INDEX OF AUTHORS. ALDRICH, T. B., 289. ALLINGHAM, W., 381. BROWN, JOHN, M. D., 110, 287. CHANNING, REV. W. E., 378. CHATHAM, LORD, 70, 374. CHILD, MRS. L. M., 150. CICERO, 125. CLAY, HENRY, 155. COLERIDGE, S. T., 383. COOPER, J. F., 356. CROLY, G., 189. DAVID, KING, 90. DEWEY, O., 345. DICKENS, CHARLES, 96, 128. EMERSON, R. W., 225. ERSKINE, LORD, 301. EVERETT, A. H., 117, 120. FOX, CHARLES JAMES, 249. HAYES, ISAAC I., 203. HEBER, BISHOP, 62. HOLMES, O. W., 154, 300. HUGHES, T., 313, 316. HUNT, LEIGH, 151, 295, 370. IRVING, WASHINGTON, 152. 12 LARDNER, DR., 329. LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, 382. LONGFELLOW, H. W., 72, 79, 107, 163, 238, LOWELL, JAMES R., 69, 240. MILLER, JOAQUIN, 159, 246. MILTON, 243. MIRABEAU, 211. MITCHEL, O. M., 262. MOORE, THOMAS, 149, 173, 186, 280. PHILLIPS, WENDELL, 307. PRENTISS, S. S., 278. PRESCOTT, W. H., 101. READ, T. B., 208. READE, CHARLES, 214, 217. ROBERTSON, REV. F. W., 37. RUSKIN, JOHN, 174. SALA, G. A., 207. SCHILLER, 182. SCOTT, SIR WALTER, 99, 192, 197, 272. SHELLEY, P. B., 343. SMITH, SYDNEY, 253. STOWE, MRS. H. B., 140. TENNYSON, ALFRED, 113, 178, 251, 3 TILTON, THEODORE, 220. TRENCH, R. C., 286. TROWBRIDGE, J. T., 156. WARE, WILLIAM, 105. WEBSTER, DANIEL, 179. WISEMAN, CARDINAL, 187. THE NEW YORK STOR, LENOX AND "All art must be preceded by a certain mechanical Experiness." GOETHE. PRACTICAL ELOCUTION. STAND I. STANDARD DIRECTIONS. TAND OR SIT IN A GOOD POSITION. Body upright, chest expanded, shoulders thrown back, and head erect. 2. HOLD THE BOOK PROPERLY. Support the book in the left hand, with three fingers underneath, the thumb and little finger extended above to keep the leaves down. Elbow free from the body, and forearm elevated at an angle of thirty to fortyfive degrees. 3. BREATHE BEFORE THE LUNGS ARE EMPTY OF AIR, and before necessity or fatigue forces the lungs to respire too great a volume at once. 4. KEEP THE EYE AND MIND IN ADVANCE OF THE TONGUE. That is, look ahead on the page, and see and understand clearly what you are going to say, before you speak. 5. THINK THE THOUGHTS AND FEEL THE EMOTIONS. Unless this is done the reading will be as profitless to the reader as it is dry, mechanical, and meaningless to the hearer. 6. BE IN EARNEST. Always throw yourself into the spirit of what you read, and try to do your best. 7. MAKE YOURSELF HEARD, UNDERSTOOD, AND FELT. To do this, however, do not overstrain the voice nor pitch its tones too high. Be correct but not over-nice in the enunciation. Do not mistake theatrical bluster for expressive reading. 15 8. LISTEN TO OTHERS. Give strict attention while others are reading, and try particularly to see wherein they do well. You will thus gradually make their merits your own. 9. STUDY THE READING LESSON. Prepare your reading exercise as carefully as you would for a recitation in history or geography. It is a mistake to suppose that the productions of the great masters of thought and expression can be read properly without such study. THE II. ESSENTIAL POINTS IN PRACTICE. I. Pleasant Quality of Tone. HE tone of voice in ordinary reading should be sweet, musical, and sprightly. Practice the following examples for the cultivation of such a tone. Read as a person naturally speaks when in a happy, buoyant state of mind. 1. Give us, O give us, the man who sings at his work! He will do more in the same time, he will do it better, he will persevere lònger. One is scarcely sènsible of fatigue whilst he marches to músic. The very stars are said to make hàrmony as they revolve in their spheres. Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, altogether past calculation its powers of endurance. Efforts, to be permanently useful, must be uniformly joyous, a spirit all sùnshine, graceful from very gladness, beautiful because brìght. 2. What hò, my jovial mates! come on! we'll frolic it Like fairies frisking in the merry moònshine! 3. There is nothing like fùn, is there? I haven't any myself, but I do like it in others. O, we need it! We need all the counterweights we can muster to balance the sàd relations of life. God has made sunny spots in the heart; why should we exclude the light from them? |