And one was safe and asleep in his bed Who at the bridge would be first to fall, Who that day would be lying dead, Pierced by a British musket-ball. You know the rest. In the books you have read, How the British Regulars fired and fled, — How the farmers gave them ball for ball From behind each fence and farm-yard wall, Chasing the red-coats down the lane, Then crossing the fields to emerge again Under the trees at the turn of the road And only pausing to fire and load. So through the night rode Paul Revere; And so through the night went his cry of alarm To every Middlesex village and farm, — A cry of defiance, and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, And a word that shall echo forevermore! For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, DRAMATIC 191 Through all our history, to the last, In the hour of darkness, and peril, and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoof-beat of that steed, And the midnight message of Paul Revere. GLAUCUS AND THE LION Edward Bulwer-Lytton The following selection is from one of the last chapters of Lyttorts "Last Days of Pompeii." It gives the climax of the story. The hero Glaucus has been unjustly condemned to death for the murder of a priest of I sis, Apaecides, by name. The real murderer is Arbaces, an Egyptian magician, the evil spirit of the story. Another priest, Calenus, had witnessed the crime and would have cleared Glaucus, had not Arbaces decoyed him into a dungeon, locked him there, and left him to die of starvation. By the assist- ance of the friends of Glaucus, Calenus escapes and reaches the arena just after the release of the lion that is to kill Glaucus. The scene is in the great open air amphitheatre of Pompeii. From the seats of the hundred thousand spectators can be seen the summit of Vesuvius. No sign appeared there of the terrible erup- tion that was to make this really the last day of Pompeii. From the general destruction Glaucus and his friends escaped, but Arbaces was killed. Glaucus had bent his limbs so as to give himself the firmest posture at the expected rush of the lion, with his small and shining weapon raised on high, in the faint hope that one well-directed thrust (for he knew that he should have time but for one) might penetrate through the eye to the brain of his grim foe. But, to the unutterable astonishment of all, the beast seemed not even aware of the presence of the criminal. At the first moment of its release it halted abruptly in the arena, raised itself half on end, snuffing the upward air with impatient sighs; then suddenly it sprang forward, but not on the Athenian. At half -speed it circled round and round the space, turning its vast head from side to side with an anxious and perturbed gaze, as if seeking only some avenue of escape; once or twice it endeavored to leap up the parapet that divided i 9 2 ESSENTIALS OF READING it from the audience, and, on failing, uttered rather a baffled howl than its deep-toned and kingly roar. It evinced no sign, either of wrath or hunger; its tail drooped along the sand, instead of lashing its gaunt sides and its eye, though it wandered at times^to Glaucus, rolled again list- lessly from him. At length, as if tired of attempting to escape, it crept with a moan into its cave, and once more laid itself down to rest. The first surprise of the assembly at the apathy of the lion soon grew converted into resentment at its cowardice; and the populace already merged iheir pity for the fate of Glaucus into angry compassion for their own disappointment. The editor called to the keeper. "How is this? Take the goad, prick him forth, and then close the door of the den." As the keeper, with some fear, but more astonishment, was preparing to obey, a loud cry was heard at one of the entrances of the arena; there was a confusion, a bustle — voices of remonstrance suddenly breaking forth, and suddenly silenced at the reply. All eyes turned in wonder at the interruption, toward the quarter of disturbance; the crowd gave way, and suddenly Sallust appeared on the senatorial bench, his hair dishevelled — breathless — heated — half exhausted. He cast his eye hastily round the ring. "Remove the Athenian!" he cried; "haste — he is innocent! Arrest Arbaces the Egyptian — HE is the murderer of Apaecides!" "Art thou mad, O Sallust!" said the praetor, rising from his seat. "What means this raving?" "Remove the Athenian! Quick! or his blood be on your head. Praetor, delay, and you answer with your own life to the emperor! I bring with me the eye-witness to the death of the priest Apaecides. Room there — stand back — give way! People of Pompeii, fix every eye upon Arbaces — there he sits! Room there for the priest Calenus!" Pale, haggard, fresh from the jaws of famine and of death, his face fallen, his eye dull as a vulture's, his broad frame gaunt as a skeleton— Calenus was supported into the very row in which Arbaces sat. His releasers had given him sparingly of food; but the chief sustenance that nerved his feeble limbs was revenge. "The priest Calenus! Calenus!" cried the mob. "Is it he? No —it is a dead man!" "It is the priest Calenus," said the praetor, gravely, "What hast thou to say?" "Arbaces of Egypt is the murderer of Apaecides, the priest of Isis, DRAMATIC 193 these eyes saw him deal the blow. It is from the dungeon into which he plunged me. It is from the darkness and horror of a death by famine — that the gods have raised me to proclaim his crime ! Release the Athen- ian — he is innocent!" "It is for this, then, that the Hon spared him. A miracle! a miracle!" cried Pansa. "A miracle! A miracle!" shouted the people; "remove the Athenian — Arbaces to the lionl" And that shout echoed from lull to vale — from coast to sea — "Arbaces to the lionl" "Officers, remove the accused Glaucus — remove, but guard him yet," said the praetor. "The gods lavish their wonders upon this day." "Calenus, priest of Isis, thou accusest Arbaces of the murder of Apaecides?" "I do!" "Thou didst behold the deed?" "Praetor — with these eyes. — ■" "Enough at present — the details must be reserved for a more suiting time and place. Arbaces of Egypt, thou hearest the charge against thee — thou hast not yet spoken what hast thou to say?" The gaze of the crowd had been long riveted on Arbaces; but not until the confusion which he had betrayed at the first charge of Sallust and the entrance of Calenus had subsided. At the shout, "Arbaces to the lion!" he had indeed trembled, and the dark bronze on his cheek had taken a paler hue. But he had soon recovered his haughtiness and self-control. Proudly he returned the angry glare of the countless eyes around him; and replying now to the question of the praetor, he said, in that accent so peculiarly tranquil and commanding, which characterized his tones: "This man came to threaten that he would make against me the charge he has now made, unless I would purchase his silence with half my fortune; I remonstrated in vain. Were I guilty, why was the witness of this priest silent at the trial? Why did he not proclaim my guilt when I proclaimed that of Glaucus ? Praetor, I throw myself on your laws. I demand their protection. Remove hence the accused and the accuser. I will willingly meet, and cheerfully abide by, the decision of the legitimate tribunal. This is no place for further parley." "He says right," said the praetor. "Ho! guards — remove Arbaces — guard Calenus! Sallust, we hold you responsible for your accusation. Let the sports be resumed." "What!" cried Calenus, turning round to the people, "§hall Isis be 194 ESSENTIALS OF READING thus contemned ? Shall the blood of Apaecides yet cry for vengeance ? Shall justice be delayed now, that it may be frustrated hereafter ? Shall the lion be cheated of his lawful prey? A god! a god! I feel the god rush to my lips! To the lion — to the lion with Arbaces!" His exhausted frame could support no longer the ferocious malice of the priest; he sank on the ground in strong convulsions — the foam gathered to his mouth — he was as a man, indeed, whom a supernatural power had entered. The people saw, and shuddered. "It is a god that inspires the holy man! To the lion with the Egyptian! " With that cry up sprang — or moved — thousands upon thousands. They rushed from the heights — they poured down in the direction of the Egyptian. In vain did the aedile command — in vain did the praetor lift his voice and proclaim the law. The people had been already rendered savage by the exhibition of blood — they thirsted for more — their superstition was aided by their ferocity. Aroused — inflamed by the spectacle of their victims, they forgot the authority of their rulers. It was one of those dread popular convulsions common to crowds wholly ignorant, half free and half servile; and which the peculiar constitution of the Roman provinces so frequently exhibited. The power of the praetor was as a reed beneath the whirlwind; still, at his word the guards had drawn themselves along the lower benches, on which the upper classes sat separate [from the vulgar. They made but a feeble barrier — the waves of the human sea halted for a moment, to enable Arbaces to count the exact moment of his doom! In despair, and in a terror which beat down even pride, he glanced his eyes over the rolling and rushing crowd — when, right above them through the wide chasm which had been left in the velaria, he beheld a strange and awful apparition — he beheld — and his craft restored his courage! He stretched his hand on high; over his lofty brow and royal features there came an expression of unutterable solemnity and command. "Behold!" he shouted with a voice of thunder, which stilled the roar of the crowd; "behold how the gods protect the guiltless! The fires of the avenging Orcus burst forth against the false witness of my accusers!" The eyes of the crowd followed the gesture of the Egyptian, and beheld, with ineffable dismay, a vast vapor shooting from the summit of Vesuvius, in the form of a gigantic pine-tree; the trunk blackness — the branches, fire! a fire that shifted and wavered in its hues with every moment, now fiercely luminous, now of a dull and dying red, that again blazed terrifically forth with intolerable glare! There was a dead, heart-sunken silence — through which there suddenly DRAMATIC 195 broke the roar of the lion, which was echoed back from within the building by the sharper and fiercer yells of its fellow beast. Dread seers were they of the burden of the atmosphere, and wild prophets of the wrath to come. Then there arose on high the universal shrieks of women; the men stared at each other, but were dumb. At that moment they felt the earth shake beneath their feet; the walls of the theater trembled; and, beyond in the distance, they heard the crash of falling roofs; an instant more and the mountain-cloud seemed to roll toward them, dark and rapid, like a torrent; at the same time, it cast forth from its bosom a shower of ashes mixed with vast fragments of burning stone! Over the crushing vines — over the desolate streets — over the amphitheater itself — far and wide — with many a mighty splash in the agitated sea — fell that awful shower! No longer thought the crowd of justice or of Arbaces; safety for themselves was their sole thought. Each turned to fly — each dashing, pressing, crushing, against the other. Trampling recklessly over the fallen — amid groans, and oaths, and prayers, and sudden shrieks, the enormous crowd vomited itself forth through the numerous passages. Whither should they fly! Some, anticipating a second earthquake, hastened to their homes to load themselves with their most costly goods, and escape while it was yet time; others, dreading the showers of ashes that now fell fast, torrent upon torrent, over the streets, rushed under the roofs of the nearest houses, or temples, or sheds — shelter of any kind — for protection from the terrors of the open air. But darker and larger, and mightier, spread the cloud above them. It was a sudden and more ghastly Night rushing upon the realm of Noon! CHAPTER XVIII NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE THE LADY OF SHALOTT Alfred Tennyson part I On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye, That clothe the wold and meet the sky; And thro' the field the road runs by To many tower 'd Camelot; And up and down the people go, Gazing where the lilies blow Round an island there below, The island of Shalott. Willows whiten, aspens quiver, Little breezes dusk and shiver Thro' the wave that runs forever By the island in the river Flowing down to Camelot. Four gray walls, and four gray towers, Overlook a space of flowers, And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott. By the margin, willow-veil'd, Slide the heavy barges trail 'd By slow horses; and unhailed The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd Skimming down to Camelot: But who hath seen her wave her hand? Or at the casement seen her stand ? Or is she known in all the land, The Lady of Shalott? 196 NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE 197 Only reapers, reaping early In among the bearded barley, Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly, Down to tower' d Camelot: And by the moon the reaper weary, Piling sheaves in uplands airy, Listening, whispers, " 'Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott." There she weaves by night and day A magic web of colors gay. She has heard a whisper say, A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot. She knows not what the curse may be, And so she weaveth steadily, And little other care hath she, The Lady of Shalott. And moving thro' a mirror clear That hangs before her all the year, Shadows of the world appear. There she sees the highway near Winding down to Camelot: There the river eddy whirls, And there the surly village-churls, And the red cloaks of market girls, Pass onward from Shalott. Sometimes a troop of damsels glad, An abbot on an ambling pad, Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad, Or long-hair 'd page in crimson clad, Goes by to tower'd Camelot; And sometimes thro' the mirror blue The knights come riding two and two: She hath no loyal knight and true, The Lady of Shalott i 9 8 ESSENTIALS OF READING But in her web she still delights To weave the mirror's magic sights, For often thro' the silent nights A funeral, with plumes and lights, And music, went to Camelot : Or when the moon was overhead, Came two young lovers lately wed; "I am half -sick of shadows," said The Lady of Shalott. PART III A bow-shot from her bower-eaves, He rode between the barley-sheaves, The sun came dazzling through the leaves, And flamed upon the brazen greaves Of bold Sir Lancelot. A red-cross knight for ever kneeled To a lady in his shield, That sparkled on the yellow field, Beside remote Shalott. . . . All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jeweled shone the saddle-leather, The helmet and the helmet-feather Burned like one burning flame together, As he rode down to Camelot. As often through the purple night, Below the starry clusters bright, Some bearded meteor, trailing light, Moves over still Shalott. His broad clear brow in sunlight glowed ; On burnished hooves his war-horse trade ; From underneath his helmet flowed His coal-black curls as on he rode, As he rode down to Camelot. From the bank and from the river He flashed into the crystal mirror, " Tirra lirra," by the river Sang Sir Lancelot. NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE 199 She left the web, she left the loom, She made three paces through the room, She saw the water-lily bloom, She saw the helmet and the plume, She looked down to Camelot. Out flew the web and floated wide ; The mirror cracked from side to side ; " The curse is come upon me," cried The Lady of Shalott. PART IV In the stormy east-wind straining, The pale yellow woods were waning, The broad stream in his banks com- plaining, Heavily the low sky raining Over tower 'd Camelot; Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat, And round about the prow she wrote The Lady oj Shalott. And down the river's dim expanse — Like some bold seer in a trance Seeing all his own mischance — With a glassy countenance Did she look to Camelot. And at the closing of the day She loosed the chain and down she lay; The broad stream bore her far away The Lady of Shalott. Lying, robed in snowy white That loosely flew to left and right — The leaves upon her falling light — Thro' the noises of the night She floated down to Camelot; And as the boat-head wound along The willowy hills and fields among, They heard her singing her last song, The Lady of Shalott. 200 ESSENTIALS OF READING Heard a carol, mournful, holy, Chanted loudly, chanted lowly, Till her blood was frozen slowly, And her eyes were darken' d wholly Turn'd to tower' d Camelot; For ere she reached upon the tide The first house by the water-side. Singing in her song she died, The Lady of Shalott. Under tower and balcony, By garden-wall and gallery, A gleaming shape she floated by, Dead-pale between the houses high, Silent into Camelot. Out upon the wharfs they came, Knight and burgher, lord and dame, And round the prow they read her name, The Lady of Shalott. Who is this ? and what is here ? And in the lighted palace near Died the sound of royal cheer: And they cross 'd themselves for fear, All the knights at Camelot; But Lancelot mused a little space : He said, "She has a lovely face; God in his mercy lend her grace; The Lady of Shalott." ICHABOD CRANE Washington Irving The following selection is the beginning of Washington Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in the "Sketch-Book." It is an ad- mirable example of Irving's beautiful style, and a wonderfully vivid picture of the extraordinary hero of a remarkable adventure. A careful study of the whole tale as well as of this selection will afford not only pleasure, but profit in an enlarged vocabulary and a cultivated taste. NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE 201 In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail, and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market-town or rural port, which by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally and pro- perly known by the name of Tarry Town. This name was given, we are told, in former days, by the good house-wives of the adjacent country, from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market-days. Be that as it may, I do not vouch for the fact, but merely advert to it, for the sake of being precise and authentic. Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles, there is a little valley, or rather lap of land, among high hills, which is one of the quietest places in the whole world. A small brook glides through it, with just murmur enough to lull one to repose; and the occasional whistle of a quail, or tapping of a woodpecker, is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquility. From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLOW, and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboring country. In this by-place of nature there abode, in a remote period of American history, that is to say, some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane; who sojourned, or, as he expressed it, "tarried," in Sleepy Hollow, for the purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity. He was a native of Connecticut; a State which supplies the Union with pioneers for the mind as well as for the forest, and sends forth yearly its legions of frontier woodsmen and country schoolmasters. The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his person. He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weathercock perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew. To see him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from the cornfield. His school-house was a low building of one large room, rudely con- ao2 ESSENTIALS OF READING structedof logs; the windows partly glazed, and partly patched with leaves of old copy-books. It was most ingeniously secured at vacant hours by withes twisted in the handle of the door, and stakes set against the window-shutters; so that though a thief might get in with perfect ease, he would find some embarrassment in getting out; an idea most probably borrowed by the architect, Yost Van Houten, from the mystery of an eel-pot. The school-house stood in a rather lonely but pleasant situation, just at the foot of a woody hill, with a brook running close by, and a formidable birch-tree growing at one end of it. From hence the low murmur of his pupils' voices, conning over their lessons, might be heard in a drowsy summer's day, like the hum of a beehive, interrupted now and then by the authoritative voice of the master, in the tone of menace or command; or, perad venture, by the appalling sound of the birch, as he urged some tardy loiterer along the flowery path of knowl- edge. Truth to say, he was a conscientious man, and ever bore in mind the golden maxim, "Spare the rod and spoil the child." Ichabod Crane's scholars certainly were not spoiled. I would not have it imagined, however, that he was one of those cruel potentates of the school who joy in the smart of their subjects; on the contrary, he administered justice with discrimination rather than severity; taking the burden off the backs of the weak, and laying it on those of the strong. Your mere puny stripling, that winced at the least flourish of the rod, was passed by with indulgence; but the claims of justice were satisfied by inflicting a double portion on some little, tough, wrong-headed, broad-skirted Dutch urchin, who sulked and swelled and grew dogged and sullen beneath the birch. All this he called "doing his duty by their parents;" and he never inflicted a chastisement without following it by the assurance, so consolatory to the smarting urchin, that "he would remember it, and thank him for it, the longest day he had to live." When school-hours were over, he was even the companion and play- mate of the larger boys; and on holiday afternoons would convoy some of the smaller ones home, who happened to have pretty sisters, or good housewives for mothers, noted for the comforts of the cupboard. Indeed, it behooved him to keep on good terms with his pupils. The revenue arising from his school was small, and would have been scarcely suf- ficient to furnish him with daily bread, for he was a huge feeder, and, though lank, had the dilating powers of an anaconda; but to help out his maintenance, he was, according to country custom in those parts, boarded and lodged at the houses of the famers, whose children he instructed. With these he lived successively a week at a time; thus NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE 203 going the rounds of the neighborhood, with all his worldly effects tied up in a cotton handkerchief. That all this might not be too onerous on the purses of his rustic patrons, who are apt to consider the costs of schooling a grievous burden, and schoolmasters as mere drones, he had various ways of rendering himself both useful and agreeable. He assisted the farmers occasionally in the lighter labors of their farms; helped to make hay; mended the fences; took the horses to water; drove the cows from pasture; cut wood for the winter fire. He laid aside, too, all the dominant dignity and absolute sway with which he lorded it in his little empire, the school, and became wonderfully gentle and ingratiating. He found favor in the eyes of the mothers, by petting the children, particularly the youngest; and like the lion bold which whilom so magnanimously the lamb did hold, he would sit with a child on one knee, and rock a cradle with his foot for whole hours together. In addition to his other vocations, he was the singing-master of the neighborhood, and picked up many bright shillings by instructing the young folks in psalmody. It was a matter of no little vanity to him, on Sundays, to take his station in front of the church gallery, with a band of chosen singers; where, in his own mind, he completely carried away the palm from the parson. Certain it is, his voice resounded far above all the rest of the congregation; and there are peculiar quavers still to be heard in that church, and which may even be heard half a mile off, quite to the opposite side of the mill-pond, on a still Sunday morning, which are said to be legitimately descended from the nose of Ichabod Crane. Thus by divers little make-shifts in that ingenious way which is commonly denominated "by hook and by crook," the worthy pedagogue got on tolerably enough, and was thought, by all who understood nothing of the labor of head-work, to have a wonderfully easy life of it. The schoolmaster is generally a man of some importance in the female circle of a rural neighborhood; being considered a kind of idle gentle-man like personage, of vastly superior taste and accomplishment to the rough country swains, and, indeed, inferior in learning only to the parson. His appearance, therefore, is apt to occasion some little stir at the tea-table of a farm-house, and the addition of a supernumerary dish of cakes or sweetmeats, or, peradventure, the parade of a silver tea-pot. Our man of letters, therefore, was peculiarly happy in the smiles of all the country damsels. How he would figure among them in the church-yard, between services on Sundays! gathering grapes for them from the wild vines that overrun the surrounding trees; reciting 20 4 ESSENTIALS OF READING for their amusement all the epitaphs on the tomb-stones; or sauntering with a whole bevy of them, along the banks of the adjacent mill-pond; while the more bashful country bumpkins hung sheepishly back, envying his superior elegance and address. From his half itinerant life, also, he was a kind of traveling gazette, carrying the whole budget of local gossip from house to house; so that his appearance was always greeted with satisfaction. He was, moreover, esteemed by the women as a man of great erudition, for he had read several books quite through and was a perfect master of Cotton Mather's History of New England Witchcraft, in which, by the way, he most firmly and potently believed. THE DEATH OF LITTLE NELL Charles Dickens She was dead. No sleep so beautiful and calm, so free from trace of pain, so fair to look upon. She seemed a creature fresh from the hand of God, and waiting for the breath of life; not one who had lived and suffered death. Her couch was dressed with here and there some winter-berries and green leaves gathered in a spot she had been used to favor. "When I die, put near me something that has loved the light, and had the sky above it always." These were her words. She was dead. Dear, gentle, patient, noble Nell was dead. Her little bird — a poor, slight thing the pressure of a finger would have crushed — was stirring nimbly in its cage; and the strong heart of its child-mistress was mute and motionless forever. Where were the traces of her early cares, her sufferings, and fatigues? All gone. Sorrow was dead, indeed, in her; but peace and perfect happiness were born — imagined — in her tranquil beauty and profound repose. And still her former self lay there, unaltered in this change. Yes. The old fireside had smiled upon that same sweet face; it had passed, like a dream, through haunts of misery and care; at the door of the poor schoolmaster on the summer evening, before the furnace-fire upon the cold, wet night, at the still bedside of the dying boy there had been the same mild and lovely look. So shall we know the angels in their majesty, after death. The old man held one languid arm in his, and the small tight hand folded to his breast for warmth. It was the hand she had stretched out to him with her last smile, the hand that had led him on through all their wanderings. Ever and anon he pressed it to his lips; then hugged NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE 205 it to his breast again, murmuring that it was warmer now; and, as he said it, he looked in agony to those who stood around, as if imploring them to help her. She was dead, and past all help, or need of help. The ancient rooms she had seemed to fill with life, even while her own was waning fast — the garden she had tended — the eyes she had gladdened — the noiseless haunts of many a thoughtless hour — the paths she had trodden, as it were, but yesterday — could know her no more. "It is not," said the schoolmaster, as he bent down to kiss her on the cheek, and gave his tears free vent, "it is not in this world that Heaven's justice ends. Think what earth is, compared with the world to which her young spirit has winged its early flight, and say, if one deliberate wish, expressed in solemn tones above this bed, could call her back to life, which of us would utter it! " She had been dead two days. They were all about her at the time, knowing that the end was drawing on. She died soon after daybreak. They had read and talked to her in the earlier portion of the night; but as the hours crept on, she sank to sleep. They could tell, by what she faintly uttered in her dreams, that they were of her journeyings with the old man: they were of no painful scenes, but of those who had helped them and used them kindly; for she often said "God bless you!" with great fervor. Waking, she never wandered in her mind but once, and that was at beautiful music, which she said, was in the air. God knows. It may have been. Opening her eyes at last, from a very quiet sleep, she begged that they would kiss her once again. That done, she turned to the old man, with a lovely smile upon her face — such, they said, as they had never seen, and never could forget — and clung with both her arms about his neck. She had never murmured or complained: but with a quiet mind, and manner quite unaltered — save that she every day became more earnest and more grateful to them — faded like the light upon the summer's evening. The child who had been her little friend, came there, almost as soon as it was day, with an offering of dried flowers, which he begged them to lay upon her breast. He told them of his dream again, and that it was of her being restored to them, just as she used to be. He begged hard to see her, saying that he would be very quiet, and that they need not fear his being alarmed, for he had sat alone by his younger brother all day long when he was dead, and had felt glad to be so near him. They let him have his wish; and, indeed, he kept his word, and was, in his childish way, a lesson to them all. 206 ESSENTIALS OF READING Up to that time, the old man had not spoken once, except to her — or stirred from the bedside. But when he saw her little favorite, he was moved as they had not seen him yet, and made as though he would have him come nearer. Then, pointing to the bed, he burst into tears for the first time, and they who stood by, knowing that the sight of this child had done him good, left them alone together. Soothing him with his artless talk of her, the child persuaded him to take some rest, to walk abroad, to do almost as he desired him. And, when the day came on which they must remove her, in her earthly shape, from earthly eyes forever, he led him away, that he might not know when she was taken from him. They were to gather fresh leaves and berries for her bed. And now the bell, the bell she had so often heard by night and day, and listened to with solemn pleasure, almost as a living voice, rung its remorseless toll for her, so young, so beautiful, so good. Decrepit age, and vigorous life, and blooming youth, and helpless infancy, poured forth — on crutches, in the pride of health and strength, in the full blush of promise, in the mere dawn of life — to gather round her tomb. Old men were there, whose eyes were dimmed and senses failing; grand- mothers, who might have died ten years ago, and still been old; the deaf, the blind, the lame, the palsied — the living dead, in many shapes and forms — to see the closing of that early grave. Along the crowded path they bore her now, pure as the newly-fallen snow that covered it, whose day on earth had been as fleeting. Under that porch where she had sat when Heaven in its mercy brought her to that peaceful spot, she passed again, and the old church received her in its quiet shade. They carried her to one old nook, where she had, many and many a time sat musing, and laid their burden softly on the pavement. The light streamed on it through the colored window, — a window where the boughs of trees were ever rustling in the summer, and where the birds sang sweetly all day long. With every breath of air that stirred among those branches in the sunshine, some trembling, changing light would fall upon her grave. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Many a young hand dropped in its little wreath, many a stifled sob was heard. Some — and they were not few — knelt down. All were sincere and truthful in their sorrow. The service done, the mourners stood apart, and the villagers closed round to look into the grave, before the stone should be replaced. One called to mind how he had seen her sitting on that very spot, and NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE 207 how her book had fallen on her lap, and she was gazing, with a pensive face, upon the sky. Another told how he had wondered much that one so delicate as she should be so bold, how she had never feared to enter the church alone at night, but had loved to linger there when all was quiet, and even to climb the tower-stair, with no more light than that of the moon-rays stealing, through the loopholes in the thick old walls. A whisper went about among the oldest there that she had seen and talked with the angels; and when they called to mind how she had looked, and spoken, and her early death, some thought it might be so indeed. Thus coming to the grave in little knots, and glancing down, and giving place to others, and falling off in whispering groups of three or four, the church was cleared, in time, of all but the sexton and the mourn- ing friends. Then, when the dusk of evening had come on, and not a sound disturbed the sacred stillness of the place: when the bright moon poured in her light on tomb and monument, on pillar, wall and arch, and most of all, it seemed to them, upon her quiet grave; in that calm time, when all outward things and inward thoughts teem with assurances of immortality, and worldly hopes and fears are humbled in the dust before them, then, with tranquil and submissive hearts they turned away, and left the child with God. HOW THEY BROUGHT THE GOOD NEWS FROM GHENT TO AIX Robert Browning 1. I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he; I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three; "Good speed!" cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew; "Speed!" echoed the wall to us galloping through; Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest, And into the midnight we galloped abreast. II. Not a word to each other; we kept the great pace Neck by neck, stride by stride, never changing our place; I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight, Then shortened each stirrup, and set the pique right, Rebuckled the cheek-strap, chained slacker the bit, Nor galloped less steadily Roland a whit. 208 ESSENTIALS OF READING in. 'Twas moonset at starting; but, while we drew near Lokeren, the cocks crew, and twilight dawned clear; At Boom a great yellow star came out to see; At Duff eld, 'twas morning as plain as could be; And from Mecheln church-steeple we heard the half-chime, So Joris broke silence with, "Yet there is time!" IV. At Aershot, up leaped of a sudden the sun, And against him the cattle stood black every one To stare through the mist at us galloping past; And I saw my stout galloper Roland at last, With resolute shoulders, each butting away The haze, as some bluff river headland its spray: v. And his low head and crest, just one sharp ear bent back For my voice, and the other pricked out on his track; And one eye's black intelligence — ever that glance O'er its white edge at me, his own master, askance! And the thick heavy spume-flakes which aye and anon His fierce lips shook upwards in galloping on. VI. By Hasselt, Dirck groaned; and cried Joris, "Stay spur! Your Roos galloped bravely, the fault's not in her We'll remember at Aix" — for one heard the quick wheeze Of her chest, saw the stretched neck and staggering knees And sunk tail, and horrible heave of the flank, As down on her haunches she shuddered and sank. VII. So, we were left galloping, Joris and I, Past Looz and past Tongrcs, no cloud in the sky; The broad sun above laughed a pitiless laugh, 'Neath our feet broke the bright little stubble like chaff; Till over by Dalhem a dome-spire sprang white, And "Gallop," gasped Joris, "for Aix is in sight! NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE 209 viii "How they'll greet us!" — and all in a moment his roan Rolled neck and croup over, lay dead as a stone; And there was my Roland to bear the whole weight Of the news which alone could save Aix from her fate, With his nostrils like pits full of blood to the brim, And with circles of red for his eyesockets' rim. IX. Then I cast loose my buffcoat, each holster let fall, Shook off both my jack-boots, let go belt and all, Stood up in the stirrup, leaned, patted his ear, Called my Roland his pet-name, my horse without peer; Clapped my hands, laughed and sang, any noise, bad or good, Till at length into Aix Roland galloped and stood. x. And all I remember is, friends flocking round As I sat with his head 'twixt my knees on the ground; And no voice but was praising this Roland of mine, As I poured down his throat our last measure of wine, Which (the burgesses voted by common consent) Was no more than his due who brought good news from Ghent. THE GRAY CHAMPION Nathaniel Hawthorne The following story from "Twice-Told Tales" is one characteristic of its author. It has the New England flavor and the weird element so pronounced in Hawthorne's writings. It would be well to look up the historical incidents upon which the tale is founded. There was once a time when New England groaned under the actual pressure of heavier wrongs than those threatened ones which brought on the Revolution. James II., the bigoted successor of Charles the Volup- tuous, had annulled the charters of all the colonies, and sent a harsh and unprincipled soldier to take away our liberties and endanger our religion. The administration of Sir Edmund Andros lacked scarcely a single characteristic of tyranny: a Governor and Council, holding office from the King and wholly independent of the country; laws made and taxes 210 ESSENTIALS OF READING levied without concurrence of the people, immediate or by their repre- sentatives; the rights of private citizens violated, and the titles of all landed property declared void; the voice of complaint stifled by restrictions on the press; and, finally, disaffection overawed by the first band of mer- cenary troops that ever marched on our free soil. For two years our ancestors were kept in sullen submission, by that filial love which had invariably secured their allegiance to the mother-country, whether its head chanced, to be a Parliament, Protector, or popish Monarch. Till these evil times, however, such allegiance had been merely nominal, and the colonists had ruled themselves, enjoying far more freedom than is even yet the privilege of the native subjects of Great Britain. At length a rumor reached our shores that the Prince of Orange had ventured on an enterprise the success of which would be the triumph of civil and religious rights and the salvation of New England. It was but a doubtful whisper; it might be false, or the attempt might fail; and, in either case, the man that stirred against King James would lose his head. Still the intelligence produced a marked effect. The people smiled mysteriously in the streets, and threw bold glances at their oppressors; while far and wide there was a subdued and silent agitation, as if the slightest signal would rouse the whole land from its sluggish despondency. Aware of their danger, the rulers resolved to avert it by an imposing display of strength, and perhaps to confirm their despotism by yet harsher measures. One afternoon in April, 1689, Sir Edmund Andros and his favorite councillors, being warm with wine, assembled the red-coats of the Governor's Guard, and made their appearance in the streets of Boston. The sun was near setting when the march commenced. The roll of the drum, at that unquiet crisis, seemed to go through the streets less as the martial music of the soldiers than as a muster-call to the inhabitants themselves. A multitude, by various avenues, assem- bled in King-street, which was destined to be the scene, nearly a century afterwards, of another encounter between the troops of Bri- tain and a people struggling against her tyranny. Though more than sixty years had elapsed since the Pilgrims came, this crowd of their descendants still showed the strong and sombre features of their character perhaps more strikingly in such a stern emergency than on happier occasions. There were the sober garb, the general severity of mien, the gloomy but undismayed expression, the scriptural forms of speech and the confidence in Heaven's blessing on a righteous cause, which would have marked a band of the original Puritans when threatened NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE by some peril of the wilderness. Indeed, it was not yet time for the old spirit to be extinct; since there were men in the street, that day who had worshipped there beneath the trees, before a house was reared to the God for whom they had become exiles Old soldiers of the Parliament were here too, smiling grimly at the thought that their aged arms might strike another blow against the house of Stuart. Here, also, were the veterans of King Philip's war, who had burned villages and slaughtered young and old with pious fierceness, while the godly souls throughout the land were helping them with prayer. Several ministers were scattered among the crowd which, unlike all other mobs regarded them with such reverence, as if there were sanctity in their very garments. These holy men exerted their influence to quiet the people, but not to disperse them. Meantime, the purpose of the Governor, in disturbing the peace of the town at a period when the slightest commotion might throw the country into a ferment, was almost the universal subject of inquiry, and variously explained. "Satan will strike his master-stroke presently," cried some, "because he knoweth that his time is short. All our godly pastors are to be dragged to prison! We shall see them at a Smithfield fire in King-street!" Hereupon, the people of each parish gathered closer round their minister, who looked calmly upwards and assumed a more apostolic dignity, as well befitted a candidate for the highest honor of his profession, the crown of marytrdom. It was actually fancied, at that period, that New England might have a John Rogers of her own, to take the place of that worthy in the Primer. "The Pope of Rome has given orders for a new St. Bartholomew! " cried others. "We are to be massacred, man and male child!" Neither was this rumor wholly discredited, although the wiser class believed the Governor's object somewhat less atrocious. His predecessor under the old charter, Bradstreet, a venerable companion of the first settlers, was known to be in town. There were grounds for conjecturing that Sir Edmund Andros intended, at once, to strike terror, by a parade of military force, and to confound the opposite faction, by possessing himself of their chief. "Stand firm for the old charter Governor!" shouted the crowd, seizing upon the idea. "The good old Governor Bradstreet!" While this cry was at the loudest, the people were surprised by the well-known figure of Governor Bradstreet himself, a patriarch of nearly ninety, who appeared on the elevated steps of a door, and, with char- acteristic mildness, besought them to submit to the constituted authorities. 212 ESSENTIALS OF READING "My children," concluded this venerable person, " do nothing rashly. Cry not aloud, but pray for the welfare of New England, and expect patiently what the Lord will do in this matter'" The event was soon to be decided. All this time, the roll of the drum had been approaching through Cornhill, louder and deeper, till with reverberations from house to house, and the regular tramp of martial footsteps, it burst into the street. A double rank of soldiers made their appearance, occupying the whole breadth of the passage, with shouldered matchlocks, and matches burning, so as to present a row of fires in the dusk Their steady march was like the progress of a machine that would roll irresistibly over everything in its way. Next, moving slowly, with a confused clatter of hoofs on the pavement, rode a party of mounted gentlemen, the central figure being Sir Edmund Andros, elderly, but erect and soldier-like Those around him were his favorite councillors, and the bitterest foes of New England. At his right hand rode Edward Randolph, our arch-enemy, that "blasted wretch," as Cotton Mather calls him, who achieved the downfall of our ancient government, and was followed with a sensible curse, through life and to his grave. On the other side was Bullivant, scattering jests and mockery as he rode along. Dudley came behind, with a downcast look, dreading, as well he might, to meet the indignant gaze of the people, who beheld him, their only countryman by birth, among the oppressors of his native land. The captain of a frigate in the harbor, and two or three civil officers under the Crown, were also there. But the figure which most attracted the public eye, and stirred up the deepest feeling, was the Episcopal clergyman of King's Chapel, riding haughtily among the magistrates in his priestly vestments, the fitting representative of prelacy and persecution, the union of church and state, and all those abominations which had driven the Puritans to the wilderness. Another guard of soldiers, in double rank, brought up the rear. The whole scene was a picture of the condition of New England; and its moral, the deformity of any government that does not grow out of the nature of things and the character of the people. On one side, the religious multitude, with their sad visages and dark attire; and on the other, the group of despotic rulers, with the high-churchman in the midst, and here and there a crucifix at their bosoms, all magnificently clad, flushed with wine, proud of unjust authority, and scoffing at the universal groan. And the mercenary soldiers, waiting but the word to deluge the street with blood, showed the only means by which obedience could be secured. NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE 213 "O Lord of Hosts," cried a voice among the crowd, "provide a Champion for thy people!" This ejaculation was loudly uttered, and served as a herald's cry, to introduce a remarkable personage. The crowd had rolled back, and were now huddled together nearly at the extremity of the street, while the soldiers had advanced no more than a third of its length. The intervening space was empty — a paved solitude, between lofty edifices which threw almost a twilight shadow over it. Suddenly there was seen the figure of an ancient man, who seemed to have emerged from among the people, and was walking by himself along the centre of the street, to confront the armed band. He wore the old Puritan dress, a dark cloak and a steeple-crowned hat, in the fashion of at least fifty years before, with a heavy sword upon his thigh, but a staff in his hand, to assist the tremulous gait of age. When at some distance from the multitude, the old man turned slowly round, displaying a face of antique majesty, rendered doubly venerable by the hoary beard that descended on his breast. He made a gesture at once of encouragement and warning, then turned again and resumed his way. "Who is this gray patriarch?" asked the young men of their sires. "Who is this venerable brother?" asked the old men among themselves. But none could make reply. The fathers of the people, those of fourscore years and upwards, were disturbed, deeming it strange that they should forget one of such evident authority, whom they must have known in their early days, the associate of Winthrop, and all the old Councillors, giving laws and making prayers, and leading them against the savage. The elderly men ought to have remembered him, too, with locks as gray in their youth as their own were now. And the young! How could he have passed so utterly from their memories — that hoary sire, the relic of long-departed times, whose awful benediction had surely been bestowed on their uncovered heads in childhood ? "Whence did he come? What is his purpose? Who can this old man be?" whispered the wondering crowd. Meanwhile, the venerable stranger, staff in hand, was pursuing his solitary walk along the centre of the street. As he drew near the advanc- ing soldiers, and as the roll of their drum came full upon his ear, the old man raised himself to a loftier mien, while the decrepitude of age seemed to fall from his shoulders, leaving him in gray but unbroken dignity. Now he marched onward with a warrior's step, keeping time to the military music. Thus the aged form advanced on one side, and the 2i 4 ESSENTIALS OF READING whole parade of soldiers and magistrates on the other, till, when scarcely twenty yards remained between, the old man grasped his staff by the middle, and held it before him like a leader's truncheon. "Stand!" cried he. The eye, the face, and attitude of command; the solemn yet war-like peal of that voice, fit either to rule a host in the battle-field or be raised to God in prayer, were irresistible. At the old man's word and out- stretched arm, the roll of the drum was hushed at once, and the advancing line stood still. A tremulous enthusiasm seized upon the multitude. That stately form, combining the leader and the saint, so gray, so dimly seen, in such an ancient garb, could only belong to some old champion of the righteous cause, whom the oppressor's drum had summoned from his grave. They raised a shout of awe and exultation, and looked for the deliverance of New England. The Governor, and the gentlemen of his party, perceiving themselves brought to an unexpected stand, rode hastily forward, as if they would have pressed their snorting and affrighted horses right against the hoary apparition. He, however, blenched not a step, but glancing his severe eye round the group, which half encompassed him, at last bent it sternly on Sir Edmund Andros. One would have thought that the dark old man was chief ruler there, and that the Governor and Council, with soldiers at their back, representing the whole power and authority of the Crown, had no alternative but obedience. "What does this old fellow here?" cried Edward Randolph, fiercely. 'On, Sir Edmund! Bid the soldiers forward, and give the dotard the same choice that you give all his countrymen — to stand aside or be trampled on!" "Nay, nay, let us show respect to the good grandsire," said Bullivant, laughing. "See you not, he is some old round-headed dignitary who hath lain asleep these thirty years and knows nothing of the change of times? Doubtless, he thinks to put us down with a proclamation in Old Noll's name!" "Are you mad, old man?" demanded Sir Edmund Andros, in loud and harsh tones. "How dare you stay the march of King James's Governor?" "I have staid the march of a King himself, ere now," replied the gray figure, with stern composure. "I am here, Sir Governor, because the cry of an oppressed people hath disturbed me in my secret place; and beseeching this favor earnestly of the Lord, it was vouchsafed me to appear once again on earth, in the NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE 215 good old cause of his saints. And what speak ye of James ? There is no longer a popish tyrant on the throne of England, and by to-morrow noon his name shall be a by-word in this very street where ye would make it a word of terror. Back, thou that wast a Governor, back! With this night thy power is ended — to-morrow, the prison! — back, lest I foretell the scaffold!" The people had been drawing nearer and nearer, and drinking in the words of their champion, who spoke in accents long disused, like one unaccustomed to converse, except with the dead of many years ago. But his voice stirred their souls. They confronted the soldiers, not wholly without arms, and ready to convert the very stones of the street into deadly weapons. Sir Edmund Andros looked at the old man; then he cast his hard and cruel eye over the multitude, and beheld them burn- ing with that lurid wrath, so difficult to kindle or to quench; and again he fixed his gaze on the aged form, which stood obscurely in an open space, where neither friend nor foe had thrust himself. What were his thoughts, he uttered no word which might discover. But whether the oppressor were overawed by the Gray Champion's look, or perceived his peril in the threatening attitude of the people, it is certain that he gave back, and ordered his soldiers to commence a slow and guarded retreat. Before another sunset, the Governor, and all that rode so proudly with him, were prisoners, and long ere it was known that James had abdicated, King William was proclaimed throughout New England. But where was the Gray Champion? Some reported that when the troops had gone from King-street and the people were thronging tumult- uously in their rear, Bradstreet, the aged Governor, was seen to embrace a form more aged than his own. Others soberly affirmed that while they marvelled at the venerable grandeur of his aspect, the old man had faded from their eyes, melting slowly into the hues of twilight, till, where he stood, there was an empty space. But all agreed that the hoary shape was gone. The men of that generation watched for his reappear- ance, in sunshine and in twilight, but never saw him more, nor knew when his funeral passed, nor where his gravestone was. And who was the Gray Champion? Perhaps his name might be found in the records of that stern Court of Justice which passed a sentence too mighty for the age, but glorious in all after-times for its humbling lesson to the monarch and its high example to the subject. I have heard that whenever the descendants of the Puritans are to show the spirit of their sires, the old man appears again. When eighty years had passed he walked once more in King-street. Five years later, in the 216 ESSENTIALS OF READING twilight of an April morning, he stood on the green, beside the meeting- house, at Lexington, where now the obelisk of granite, with a slab of slate inlaid, commemorates the first fallen of the Revolution. And when our fathers were toiling at the breastwork on Bunker's Hill, all through that night the old warrior walked his rounds. Long, long may it be ere he comes again! His hour is one of darkness, and adversity, and peril. But should domestic tyranny oppress us, or the invader's step pollute our soil, still may the Gray Champion come: for he is the type of New England's hereditary spirit, and his shadowy march, on the eve of danger, must ever be the pledge that New England's sons will vindicate their ancestry. CHAPTER XIX HUMOROUS A CURTAIN LECTURE Douglas Jereold Well, that's the third umbrella gone since Christmas. What were you to do ? Why, let him go home in the rain, to be sure. I am very certain he wouldn't spoil. Take cold indeed? He doesn't look like one of the sort to take cold. Besides he'd have better taken cold than taken ur umbrella. Do you hear the rain, Mr. Caudle ? I say, do you hear the rain ? And, as I'm alive, if it isn't St. S within 's day! Do you hear it against the windows? Nonsense! you don't impose upon me; you can't be asleep with such a shower as that. Do you hear it I say? O, you do hear it? Well, that's a pretty flood, I think to last six weeks; and no stirring all the time out of the house. Pooh! don't think me a fool, Mr. Caudle; don't insult me; he return the umbrella! Anybody would think you were born yesterday. As if anybody ever did return an umbrella! There, do you hear it? Worse and worse. Cats and dogs, and for six weeks: always six weeks; and no umbrella. I should like to know how the children are to go to school tomorrow. They shan't go through such weather; I am determined. No, they shall stop at home and never learn anything, (the blessed creatures) sooner than go and get wet. And when they grow up, I wonder who they'll have to thank for knowing nothing; who, indeed, but their father? People who can't feel for their own children ought never to be fathers. But I know why you lent the umbrella; oh, yes I know very well. I was going out to tea at dear mother's tomorrow; you knew that, and you did it on purpose. Don't tell me! you hate to have me go there and take every mean advantage to hinder me. But don't you think it, Mr. Caudle; no, sir; if it comes down in buckets full, I'll go all the more. No and I won't have a cab! Where do you think the money's to come from? You've got nice high notions at that club of yours! A cab, indeed! Cost me sixteen-pence at least. Sixteen-pence! two — and eight-pence; for there's back again. Cabs, indeed! I should 217 ai8 ESSENTIALS OF READING like to know who's to pay for 'em; for I'm sure you can't if you go on as you do, throwing away your property, and beggaring your children, buying umbrellas. Do you hear the rain, Mr. Caudle? I say do you hear it? But I don't care, I'll go to mother's tomorrow, I will; and whats more, I'll walk every step of the way; and you know that will give me my death. Don't call me a foolish woman; its you that's a foolish man. You know I can't wear clogs; and with no umbrella, the wet's sure to give me a cold; it always does; but what do you care for that? Nothing at all. I may be laid up for what you care, as I dare say I shall; and a pretty doctor's bill there'll be. I hope there will. It will teach you to lend your umbrellas again. I shouldn't wonder if I caught my death; yes, and that's what you lent the umbrella for. Of course. Nice clothes I get too, traipsing through weather like this. My gown and bonnet will be spoiled quite. Needn't wear 'em then? In- deed, Mr. Caudle, I shall wear 'em. No, sir; I'm not going out a dowdy, to please you, or anybody else. Gracious knows! it isn't often that I step over the threshold; indeed I might as well be a slave at once; better I should say; but when I do go out, Mr. Caudle, I choose to go as a lady. O, that rain — if it isn't enough to break in the windows! Ugh! I look forward with dread for tomorrow. How I am to go to mother's, I am sure I can't tell; but if I die, I'll do it. No, sir; I won't borrow an umbrella — no, and you shant buy one. Mr. Caudle, if you bring home another umbrella, I'll throw it into the street. Ha! and it was only last week, I had a new nozzle put on that umbrella. I'm sure if I'd have known as much as I do now, it might have gone without one. Paying for new nozzles for other people to laugh at you. O, it's all very well for you; you can go to sleep. You've no thought of your poor patient wife, and your own dear children; you think of nothing but lending umbrellas! Men, indeed! — call themselves lords of creation! pretty lords, when they can't even take care of an umbrella! I know that walk tomorrow will be the death of me. But that's what you want: then you may go to your club, and do as you like; and then nicely my poor, dear children will be used — but then sir, then you'll be happy. Yes, when your poor, patient wife is dead and gone, then you'll marry that mean little widow Quilp, I know you will. HUMOROUS 219 WHITEWASHING THE FENCE Mark Twain In this extract from "Tom Sawyer," Tom is shown in a dilemma. He wants to go swimming, but he must whitewash the fence. At first he fears the ridicule of the boys, but he hits upon a plan. One of the boys, Ben Rogers, comes by and pauses, eating a particular- ly fine apple. Tom does not see him. Ben stares a moment, and then says: "Hi-yi! you're up a stump, ain't you?" No answer. Tom surveyed his last touch with the eye of an artist, then he gave another gentle sweep, and surveyed the result as before. Ben ranged up alongside of him. Tom's mouth watered for the apple, but he stuck to his work. Ben said: "Hello, old chap, you got to work, hey?" "Why, it's you, Ben; I wasn't noticing." "Say, I'm going in a-swimming, I am. Don't you wish you could? But of course you'd ruther work, wouldn't you? Course you would!" Tom comtemplated the boy a bit. and said: " What do you call work ?" "Why, ain't that work?" Tom resumed his whitewashing and answered, carelessly: "Well, may be it is, and may be it ain't. All I know is, it suits Tom Sawyer." "Oh, come now, you don't mean to let on that you like it?" The brush continued to move. "Like it? Well, I don't see why I oughtn't to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?" That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom swept his brush daintily back and forth — stepped back to note the effect — added a touch here and there — criticised the effect again, Ben watching every move, and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed. Presently he said: "Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little." Tom considered, was about to consent, — but he altered his mind. "No, no; I reckon it wouldn't hardly do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly's awful particular about this fence, — right here on the street, you know, — but if it was the back fence I wouldn't mind, and she wouldn't. Yes, she's awful particular about this fence; it's got to be done very careful. 220 ESSENTIALS OF READING I reckon there ain't one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it in the way it's got to be done. "No, — is that so? Oh, come now; lemme just try, only just a little. I'd let you, if you was me, Tom." "Ben, I'd like to, honest Injun; but Aunt Polly — well, Jim wanted to do it, but she wouldn't let him. Sid wanted to do it, but she wouldn't let Sid. Now don't you see how I'm fixed? If you was to tackle this fence, and anything was to happen to it — " "Oh, shucks! I'll be just as careful. Now lemme try. Say — I'll give you the core of my apple." "Well, here. No, Ben; now don't; I'm afeard — " "I'll give you all of it!" Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face but alacrity in his heart. And while Ben worked and sweated in the sun, the retired artist sat on a barrel in the shade close by, dangling his legs, munched his apple, and planned the slaughter of more innocents. There was no lack of material; boys happened along every little while; they came to jeer, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was fagged out, Tom had traded the next chance to Billy Fisher for a kite in good repair; and when he played out, Johnny Miller bought it for a dead rat and a string to swing it with; and so on, and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor, poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth. He had, besides the things I have mentioned, twelve marbles, part of a Jew's harp, a piece of blue bottle-glass to look through, a spool cannon, a key that wouldn't unlock anything, a fragment of chalk, a glass stopper of a decanter, a tin soldier, a couple of tadpoles, six fire-crackers, a kitten with only one eye, a brass door-knob, a dog-collar, — but no dog, — the handle of a knife, four pieces of orange-peel, and a dilapidated old window sash. He had had a nice, good, idle time all the while — plenty of company — and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it! If he hadn't run out of whitewash, he would have bankrupted every boy in the village. Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world after all. He had discovered a great law of human action without knowing it, namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make it difficult to attain. INDEX " Abraham Lincoln," Fowler, 180 Accent and emphasis, 139 Acting, 34 Action, child's love of, 80 Allegory, 53 Alphabet method, 77 Alternating program, 105 Aspirate, definition, 1 52 exercise, 158 assigned work, 102 Assignment, " The Lark and the Farmer," 103 model, 103 of lesson, 99 of lesson, careless, 9 "Village Blacksmith," 103 Analysis of pitch and melody 28 of words in primary read- ing, 86 Apostrophe, 57 Arnold, Matthew, quoted, 59 Articulation, 150 aspirate, 152, 158 b, 153 bs, 158 ch, 155 commerical value, 150 d, 154 dentals, 152, 154 ds, 158 example, 150 Articulation, exercises, 153 t, 153 g, 156 g.or j, 155 g, ork, 156 gs, 158 h, 158 hard combinations, 158 j. org, 155 k, or g, 156 ks, or x, 1 59 1.157 labials, 152, 153 liquids, 152, 157 long words, 160 m, 154 method of instruction, 152 n, 157 nasals, 152, 157 ng, 157 P. 153 palatals, 152, 156 ps, 159 r, 158 review and suggestions, 165 outline, 164 s, 155 s, or z, 155 sh, 156 similar sounds, 161 st, 159 221 222 INDEX systematic exer- Articulation cises, 151 t, 154 th, 156 v, 154 w, 154 wh, 159 x, orks, 159 7,157 z, or s, 155 zh, 160 Atmosphere, examples of, 45 of a selection, 45 " Barbara Frietchie," 15, 36, 185 " Barefoot Boy," quoted, 44 Barrie, quoted, 72 " Battle Hymn of the Republic," 9 Bennett, Harry Holcomb, quot- ed, 38 " Black Sheep," dramatized, 93 Book as an obstacle, 124 Browning, 'How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix," 207 Browning, quoted, 63 Bryan, "Power and Worth of Character," 173 Bryant, quoted, 59 Busy work in primary reading, 84 Byron, quoted, 42 Careless assignment of lesson, 9 " Chambered Nautilus," quoted, 60 Character, effects of, 65 Chicago Tribune, quoted, 150 " Chicken Little," 136 Circumstance, commonplace, 5 Circumflex inflection, 28 inflection and contrast, 24 Classification of Material, 108 of material, outline 120 of material, review and suggestions, 121 Commonplace circumstance, 5 Completeness, momentary 29 Contrast, and circumflex inflec- tion, 24 emphasis 24 Conversation, melody in, 26 " Cortin', The," 68 Correct habits, 20 " Count Gismond," quoted, 63 Course in primary reading, 88 " Crossing the Bar," 30 Cumnock, Prof., incident, 44 " Curfew tolls the knell of part- ing day," 2, 175 "Curtain Lecture," Jerrold, 217 " Death of Little Nell," Dickens, 202 Declaiming, 34 Degree, effects of, 66 Dentals, definition, 152 exercises, 154 Desire to read, 80 Development of new ideas, 100 Dialect selections, 68 Dickens, "Death of Little Nell," 202 Dickens, quoted, 6, 72 Dictionary, abbreviations, 145 definitions, 101 how to use, 146 Italian 'a,' 143 key to symbols, 141 long sounds, 143 prefixes and suffixes, 145 rules for spelling, 145 short o, 144 short vowels, 143. H4 study of alphabet, 142 INDEX 223 Dictionary, suspended bar, 143 table of contents, 141 use of, 140 use of, outline, 148 use of, review and sug- gestion, 149 Didactic and moral selections, 169 Difference between declaiming and reading, 35 Directions, mechanical, 8 Discipline and melody, 26 Divisions of reading recitations, 98 Division of recitation and as- signment of lesson, outline, 106 review and suggestions, 106 Division of room, 104 " Don't know line, The," 113 Dramatic selections, 184 Dramatization, "Black Sheep," 93 "Flower Girl, The," 91 "Lady Moon," 90 "Little Boy Blue," 90 " Little Red Hen, The," 94 " Milk-maid, The," 91 " Monologue and," 93 "Neighbors, The," 91 in primary reading, 89 "Three Crows, The," 93 "Three Kittens, The," 92 "Willy Boy," 91 Eclectic Method, 80 Effects, 63 classified, 65, 6b defined, 64 exercises, 67, 72 of character, 65 Effects, of degree, 66 of incident, 65 of kind, 66 of mood, 65 outline, 73 review and suggestions, 73 "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," 46, 175 Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, quoted, 29 Emerson, quoted, 41 Emotion, and emphasis, 139 determines quality, 40 Emotional words, 102 Emphasis, and accent, 139 and emotion, 139 and grouping, 15 and main idea, 22 and new ideas, 23 and personal pronouns, 23 example of, 25 of contrast, 139 too many words, 24 Examples, atmosphere, 45 effects, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67 emphasis, 24, 128, 133, 135 force, 37, 38 grouping, 15, 16, 17 melody, 25, 27, 30, 128, 133. 135 quality, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 time, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 10, 11 types, 51, 52, 58, 59, 60 Exercises, effects, 68-73 figures, 58, 59 grouping, 15 obstacles to good expres- sion, 131 Experiential words, 102 224 INDEX Expression, and questions, 22, obstacles to good, 122 Expressive reading, time to begin, 20 Eye, training the, 118 Fables, 54 Falling inflection, 27, 30 Figures, of speech, 52 allegory, 53 apostrophe, 57 exercises, 57 fables, 54 metaphor, 52 metonymy, 56 parables, 54 personification, 56 simile, 53 synecdoche, 56 Final stress, 35 " Flag Goes By, The," 38 " Flower Girl, The," dramatized, 91 Force, 34 emphasis, 139 examples, 37 outline of, 39 Foreign-born child and time, 9 Fowler, Chas., "Abraham Lin- coln," 180 Function of melody, 19 of reading, 35 " Gettysburg Address," Lincoln, 179 Grammar grade pupil and groups, 14 Good expression, how to get, 20 obstacles to, 122 "Glaucus and the Lion," Bul- wer Lytton, 191 Grady, "The Southern Soldier," 181 " Gray Champion," Hawthorne, 209 Gray, "Elegy Written in a Coun- try Churchyard," 175 Gray, quoted, 46 Groups and grammar grade pu- pil, 14 and inflection, 14 and intermediate pupils, 14 and primary pupils, 14 words in, 13 Grouping, 13 and emphasis, 15 and liberty of thought, 15 and punctuation, 13 and thought, 13 exercise, 15 marking, 16 purpose of, 13 rules, 15 Guerber, H. A., quoted, 37 Habits, correct, 20 Harry Holcomb Bennett, quoted, 38 Hawthorne, "The Gray Cham- pion," 209 Hawthorne, quoted, 72 Heath Readers, quoted, 37 High key, 28 Holmes, quoted, 41 , 60 "House that Jack Built," 132 Howe, Julia Ward, quoted, 10 How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix, Browning, 207 How to get good expression, 20 Hugo, Victor, quoted, 44, 72 Humorous selections, 217 " Ichabod Crane," Irving, 200 Idea, main, 19 INDEX 225 Ideals, wrong, children's, 123 Ideas, development of new, 100 succession of, 29 " I galloped, Dirck galloped," 5 Illustrative Lessons, 132 Imitation, in acting and de- claiming, 35 of teacher, 22 Importance of mechanics of reading, 3 "Importance of Teaching and Value of Right Ideals," Roose- velt, 169 Importance of thought in read- ing, 3 Incident, effects of, 65 Inference, 64 Inflection, and groups, 14 at end of sentence, 26 circumflex, 28 circumflex and contrast, 24 falling, 28 rising, 28 Initiative in study, 112 Intermediate pupil and groups, H Interpreting melody, 27 Irony, 27 Irving, " Ichabod Crane, 200 quoted, 72 Jerrold, "A Curtain Lecture," 217 " John Adams' Speech," 7 Julia Ward Howe, quoted, 10 Kind, effects of, 66 Key, 28 " Knights' Chorus," 45 Knowledge of mechanics of reading, 3 Labials, definition, 1 52 exercises, 153 " Lady Moon," dramatized, 90 " Lady of Shalott," Tennyson, 196 " L'Allegro," quoted, 45 Language exercises as obsta- cles, 129 " Lark and the Farmer," assign- ment, 103 "Larks' Nest," The, 25 Largeness of thought, 4 Length of lesson, 100 Lesson, assignment of, 90 careless assignment of, 9 illustrative, 132 length of, 100 selection of, 99 unity, 23 "Liberty and Union," 182 Liberty of thought, 1 5 Lincoln, quoted, 42 Lincoln, " Gettysburg Address," 179 Liquids, definition, 152 exercises, 157 Lists of words as obstacles, 129 " Little Boy Blue," dramatized, 90 " Little Nell, Death of," 5, 202 "Little Red Hen," dramatized, 94 " Lochinvar," Scott, 1 84 Longfellow, quoted, 16, 58 Longfellow, " Paul Revere 's Ride," 187 Look and say method, 31 Looking for main ideas, 22 Lowell, quoted, 7, 73 Low key, 28 McDonald, quoted, 72 Main idea, 19 and emphasis, 19 looking for, 4 Marietta Holley, quoted, 5 226 INDEX Marking groups, 16 Mark Twain, " Whitewashing the Fence," 219 Material, classification of, 108 difficult, 113 for quick reading, 1 1 1 for repeated reading, no for sight reading, 115 for thorough study, 108 interest, 109 kinds, 108 quantity, 116 McMurray, Frank, quoted, 112 Mechanical difficulty, as ob- stacle, 124 Mechanical directions, 8 Mechanical teacher, 13 Mechanics of reading, 3 knowledge of, 3 Median stress, 35 Melody, 19 analysis, 28 and motive, 27 and discipline, 27 function, 19 in conversation, 26 interpreting, 28 motive necessary, 27 Mental attitude, 126 Mental energy, 35 Metaphor, 52 Method, alphabet, 77 eclectic, 80 phonic, 78 sentence, 79 ' word, 79 Metonymy, 56 " Milk-maid," dramatized, 91 Milton, quoted, 45 " Mine eyes have seen the glory," 10 Model assignment, 103 Momentary completeness, 29 Monologue and dramatization, 93 Mood, effects of, 65 Mother Goose's rhymes, 4 Motive, and melody, 26 of speaker, 19, 29 Movement of voice, 19 Narrative and descriptive selec- tions, 196 Nasals, definition, 152 exercises, 157 Nationality and time, 9 " Neighbors," dramatized, 91 New ideas, and emphasis. 23 development, 100 New words, development of, 100 too many, 9 Number lessons, as obstacles, 127 Obstacles to good expression, 122 book, the, 124 language exercises, 129 lists of words, 129 mechanical difficulties, 124 mental attitude, 126, 127 number lessons, 127 principles of oral reading, 127 relation of words, 125 review and suggestion, 130 outline, 130 Oral reading, principles of, 127 Oratorical selections, 179 Order of sounds in primary reading, 87 Outline, articulation, 164 classification of material, 120 INDEX 227 Outline, division of recitation Primary reading, outline, 96 and assignment of les- phonics, 85 son, 106 principles, 80 effects, 73 review and suggestion, 96 force, 39 script to print, 87 grouping, 18 sentences, 83 melody, 32 words, 81 obstacles to good expres- writing in, 84 sion, 130 Primary slide, 87 primary reading, 96 Principles, of oral reading, 127 quality, 46 of primary reading, 80 time, 11 Print, transition from script, types, 61 87 use of dictionary, 148 Program, alternating, 105 Parables, 54 Pronouns, personal and em- Palatals, definition, 152 phasis, 23 exercises, 156 Punctuation and grouping, 13 Patronizing melody, 26 Pupil and groups, 14 "Paul Revere's Ride," Longfel- Purpose, of grouping, 13 low, 187 of teacher in a lesson, Pauses, 13 99 Personification, 56 Quality, aspirate, 43 Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, bright, ringing, 41 quoted, 29 complex, 43 Phonic method, 78 dark, sombre, 41 Phonics, 85 defined, 40 Phrases, poetic, 102 examples, 41 Pitch, 19 guttural, 42 analysis, 28 indicates emotion, 40 Poetic words, 102 normal, 41 "Power and Worth of Charac- of emotion, 4 ter," Bryan, 173 orotund, 42 Primary pupil and groups, 14 outline, 46 Primary reading, 77 review and suggestion, 47 aims, 80 Questions and expression, 22 analysis of words, 86 Radical stress, 35 busy, work, 84 Ralph Connor, quoted, 6 course, 88 Rapid time, examples, 4, 5, 6 desire to read, 81 Rapid utterance, 5 dramatization, 89 Read, Thomas Buchanan, quot- order of sounds, 87 ed, 41 228 INDEX Readers, supplementary, 104, 119 Reading, declaiming, acting, 35 function of, 35 sight, 119 supplementary, 104, 119 tone, 122 too slow, 8 Recitation, division of, 98 Relations, of words, 125 sentences, 21 Rising inflection, 28 Room, divided for supplement- ary reading, 104 Roosevelt, " Importance of Teaching and Value of Right Ideals," 169 Rate of utterance, 4 Review and suggestion, articu- lation, 165 classification of material, 121 divisions of recitation, and assignment of lesson, 106 effects, 73 force, 39 grouping, 18 melody, 33 obstacles to good expres- sion, 130 primary reading, 96 quality, 47 time, 12 types, 61 use of dictionary, 149 Rules and grouping, 15 Schools of teaching reading, 3 Scott, quoted, 58 "Sir Lochinvar," 184 Script, transition to print, 87 Selections for practice, 167 didactic and moral, 169 dramatic, 184 humorous, 217 narrative and descriptive, 196 oratorical, 179 Selection of lesson, 99 Sentence, inflection at end of, 29 in primary reading, 83 method, 79 relations, 21 structure, 14 Shakespeare, quoted, 7, 42, 43, 58,72 Sight reading, 119 Simile, 53 Slow reading, too, 8 Slow time, examples of, 4, 6, 7 " Southern Soldier," Grady, 181 Speaker, motive of, 19, 29 " Speech, John Adams'," 7 Stories, writing, 117 •' Story of the Great Republic," quoted, 37 Strength of emotion, 4 Stress, 35 final, 35 function, 35 median, 35 radical, 35 Structure of sentence, 14 Substitution and expression, 22 Succession of ideas, 29 Suggestion in acting and de- claiming, 35 in reading, 35 Supplementary, readers, 119 reading, time, 104 Synecdoche, 56 INDEX 229 Teacher, imitation of, 22 mechanical, 13 Teaching reading, schools of, 3 Teaching thought groups, 14 Temperament and time, 8 Tennyson, "Lady of Shalott," 196 Tennyson, quoted, 30, 59 Thought, and emotion, 8 and grouping, 13 in reading, importance of, 3 units, 13 units and punctuation, 14 " Three Crows," dramatized, 93 "Three Kittens," dramatized, 92 Time, 3 and nationality, 9 and temperament, 8 definition, 4 determined by, 4 examples of, 10 in reading recitation, 98 rapid, examples, 5, 6 slow, examples, 4, 6, 7 Tone, reading, 122 Too slow reading, 8 Training pupils to study, 112 Transition, script to print, 87 Types, 51 definition, 51 examples, 51 outline, 61 review and suggestion, 61 Unfamiliarity with words, 9 Unity of lesson, 23 Units of thought, 13 of thought and punctua- tion, 14 Use of dictionary, 140 outline, 148 review and suggestion, 149 Utterance, rapid, 5 Victor Hugo, quoted, 44 " Village Blacksmith," 16 assignment, 103 Vital things in reading, 3 Vocabulary of children, 80 Voice, movement, 19 Webster, " Liberty and Union," 182 " Whitewashing the Fence," Mark Twain, 219 Whittier, " Barbara Frietchie," 184 quoted, 1 5, 44, 72 " Willy Boy," dramatized, 91 Word method, 79 Words, development of new, 100 emotional, 101 experiential, 101 in groups, 13 in primary reading, 81 poetic, 102 unfamiliarity with, 9 Work, assigned, 102 of teacher, 8 Writing in primary reading, 84 Wrong ideals, children, 123 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS \ imiininii 021 772 703