Give definite illustration of how the prophecy is being fulfilled in the rise of empires; of arts; of good and great; of wise heads; and noble hearts. What men have we had who compare with the men who marked the "golden age" in England, Greece, and Rome? Do you believe that we are the "last"? Is it hard to imagine that in the years to come some new nation may arise that will outstrip us in arts and learning? The time used for such questioning as that indicated in the last three paragraphs should be comparatively short. Attention should be called to portions requiring special thought when assigning the lesson, and written answers may well be required frequently. Reread, applying your understanding of Inverted Expressions: Chap. I. Nos. 25, 26. Chap. II. Nos. 12, 14. Chap. IV. Nos. 22, 27 (stanza 2). Chap. V. Nos. 19, 28, 32 (sentence 2). SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN REVIEW 1. What effect is gained by the inverted order in Nos. 2, 5, and 6? 2. (Nos. 9, 10.) What is gained by placing conditional clauses first? 3. Quote the main thought in No. 11; No. 14. 4. Why is No. 15 a periodic sentence? 5. (No. 20.) Who was Horatius? Why did the Romans honor his memory? At what place does the inverted arrangement begin? What is the main thought in stanzas 4-6? 6. (No. 22.) Waits where (stanza 1)? where (stanza 4) Shall be sung There what (stanza 5)? 7. (No. 22.) Explain the following: (a) The Muse. (b) Disgusted at an age and clime barren of every glorious theme. (c) The force of art by nature seems outdone, (d) Imposing for truth and sense the pedantry of courts and schools. (e) Another golden age. 8. (No. 22.) (a) Give the meaning of clime, genial, ensue, epic, empire, drama. (b) Who was Bishop George Berkeley? 9. Mark the pronunciation of the following words: leisurely, different, curiosity, progeny, clamors, chaos, every, Comitium, Algidus, Horatius. 10. Which of the selections in Chapter X do you like best? Why? CHAPTER XI STUDIES IN INTERROGATIVE AND Studies in Interrogation and Exclamation are primarily studies in motive. If a reader understands the text and is familiar with it, he needs only to grasp the reason for asking the question in order to interpret correctly. The simplest motive for asking a question is to obtain information through a direct answer. Ordinary conversation is full of this kind of questioning. One person asks, another replies (No. 3); or the question may be repeated by a third person in either direct or indirect form (No. 2). Such questions present material for a wide variety of interpretation, as may be seen in Nos. 5, 6, and 7, where we enter the realm of emotional motives. Figurative interrogations, or those that are not asked for the purpose of obtaining a direct answer, make up another large class of interrogative forms. Orators recognize in them one of the most effective means for fixing the attention of their hearers, stimulating their reasoning faculties, and influencing them to make decisions. Authors, too, realize that a direct question. is one of the most effective ways of introducing a subject or of emphasizing a point, and both prose writers and poets use the method more freely than is generally supposed. Studies in Exclamation are primarily studies in emotional motives. This is a fine piece of work. (A plain, simple statement.) What a fine piece of work! (The same expressed with emotion.) A reader should never attempt the interpretation of an exclamation until he has a clear conception of the real or imagined condition that called forth its utterance. Imagine conditions that might call forth the above statement. How must you change your picture to adapt the statement to an exclamation? Will you imagine a change in the quality of the work, in the experience of the judge, or in the temperament of the speaker? A second consideration enters into all exclamations that are not in the nature of soliloquy; namely, What effect does the speaker desire to produce on his hearer? The consideration of this will do much to keep expression natural and direct. The study of reading must always appeal more or less to the imagination, but studies in exclamation appeal most strongly to it. We conceive the conditions surrounding the utterance, step into those conditions, as it were, speak the words, and, presto! the truth is manifest. He who looks for examples of interrogation or exclamation will be surprised at how often he will find them together, but, because of the wide difference between motives for exclamation and those for interrogation, they are studied first separately, and then together. PEDAGOGICAL INTRODUCTION TO PART II When a pupil reads an exclamatory passage poorly, the questions for the teacher to decide are: Has he a clear idea of the conditions that might call forth such an utterance? Is he of an unsympathetic, unimaginative temperament so that he needs extra encouragement and stimulation on my part? Is he sufficiently familiar with the text to allow his imagination a chance to play its part? The skillful and experienced teacher who is able to judge pretty accurately how much and what a pupil is thinking, by the manner in which he reads, will be able to gain results with much less "story-telling than the teacher who has not learned to interpret the emotional language of countenance and voice. Conditions calling forth an utterance often need to be clearly set forth, but it should always be done in the briefest and most direct manner possible. The instructions to the teacher for this chapter may be summed up as follows: Persist in inquiries regarding motive: Why does the author or speaker ask the question? What is the strong or sudden feeling behind the exclamation? Who is the hearer (known or imagined)? What effect does the speaker wish to produce in his hearer? Do not accept "hazy," indefinite, half-expressed replies. Think out the answer to each question for yourself, so that you will be able to assist the pupils when they find expression difficult. Broaden your vocabulary if you find it limited, and assist the pupils to broaden theirs. . |