Delight and power in speech; a universal dramatic reader

Front matter

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A UNIVERSAL DRAMATIC READER

Introduction

Speech is one of God's greatest gifts to man, yet, comparatively speaking, how few there are whose speech is pleasing to hear, clear and understandable, impressive and stimulative to action.

From the cradle to the grave every person, perforce, uses speech, just as he eats, breathes, drinks, sleeps. It is one of the important, ever exercised functions of Hfe. Upon it all our social, business and professional intercourse is based. Without it, life as we know it, would be impossible. With it, developed to its natural, normal, proper, and readily attainable efficiency, there are few limits to what man may aspire to attain.

Reco^izing to the full the truth of the aphorism that "the things we enjoy doing are the things we do best," it is the purpose of this book so to present its subject as to create in its readers a firm resolve to so thoroughly enjoy good reading that they will do it well.

The aim is twofold: first, to stimulate a natural desire on the part of the student for the proper use of voice and body in the oral interpretation of literature ; and second, to present a natural and practical scheme for the attainment of this end.

After a number of years of experience and observation the authors have come to beHeve that when even the most diffident pupil has once had aroused in him a real enjoyment in the acts of speaking and reading aloud, he is destined to become not only an intelligent, but an intelligible reader.

It is no longer necessary to argue for the recognition of vocal expression as a worthy and definite part of the curricu-

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lum of High School and College. Training in the spoken word is to-day, as never before, looked upon as a prerequisite to professional and business success. Henry Ward Beecher, speaking of the rightful place of speech culture, says :

A living force that brings to itself all the resources of the imagination, all the inspirations of feeling, all that is influential in body, in voice, in eye, in gesture, in posture, in the whole animated man, is in strict analogy with the divine thought and the divine arrangement . . . and so regarded, it should take its place among the highest departments of education.

The majority of mankind, however, seems to feel that beautiful, powerful, and effective speech or the ability to read well and acceptably is the gift or attainment of the chosen few. Nothing can be further from the fact. Beauty is the normal condition in the universe in every realm of nature, and is attained by the simple effort of each thing to express itself in natural and spontaneous fashion. Likewise, clear, impressive, delight-giving, thought-provoking speech, and the power to read well are as easy to attain, and may be obtained in the same natural, spontaneous, unaffected manner.

Unfortunately in the past the teachers of these simple and natural arts befogged the whole subject by their artificialities, formahties, conventionalities and pretenses. Their text-books were filled with unnecessary and injurious rules, mandates, and requirements. And thus the pseudo-science of "Elocution," with its stilted expressions, its fixed gestures, its artificial inflections, came into being. And the students who were eager to acquire the mastery of effective speech, — than which there is no greater accomplishment, — were intimidated, frightened away by the multiplicity of rules and theories.

Let us be thankful that the day is dawning when instruction in correct spoken language comes through the easy avenues of naturalness, spontaneity, simplicity and normal enthusiasm.

INTRODUCTION v

Too long have we been discouraged by the ghb aphorism that there is no easy road to learning. It is not true, if by learning we mean the attainment of the real intellectual things, instead of the sham, pretentious things that men in the past too often have called learning.

The authors of this book venture the affirmation that hardly one of the great readers, public speakers of power, or orators of influence have ever taken a lesson in the so-called art of "elocution" or heeded any of its straight- jacket rules. Daniel Webster has well expressed the difference between the man with a heart full of burning thoughts demanding utterance, and the one with a mouth full of carefully chosen words, and exquisitely modulated phrases, meaning little or nothing to the soul of him:

True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech. It cannot be brought from afar. Labor and learning may toil for it, but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases may be marshaled in every way, but they cannot compass it. It must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the occasion. Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation, all ■may aspire after it, — they cannot reach it. It comes, if it comes at all, like the outbreaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native force. The graces taught in the schools, the costly ornaments and studied contrivances of speech, shock and disgust men, when their own lives, and the fate of their wives, their children, and their country hang on the decision of the hour. Then words have lost their power, rhetoric is in vain, and all elaborate oratory contemptible. Even genius itself then feels rebuked and subdued, as in the presence of higher qualities. Then patriotism is eloquent ; then self-devotion is eloquent. The clear conception, out-running the deductions of logic, the high purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every feature, and urging the whole man onward, right onward to his object, — this, this is eloquence; or, rather, it is something greater and higher than all eloquence : it is action, — noble, sublime, God-like action.

The natively-eloquent learned to speak with power because yi INTRODUCTION

they had a message, because they felt, were deeply moved, saw a vision, experienced a deep emotion, had a thought they strongly desired to communicate to others, and with a few fundamental, simple, readily-grasped principles before them, generally unconsciously exercised., they said their say, and convinced the world.

To state these basic principles with the simplicity and naturalness they call for, and to show the pleasure and power that come from their development is the purpose of the authors of this book.

By following these self-evident steps one who has something worth saying, whose heart is deeply stirred, will become a good reader, a fluent, convincing public speaker with little or no conscious effort. Just as a few simple exercises, regularly persisted in, produce glowing, radiant health and physical strength, so will these simple, enjoyable exercises, kept ever in mind and daily used, bring to one the glowing delight of reading to oneself with appreciation and intelligence, reading publicly with intelligibility and effectiveness, and speaking to a large or small audience with convincing power.

The Selections of the Book

While there are many and varied text-books that deal with this important subject in a more or less modern fashion, they all use, to a greater or lesser extent, the same old selections from well-known authors and orators, which, unfortunately, were used by the teachers of the stilted, artificial, sophomoric and altogether discredited "elocution." Hence, the authors and editors of this volume have made an almost entirely new choice of Selections for illustrative purposes and for public reading. But few will be found that have been used elsewhere. References are made to the writings of standard authors which may be obtained in any ordinary library, but a large percentage of the prose and poetry of this collection is

INTRODUCTION vii

taken from the more modern and popular American writers.

It is neither the intent nor the desire of the editors to hmit the field of thought of their readers or students to any one field of English literature. Our aim is quite the contrary. We would so emphasize the worth of the literature of the West, however, that those who have hitherto deemed that "no good can come out of Nazareth," may be led to search for literary good in other Nazareths.

Literature is as wide as civilized human life, and according to the intensity with which life is lived, and the desire of those who live to express that intensity, will literature of strength and power be produced. The West lives intensely, rapidly, urgently, individually, hence its literature is intense, strong and powerful.

Just as sure as history records the existence of an early West — a West where the gun and knife settled men's heated controversies, a West where, for many years, there was a dearth of woman's soft voice and tender smile — just so sure are the writings of the Western poets, philosophers and storytellers of this period a vital part of our early American literature. The literature of the West, as with the literature of any country, needs only be a true, sincere, worthy expression )f the life it professes to portray.

The greater one's knowledge of the literatures of the various peoples of the world, the deeper one's sympathies become, and the easier it is to grasp the divine principles of human brotherhood.

The authors also wish to call attention to what they deem another important feature of their work. It will be seen from the outline plan of the book that it is divided into four parts, viz.: Intelligible Reading, Sympathetic Reading, Melodious Reading, Oratorical Reading.

The selections have been arranged, in the main, under these respective headings, that they may accompany the explanaviil INTRODUCTION

tions, serve to elucidate the principles laid down, and afford copious examples for their practice.

There is also an important and practical chapter on the Development and Use of the Memory.

That this book will fill a long felt and continuously expressed want on the part of teachers of Oral Reading is the confident assurance of the editors.

In the preparation of the technical part of the book the authors have been immeasurably aided by their large and personal knowledge of, and acquaintance or friendship with, leading orators in politics, the law, the church, on the lecture platform, and at public dinners and other functions. They have also availed themselves of the same knowledge of the great interpreters in the theater. A long, intimate study of the essential characteristics which made for the success of many masters in the art of using the spoken word has been made. Thus the authors are assured that no factor that leads towards, and assures, success in dramatic or private reading or speaking has been ignored. All academic and purely theoretical matter has been rigorously excluded.

The old methods of sophomoric oratory are gone, never to return. Men and women of purpose have learned that simplicity, directness, naturalness, are the most potent factors in conveying their ideas to others. It is gratifying to know that modern methods of teaching Oral Reading and Private and Public Speaking seek to emphasize these fundamental principles and reduce to the lowest possible minimum all introductions of the artificial.

Leonard G. Nattkemper, George Wharton James.

PART ONE Intelligent and Intelligible Reading

FIRST STEP. Getting the author's thought. Discussing IN- TELLIGENT reading. Giving material for training the pupil in getting the thought from the printed page. Reading at sight and reproducing in his own words. Making outlines of simple selections, principally prose selections.

SECOND STEP. Discussion of INTELLIGIBLE reading. Two-fold purpose: Thought-getting and thought-giving in the author's words. General and Special preparation. Exercises in Enunciation, Pronunciation, Articulation, Vocabulary.

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Chapter I Reading And Public Speech

It is the first and last object of education "to teach people how to think." When we consider the vast wealth of great thoughts felt and expressed by great men of all times and recorded for us in books, should we not give serious reflection upon what we read and how we read?

This book has to do primarily with how rightly to speak thoughts and feelings hidden in great literature — yet it is strictly in keeping with this purpose to give some attention to silent reading as distinguished from oral reading. For how can one hope to become an intelligible reader who is* not first an intelligent one? This does not argue that an intelligent reader is hkewise intelligible, for the mere comprehension of the author's thought and mood does not in itself insure a proper or adequate oral rendition of the same. In this sense we think of the former act as a necessity, and of the latter as an accomplishment.

Yet in this twentieth century we can hardly make the above limitations, for he who is to become most useful to himself and to others, must not only be able to understand what he reads, but must, at the same time, be able effectively to communicate it to others. The latter accomplishment, of course, necessitates systematic drill and practice, and the greater portion of this book is devoted to a series of lessons for carrying on such a course of instruction. In this immediate chapter, however, we are concerned more particularly with reading in general.

One of the first steps toward fitting oneself to become an impressive reader and speaker is to acquire a real love for the best literature. The only way to do this is by making the acquaintance of great authors, and the best way to come into companionship with noble writers is conscientiously to study their works. Because, at first glance, an author may seem obscure, too many are fain to put the book aside, or substitute for it one that does not require any effort to enjoy. But, after all, is it not the books over which we struggle most that yield us the most joy and the most good? When once we form the friendship of great books and catch their vision, we cannot help but pattern our lives, in a very large measure, in accordance with those fundamental and lasting principles of right living and right thinking which characterize the writings of all great men and women. Their ideals become our ideals.

It seems, therefore, that if we hope to become agreeable speakers or conversationalists we must, at the outset, realize it as imperative that we, make ourselves familiar with the writings, in verse and prose, of noble minds. It is by this close association with great people, who have not only understood and felt the deeper meanings of life, but who have put their experiences and knowledge into permanent literature, that we may have our smaller souls kindled to glow brighter and longer. It is by giving an attentive ear to the voices that call to us from our bookshelves that our finer sensibilities are quickened to fuller appreciation of nature, of art, and of the joy of living.

We must realize that training in the development of oral expression is primarily a cultural course, but, at the same time, a practical one. Many people would invert the order of this statement, but all are agreed that correct vocal expression aids immeasurably in the development of taste and refinement, and, at the same time, affords, in many ways, practical assistance in daily living.

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Pure water is more likely to be drawn from a deep well than from a shallow pool. So, also, he who possesses depth of feeling and appreciation of noble thoughts and pure emotions is more likely to give adequate and satisfactory oral expression to them than he whose feeling is shallow and indifferent. Experience teaches that nothing gives greater aid to a spontaneous, irresistible flow of thought, revealing, through voice and body, the finer conceptions of the human soul, than a constant familiarity with the deep wells of the best literature.

By listening eagerly to the best words great men of all times have said to the world, we make our own natures responsive. Then, in greater or lesser measure, as readers or speakers, we translate or interpret these words for the enjoyment or uplift of others.

How can the man, the woman, of limited time and means, proceed so as to find these treasures of literature?

Let us here set down, briefly and clearly, what seems to us the most enjoyable and natural method to use. In the first place, ask yourself if you are willing to be a hard worker, self-sacrificing and humble. Unless you are, you will find that great spirits are slow ta share with you their richest treasures. You must first make yourself worthy before you can expect to enter into their sanctum. In the words of Ruskin :

You must be willing to work hard to find the hidden meaning of the author. Ask yourself, "Am I inclined to work as an Australian miner would? Are my pick-axes and shovels in good order, and am I in good trim myself, my sleeves well up to my elbows, and my breath good, and my temper?" . . . The metal you are in search of being the author's mind or meaning, his words are as the rock which you have to crush and smelt in order to get at it. And your pick-axes are your own care, wit, and learning; your smelting furnace is your own thoughtful soul. Do not hope to get at any good author's meaning without those tools and that fire; often you will need sharpest, finest chiseling, and patientest fusing, before you can gather one grain of the metal.

Then, too, you must be patient. An untrained reader is, as it were, wandering in a great forest where he sees many paths, but he knows not which to take. If he pursue a wrong path the first, second or the third time, he should not lose hope, but seek again and again. By such experiences he is sharpening his faculty of discrimination, and erelong can, in a brief space, detect which paths he should follow. No one but yourself can prescribe rightly a course of reading best suited to your particular needs. It must be a voluntary search on your own part, and an enjoyable one, if you are to get the most from it.

But here enters a serious consideration: Is what I enjoy most the best for me? The answer is Yes and No! Yes, if you enjoy most what appeals to the best in you ; no, if you enjoy most what in your heart you know appeals to what is the worst in you. Therefore, the important question for you to answer is — does this book, article, essay or poem merely interest me, or does it appeal to the best in me?

Henry Van Dyke expresses the matter perfectly:

The person who wants to grow, turns to books as a means of purifying his tastes, deepening his feelings, broadening his sympathies, and enhancing his joy of life. Literature he loves because it is the most humane of the arts. Its forms and processes interest him as expressions of the human striving towards clearness of thought, purity of emotion, and harmony of action with the ideal. The culture of a finer, fuller manhood is what this reader seeks. He is looking for the books in which the inner meanings of nature and life are translated into language of distinction and charm, touched with the human personality of the author, and embodied in forms of permanent interest and power. This is literature. And the reader who sets his affections on these things enters the world of books as one made free of a city of wonders, a garden of fair delights. He reads not from a sense of duty, not from a constraint of fashion, not from an ambition of learning, but from a thirst of pleasure ; because he feels that pleasure of the highest kind, — a real joy in the perception of things lucid, luminous, symmetrical, musical, sincere, passionate, and profound, — such pleas-

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ure restores the heart and quickens it, makes it stronger to endure the ills of life and more fertile in all good fruits of cheerfulness, courage and love. This reader for vital pleasure has less need of maps and directories, rules and instructions, than of companionship. A criticism that will go with him in his reading, and open up new meaning in familiar things, and touch the secrets of beauty and power, and reveal the hidden relations of literature to life, and help him to see the reasonableness of every true grace of style, the sincerity of every real force of passion, — a criticism that penetrates, illuminates, and appreciates, making the eyes clearer and the heart more sensitive to perceive the living spirit in good books, — that is the companionship which will be most helpful, and most grateful to the gentle reader.

Chapter II Effective Speech

There are four definite steps in the mastery of effective speech :

It must be Intelligible It must be Sympathetic It must be Melodious It must be Forceful

In seeking to accompHsh these four aims, the pupil will not only increase his culture but his practical mental power as well.

The first step has to do with whatever makes understandable what he has to say. But before he can be intelligible in address, he must be an intelligent reader. He must train himself to master the real meaning of words. This means taking in — comprehending — and translating the thought of others. This is an important part in accomplishing the first step. The mind must be trained quickly and accurately to comprehend the printed page. • .

The Basis for Good Oral Reading

Grasp this idea firmly: Before one may hope to read intelligihly, he must first be an intelligent reader. You cannot express outwardly what you have not received and do not feel inwardly. Therefore the basis of good oral reading is understanding — intelligent silent reading. Some one has well said, "Unless a child can read, he cannot be educated." How few can read at sight a short passage and then close the book and

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relate its context. Why is this the case? Because the pupil has not been properly trained to read.

The Basis for Good Silent Reading

In the study of the printed word we must remember that its real meaning depends altogether upon its relation to other words in the same group. For instance, the word "fire" does not mean the same thing at all times. The real meaning of this word depends upon its kinship with other members of the same group. When we say, "The house is on fire," the word "fire" means an altogether different thing from what it means when we say, "There is need of a fire in the stove this morning." We must continually take care that we do not isolate words, but that we get their associated meaning. For too long a time in our public schools the pupils have been taught to read words and not ideas or thoughts. They have been taught to read word by word and not group by group. For instance, the most elementary pupils will read as follows: "The — cat — can — run — and — play — with — the — ball." The grouping is altogether overlooked. The children are concentrating their attention upon single or isolated words instead of upon thought groups made up of several words as follows: "The cat can run — and play with the ball." .

Get the Author's Thought

Whatever one reads, he must first determine for what purpose he is reading. A definite aim or end in view must be had to serve as a motive power. The pupil who can relate the successive events in a narrative after having read it carefully, has trained his memory. But memory training is not the highest aim or end. The thing of paramount importance is: What is the application of the author's meaning? The value lies in what use the student can make of the knowledge.

This act of getting the author's thought draws upon the student's stock of experience. All new matter comes to the pupil in terms of his past experiences. The task of the teacher is to aid him in identifying himself with the lesson taught by the author, so that he can make practical use of it.

We Are Not Studying Style

In this present step in the development of the student in effective speech the style of an author is nothing more than a means to an end and not the end itself. The test for the pupil is to see if he can put in his own words the vital meaning of the author. It should not be his purpose to attempt to improve on the writer's style. It is true that some of the world's greatest literary expressions would lose their highest significance if put in any other than their original form. This applies especially to verse form, for here the rhythmic movement is an inseparable element in the full expression of the idea. Some one has well said: "Style grows to the thought as the sea-shell to its occupant." But at this point the aim is not to teach the pupil the mechanics of literature. He must be taught to think for himself and use the knowledge he gains so that it will be valuable in his own life.

Three Definite Aims to Gain Knowledge

Let us keep in mind the fact that the pupil is continually seeking information which will help him to live better. He is constantly trying to increase his cultural and practical powers. Of course book learning does not furnish all, but its contribution is immeasurable in its importance. Hence the pupil must learn to master the printed word as well as the spoken word. Here are three definite ends or aims to serve as motive power in getting the thought of the author:

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First, the student must seek ideas and not words. Second, he must seek to classify and organize facts. Third, he must seek to turn his knowledge to some use.

Each Aim Illustrated

To illustrate the first aim, let us take the following lines from Hamlet:

Give me that man That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him In my heart's core, aye, in my heart of hearts, As I do thee.

Shakespeare wished to point out the blessedness of that virtue. Independence. It is of little consequence to the pupil in this first step of his growth to make a comparison between Shakespeare's method of expressing this truth, with that of Elbert Hubbard, who, speaking of Rowan, that man who delivered an important message to Garcia in the jungles of Cuba when we had decided to go to war with Spain, said :

By the Eternal ! there is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college of the land. It is not book-learning young men need, nor instructions about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies ; do the thing — Carry a message to Garcia !

Is not the aim in both cases for the pupil to get the idea which the authors wish to impress upon his mind? In other words, the authors are not simply writing for art's sake, as so many would have us believe. The pupil must get the author's messages, so that they will help him in life, to be both independent or free from passion, and reliable or dependable in whatever he undertakes.

Let us advance to the second step : The classification and organization of facts mean more than the simple process of orderly arrangement. This has to do with translating what the author presents to the pupil in terms of his past experience. This is the process of judging values. Before we pigeon-hole new information, we pass judgment upon its relative importance. The pupil has experienced the value 'of punctuality, courage, optimism, etc. Now, when any new truth comes under his observation, it is not turned into knowledge until it has gone through his mental gristmill. What he hears, or sees, or feels, is not usable until it has been fitted into its particular niche, and this fitting process is brought about by likening the unknown to the known.

This brings us to the third step. Frederick Harrison has said : "Man's business here is to know for the sake of living, not to live for the sake of knowing." There is no better way of expressing the third step in the development of the student in intelligent reading. After he has learned to grasp the author's thought readily, and then so reacts upon it that it becomes a part of his very being, his next step is to find an open market for the sale of his knowledge. This does not mean to sell for money in the narrow sense, but to put his understanding into actual daily life.

Chapter III Inventory Of Speech Efficiency

Before proceeding further, let us estimate our speech efficiency. Every conscientious person can determine the strong and weak points of his speech by asking himself a few questions. Some, more sensitive than others, will very likely magnify their weaknesses and minimize their commendable qualities. Be that as it may, the vast majority will give a fair rating to both good and bad vocal habits.

This personal consultation with yourself may take a long or a short time. Some are quick to see faults in themselves — and probably slow tcf correct them ; still others are slow to see their own errors and probably never will correct them; but all careful and honest students will discover at once where they are lacking in the proper management of voice, and will proceed to overcome their difficulties.