Essential steps in reading and speaking : for teachers, professional speakers, students, and persons seeking general culture

Front matter

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Preface

This book has been prepared in response to repeated requests from teachers, students, clergymen, lawyers, and other persons interested in general culture, who have desired that the Author should present his thoughts on speech training in a tangible form.

While he fully believes the truth, " Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh," he has prepared this volume with the hope that it will place the studies of speaking and reading on a more teachable foundation, and thus help many persons to further their efforts to improve themselves in speaking and reading and to become more potent and efficient in these "greatest of all arts."

After deciding to undertake the work, it was found to be much more difficult than at first anticipated. And to carry out the preconceived plan it would be necessary in some places to "blaze the way." On this account, more than eight years has the temple been in building.

A properly prepared text-book is one that will impart instruction to the student and at the same time admit of being taught. This twofold phase of the work has been constantly kept in mind ; the aim of the Author being to make the text instructive without a teacher, and also to make a book that is strong by being taught. For these reasons a number of illustrations have been introduced that appeal to the "visual mind " ; for a concrete presentation of thought is most forcible. These

VI PREFACE

illustrations were sketched especially for this book by Miss Laura Miller, the celebrated sketch artist, who drew the most of them from the speaker in action and from photographs taken especially for this work. They are meant to be suggestive of thought, not absolute in instruction. They do not represent fancies, but fact.

In the discussion of the several subjects the purpose has been to show a natural basis upon which to build, not a mere hypothesis nor an opinion ; assertions have not been accepted. A great deal of the method is out of the usual path of texts on speaking and reading, but it is the result of study, teaching, investigation, observation, and by actual use has been found to be most practical. The Methods of Breathing and of Voice Culture have been used with over two thousand students, and there has not been one failure. But scores of speakers and singers who have used other methods of breathing and voice production, and have developed sore throat and hoarseness, and have been compelled to quit their work, have been permanently cured by the method and practice set forth in this book. The author has implicit confidence in the work because it is based on science ; and the application has proven practical, and he has had not one failure in results. Yet he does not doubt it will be severely dealt with by persons who read it for the first time and who have never put the instructions to use.

The book will be found useful in home study as well as the class room. Technical terms have been largely omitted because they are usually confusing to students. Some chapters may be thought to enter into techni-

PREFACE Vll

calities too much ; for example, the chapter on Articulation and the one on Pitch of the Elementary Sounds. But this was done because teachers in the Primary Grades in the Public Schools have indistinctness of speech to deal with in teaching, and the application of the principles in these chapters will cure the difficulty. As the author has explained these difficulties to Teachers' Institutes, he has always been asked for this technical work in a tangible form. Many children and even grown persons are psychically deaf, and cannot be taught the elements of a word unless taught the articulate positions of the organs of speech. Neither can they be trained to overcome the defect of omitting consonant sound pitches and dwelling principally on the vocal part of a word unless taught the technicalities of the Pitch of the Elementary Sounds.

It is not expected that all will aspire to become platform artists, but inasmuch as all persons must communicate with their fellow-associates, it is important that an effective style of speech be acquired, and for this purpose every chapter in this book will be found helpful in developing a beautiful and effective speech.

As " Oratory is the greatest of all arts," any complete method of instruction must deal with the two couplets of trinities which are the bases upon which to build a liberal education. The first couplet of trinities is : —

Intellect

Acquisition

Volition

Retention

Emotion

Expression

Vlll PREFACE

the other is : —

Wit Action

Worth Utterance

Words Powers of Speech

and to train these twelve elements of a person's education has been kept ever in mind.

The study of Speaking, then, consists of science as well as art, and may well be considered the science of expression and the art of its application. As a science, we may study it from books ; as an art, we must make the application of the science by actual practice. Many persons study the science, but fail in the art because they will not apply it. This book deals with the science and gives directions to develop the art.

Acknowledgments for valuable suggestions are due Joseph M. Anderson, D.D., Columbus, Ohio ; Hon. Charles B. Galbreath, Ohio State Librarian ; Professor Edward Rhynearson, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ; Superintendent Delos Fall, Albion, Michigan ; Professor O. E. Weaver of Wittenberg College ; and to the several authors who have so kindly permitted the use of their literary productions to illumine the several chapters.

The illustrations in this book were, in the main, specially drawn from life poses for this work ; and are fully protected by copyright.

FRANK S. FOX.

The Capitol College of Oratory and Music. Columbus, Ohio, March i, 1905.

Contents

PAGE

Introduction . xi

CHAPTER

Introduction

Industry Necessary to the Attainment of Eloquence

The history of the world is full of testimony to prove how much depends upon industry ; not an eminent orator has lived but is an example of it. Yet, in contradiction to all this, the almost universal feeling appears to be that industry can effect nothing, that eminence is the result of accident, and that every one must be content to remain just what he may happen to be. Thus multitudes who come forward as teachers and guides suffer themselves to be satisfied with the most indifferent attainments and a miserable mediocrity, without so much as inquiring how they may rise higher, much less making any attempt to rise. For any other art they would have served an apprenticeship, and would be ashamed to practice it in public before they had learned it. If any one would sing, he attends a master, and is drilled in the very elementary principles, and only after the most laborious process dares to exercise his voice in public. This he does, though he has scarce anything to learn but the mechanical execution of what lies in sensible forms before the eye. But the extern-

pore speaker, who is to invent as well as to utter, to carry on an operation of the mind as well as to produce sound, enters upon the work without preparatory discipline and then wonders that he fails ! If he were learning to play on the flute for public exhibition, what hours and days would he spend in giving facility to his fingers, and attaining the power of the sweetest and most expressive execution ! If he were devoting himself to the organ, what months and years would he labor that he might know its compass and be master of its keys, and be able to draw out at will all its various combinations of harmonious sound and its full richness and delicacy of expression ! And yet he will fancy that the grandest, the most various, and most expressive of all instruments which the infinite Creator has fashioned by the union of an intellectual soul with the powers of speech may be played upon without study or practice ; he comes to it a mere uninstructed tyro, and thinks to manage all its stops and command the whole compass of its varied and comprehensive power ! He finds himself a bungler in the attempt, is mortified at his failure, and settles it in his mind forever that the attempt is vain.

Success in every art, whatever may be the natural talent, is always the reward of industry and pains. But the instances are many of men of the finest natural genius, whose beginning has promised much, but who have degenerated wretchedly as they advanced, because they trusted to their gifts and made no efforts to improve. That there have never been other men of equal endow-

ments with Demosthenes and Cicero, none would venture to suppose ; but who have so devoted themselves to their art or become equal in excellence ? If those great men had been content, like others, to continue as they began, and had never made their persevering efforts for improvement, what would their countries have benefited from their genius or the world have known of their fame ? They would have been lost in the undistinguished crowd that sunk to oblivion around them. Of how many more will the same remark prove true ! What encouragement is thus given to the industrious ! With such encouragement, how inexcusable is the negligence which suffers the most interesting and important truths to seem heavy and dull and fall ineffectual to the ground through mere sluggishness in their delivery ! How unworthy of one who performs the high functions of a religious instructor, upon whom depends, in a great measure, the religious knowledge and devotional sentiments and final character of many fellow-beings, to imagine that he can worthily discharge this great concern by occasionally talking for an hour, he knows not how, and in a manner which he has taken no pains to render correct, impressive, and attractive; and which, simply through want of that command over himself which study would give, is immethodical, verbose, inaccurate, feeble, trifling. It has been said of the good preacher that " truths divine come mended from his tongue." Alas ! they come ruined and worthless from such a man as this. They lose that holy energy by

XIV INTRODUCTION

which they are to convert the soul and purify man for

heaven, and sink in interest and efficacy below the level

of those principles which govern the ordinary affairs of

this lower world.

REV. HENRY WARE.

ESSENTIAL STEPS IN READING AND SPEAKING

Chapter I

Reading, as we wish to treat the subject, may be properly said to consist of three parts : first, finding the thought ; second, retaining the thought ; third, expressing the thought. That line of reading known as perusing (Latin per, over; and video, to see) is not what we wish to discuss. Reading as a part of expression is more difficult and more comprehensive. This is the acme of communication, and when attained, the student will have mastered each step, for he will have passed from the beginning to the ideal. The word "read" itself is significant. It is of Anglo-Saxon origin, from rcedan, to advise, to counsel, to declare. From the word itself we have our line of duty marked out. To many the road will be new and probably difficult to travel. But do not falter ; for when you have mastered Reading you have acquired all the elements that lead to a liberal education. Reading is probably the most difficult branch with which the teacher has to contend. This is due to the fact that so little training of a tangible character is given in this study. The object of these lessons is to show that it can be taught by another method than imitation. There are some principles of the study that must be understood and made plain. We shall omit technical terms in order to make the work as easy and practical as possible.

The first step is to understand thoroughly the thought sentence and be able to master it in every detail. Without this there must be constant stumbling, and much of the progress made in speaking and reading cannot but be of a guess-work character. All elements of thought gathering and of expression are based on the Thought Sentence.

A Thought Sentence is a group of words which represent a single thought. In composition we often associate a number of thoughts in a single grammatic sentence. Within this sentence we often represent a Thought Sentence by a single word, or by two words, or more. In order to get the full meaning a reader must be able to separate the grammatic sentences into Thought Sentences. Where the Thought Sentence is represented by a single word, ellipsis has been used, and in speaking or reading, pauses must be made of sufficient time to allow the listener to supply in his mind the words omitted. Where the Thought Sentence is composed of several words, some words will be more closely related to the thought than others. These significant words are the monuments of thoughts ; that is, they mark the location of the thought of the sentence, and the remaining words are auxiliary to the Monuments or Thought Words. These auxiliary words soften the language of the sentence.

When skill has been acquired, as it will be by practice in pointing out these Thought Centers, the reader will be able to run his eye over the page and gather all the thoughts in a very few seconds. The person who has developed himself in this work has gotten the first important step in learning. He will have the power to gather the thoughts and time to digest them ; and this digesting is the real work of education.

Here may be pointed out two reasons for disliking an author : First, the thoughts of the composition may not be methodically arranged ; second, if they are properly arranged the reader may not be able to see clearly the line of Monumental Words and grasp their full meaning. The first difficulty is due to the author ; the second is with the reader. This constitutes one of the first and most important steps in reading. Many of the elements of good, intelligent, comprehensive, and entertaining reading are based upon a clear, marked understanding of the Thought Sentence and the ability to develop it; that is, to see the thought picture with the " mind's eye." As an example let us take the following from the writings of Dr. Holland. The dashes separate the Thought Sentences.

GIVE US MEN

God give us men — a time like this demands

Strong minds — great hearts — true faith — and ready hands

Men whom the lust of office — does not kill —

Men whom the spoils of office — can not buy —

Men who have honor — men who will not lie —

Men who can stand before a demagogue —

Tall men — s?m-crowned — who live above the fog —

In public duty — and in p?'ivate thinking —

For while the rabble — with their thu?nb-worn creeds —

Their large professions — and their little deeds —

Mingle in selfish strife — lo ! freedom weeps —

Wrong rules the land — and waiting justice sleeps —

In referring to this poem, it will be observed that men is the first important Thought Center. It is the subject. Then the author realizes that there are different classes of men, and proceeds to describe the character of the men he has in mind. This description is found in the Monuments, — sti'ong, great, true, ready, hist, not kill, spoils, not buy, opinions, will, honor, not lie, stand, damn, without, tall, sun-crowned, above, public, private. These Thought Centers thus far describe the whole man. Some show what elements are wanted ; others what the author would have eliminated. This ends the first division of the poem.

The next division gives the reason for wanting such men. The Thought Centers here are rabble, thumbworn, professions, deeds, selfish, weeps, wrong, sleeps. These fill out the list of important words in the poem.

Some of these Monumental Words are more important than others. Some are milestones ; some are half milestones; some are quarter milestones. Around these Thought Centers cluster the words of each Thought Sentence, and are auxiliaries in the expression of thought. Some are of so great importance as helpers and approach so near the principals, that readers, not knowing the author's thought, sometimes differ as to the Thought Center, and consequently as to the real meaning to be brought out. This, however, we shall treat in the chapter on emphasis.

For practice work, point out the Thought Centers in any of the following poems : Lowell's " The first Snowfall" ; Whittier's "The Barefoot Boy" or "The Pumpkin " ; Longfellow's " The Day is Done " or selections in this book.

Study first the production carefully. Be sure you follow a single chain of thought, so the contexts will harmonize. The tendency of the student will be to have too many Thought Sentences. After you have made the divisions, leave them for a few days, then take up the work again and see if you are satisfied to leave the phrasing and Thought Centers as first made. Note if the line of thought is logical, consistent throughout. A little practice in the work will soon enable the student to take a poem or literary production and with the first reading locate the Thought Centers and gather the thoughts rapidly and retain them accurately. The student will notice in his work that often poems will divide into several divisions, these divisions corresponding to what may properly be called a paragraph ; and in pointing out the Thought Centers in these paragraphs he should be careful to follow a single line of thought, and he will then . see that there is a close connection between all the Thought Centers of the paragraphs.

In the present arranged curriculums of our public schools, normal schools, academies, colleges, and universities, and in much of the method of teaching, there is little or no real training that will give help to the student in getting his lessons quickly, and at the same time accurately, so that he may retain them. A student can just as well be taught to get a lesson at one reading as in three or four. This should be the ideal training. Many children do this ; and yet the teacher says, " Study your lesson four or five times more." This fruitless repetition brings about a weakening of the mental powers. Too much stimulant is no stimulant. The child gets the whole of a story with one reading, hearing, or telling. You listen to a speech or sermon and get it all with one hearing ; that is, if it has been arranged and given as it should be. In most of our practical life we adhere to this once process. Why not develop this power in school ? The race belongs to the swift. But if we attempt this kind of work, many of the old, and supposed wise teachers, because they were not trained in this way themselves, and cannot do this rapid work, shake their heads in discouragement because it may be contrary to the way they were taught, and so they say : —

" Now consarnin' this readin', Provided things go to my say, Shan't hang on new-fangled hinges, But swing in the old-fashioned way.

" We ain't no time for sech foolin',

Besides there's no good to be reached By tiptoein' the children up higher Than ever their fathers was teached?

— Carleton.

This is about the amount of their argument. They tell us there is no permanency in this rapid work, when example and history prove that men and women who have stood at the head of affairs have had this power of doing work quickly. Because the students have no power to gather thought quickly and retain it, all of their school life is spent in poring over the regular course of the full arranged curriculum. There is no time for individual thinking. Many of them leave college with a good deal of knowledge but with little education. They are bookworms, and because of this make failures of life, and in their cases the old adage, " Knowledge is Power," is false. The world is demanding more of men and women every year, and to meet this demand better methods of study are imperative.

This logical analysis is the basis of memory training. It not only broadens the acquisitional powers of the

IO THE THOUGHT SENTENCE

mind, but strengthens the retentive. It is the " heart root " of all educational advancement. Whether you desire to read or speak or not, it is valuable ; for it is the very life blood of culture.

Phrase the following selections and mark the Thought Monuments as suggested in the poem, " God Give Us Men."

THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH

Under the spreading chestnut tree

The village smithy stands ;

The smith a mighty man is he,

With large and sinewy hands,

And the muscles of his brawny arms

Are strong as iron bands.

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.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,

You can hear his bellows blow ;

You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,

With measured beat and slow,

Like a sexton ringing the village bell,

When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school

Look in at the open door —

THE THOUGHT SENTENCE II

They love to see the flaming forge And hear the bellows roar, And catch the burning sparks that fly Like chaff from a threshing floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,

And sits amongst his boys ;

He hears the parson pray and preach ;

He hears his daughter's voice

Singing in the village choir,

And it makes his heart rejoice ;

It 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,

And with his hard, rough hand he wipes

A tear from out his eyes.

Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing,

Onward through life he goes ;

Each morning sees some task begun,

Each evening sees its close ;

Something attempted, something done,

Has earned a night's repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,

For the lesson thou hast taught ;

Thus, at the flaming forge of Life

Our fortunes must be wrought ;

Thus on its sounding anvil shaped

Each burning deed, each thought.

— H. W. Longfellow.

GLORY

The crumbling tombstones and the gorgeous mausoleum, the sculptured marble and the venerable cathedral, all bear witness to the instinctive desire within us to be remembered by coming generations. But how short-lived is the immortality which the works of our hands can confer ! The noblest monuments of art that the world has ever seen are covered with the soil of twenty centuries. The works of the age of Pericles lie at the foot of the Acropolis in indiscriminate ruin. The plowshare turns up the marble which the hand of Phidias had chiseled into beauty, and the Mussulman has folded his flock beneath the falling columns of the temple of Minerva. Neither sculptured marble nor stately column can reveal to other ages the lineaments of the spirit ; and these alone can embalm our memory in the hearts of a grateful posterity.

As the stranger stands beneath the dome of St. Paul's or treads, with religious awe, the silent aisles of Westminster Abbey, the sentiment, which is breathed from every object around him, is the utter emptiness of sublunary glory. The fine arts, obedient to private affection or public gratitude, have here embodied, in every form, the finest conceptions of which their age was capable. Each one of these monuments has been watered by the tears of the widow, the orphan, or the patriot.

But generations have passed away, and mourners and mourned have sunk together into forge tfulness. The aged crone, or the smooth-tongued beadle, as now he hurries you through the aisles and chapel, utters, with measured cadence and unmeaning tone, for the thousandth time, the name and lineage of the once-honored dead j and then gladly dismisses you, to repeat again his well-conned lesson to another* group of idle passers-by.

Such, in its most august form, is all the immortality that matter can confer. It is by what we ourselves have done, and not by what others have done for us, that we shall be remembered by after ages. It is by thought that has aroused my intellect from its slumbers, which has "given luster to virtue, and dignity to truth," or by those examples which have inflamed my soul with the love of goodness, and not by means of sculptured marble, that I hold communion with Shakespeare and Milton, with Johnson and Burke, with Howard and Wilberforce. — Dr. Wayland.

Observations on Finding the Thought Center and Thought Sentence

1. Sometimes the Monument of the Thought (a Monument marks where something may be found) is a group of two or more words. When it is a group of words, usually one word may be found that can be substituted for the group and have the same meaning. This one word will be emphatic, and since the phrase or group means the same as the word, the group will be emphatic.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. — Bible.

This phrase means, day uttereth speech and night showeth knowledge, but the expression is much weaker, hence the phrase is used for emphasis.

He looks the whole world in the face.

In this Thought Sentence whole world is the Monument. It is used instead of all, meaning all persons, and so takes the emphasis.

He owes not any man.

Here not any is the Monument, and means no

Week in, week out, from morn till night, You can hear his bellows blow.

The Thought Sentence here is the two lines, and the Monument is the first line. It means constantly or continually.

2. In reading the phrases which make up the Monument, you read them as a single word, with the force and rate and volume gradually growing till the climax is reached on the last word, which corresponds to the accented syllable of a word. An accelerando and swell movement expresses it.

3. In all good language, words and sentences are often paraphrased to emphasize the thought; that is, to make clear the thought.

EXAMPLES Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish.

In this example it is all said, as far as the thought itself is concerned, when the speaker said sink or swim. Sink means to die and also perish. Swim means live and also survive. The two couplets, live or die, survive or perish, paraphrase the first couplet, sink or swim, for the purpose of impressing the thought.

In Hamlet's Soliloquy it was all said, practically, when he said, " To be or not to be." Yet the poet draws it out till there are thirty-five lines.

CHAPTER II Breathing Principles of Breathing and Practice Exercises

Physiological theorists have repeatedly presented ideas on the principles of breathing that further investigation has proven vagarious. The advancement of these opinions has, however, been productive of much good. I wish to present a few thoughts on the subject of "Why we Breathe" and "How to Breathe," which are the results of teaching and investigation.

Frequently as I have lectured to assemblies and classes on these subjects, I have found that the listeners have all been taught similarly, and accepted the instruction without any personal thought or investigation. Also, many students are very loath to accept anything different, especially if the thoughts have even a shadow of newness. These persons have always given at least two reasons for not wanting to change. First, they are afraid they would have to learn new work, and, second, they were afraid it might not " work." While I do not wish to presume that the reader is a person of the kind mentioned, yet if you have any misgivings, will you kindly put aside your antipathy to leave the well-worn path and let the mind contemplate for a few minutes some thoughts on " Why we Breathe " ?

Why we breathe has always been a theory. Physiologists usually say breathing is produced by the contraction and relaxation of the intercostal muscles, together with contraction and relaxation of the diaphragm, and rest at that. This is really a result rather than a cause. The All-wise Creator established a first cause from which we have certain results. Let us look farther, then, for why we breathe.

In the beginning of things the element of Life and the element of Death were introduced ; each at war with the other. " Man no sooner begins to live than he begins to die." Indeed, he is dying every second of his life. Unless the life activity, or building up of bodily functions, is more powerful than, or equal to, the dying activity, the individual is approaching the death point. In this tearing-down conflict which is constantly going on within the system, much of the worn-out matter is in the form of carbonic acid gas. This is a deadly poison to bodily life and must be thrown off. The blood in its circulation from the heart through the arteries, the capillaries, and the veins to the heart again, then to the lungs for purification and rejection of effete matter, then back to the heart again, thus continuing on its never ceasing journey while life lasts, constitutes one of the great purifying systems of the body. When the blood reaches the lungs it ejects the carbonic acid gas {carbon dioxide) into the air cells and receives oxygen, a life-giving element which burns the food for assimilation. Unless every lung cell receives oxygen and unloads its share of the poison, the body will not be completely cleansed and rejuvenated. The presence of the carbonic acid gas in the lungs' air cells acts upon the delicate, sensitive nerve ends as does a poison, deadening the vitality, destroying the resisting power, and thus permitting a collapse. In this way most of the poison is thrown from the lungs, and as the air cells are contracted, the lungs occupy a much smaller space ; and as nature " abhors a vacuum," the intercostal muscles contract and pull the ribs toward the lungs and down, and the diaphragm is pulled upwards, and thus the thorax is made smaller and the vacuum avoided.