Class UBx_i5I13 Book. .^g4 Copyright ]^^_ _« COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT, ESSENTIALS OF TEACHING READING ESSENTIALS OF TEACHING READING BY E. B. SHERMAN Formerly Superintendent of Schools, Columbus, Nebraska A. A. REED Inspector of Accredited Schools and Professor of Secondary Education, University of Nebraska THE UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO — LINCOLN 1909 ^•^- V t?':^^ Q^ Copyright, 1906 BY THE UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING COMPANY Copyright, 1909 BY THE UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING COMPANY All Rights Reserved Srf)e fLaftfiSttie ^rrsa R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY CHICAGO LIBRARY of CONGRESS Two GoDies Received Oopyritfnt Entjii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PART I.— THE MECHANICS OF READING How Thought And Emotion Determine Expression Chapter i, Time ........ 3 Chapter 2, Grouping . . . . . . -13 Chapter 3, Emphasis . . . . . . -19 Chapter 4, Inflection ...... ^^ Chapter 5, Force ........ 40 Chapter^6, Quality ....... 46 PART II.— INTERPRETATIVE READING ^ow THE Reader Must Infer Much of the Author's Meaning Jhapter 7, Types AND Figures OF Speech . . . 57 ChapteA 8, Effects ....... 69 PART III.— METHODS How THE Teacher May Secure Good Results in Reading Chapter 9, Primary Reading ..... 83 Chapter 10, The Division of a Reading Recitation and Assignment of the Lesson . . . . .104 Chapter II, Classification of Material . . .114 Chapter 12, Obstacles to Good Expression . . .128 Chapter 13, The Use of the Dictionary . . . 138 Chapter 14, Articulation . . . . . . 148 Chapter 15, Illustrative Lesson — An Ordinary Pri- mary Lesson ........ 164 Chapter 16, Illustrative Lesson — What the Inter- mediate Teacher Actually Does . . . .172 Chapter 17, Illustrative Lesson — Silent Reading and Expression ......... 184 PART IV.— SELECTIONS FOR PRACTICE Chapter 18, Didactic and Moral ..... 201 * The Importance of the Teacher's Work and the Value of Proper Ideals . . . Theodore Roosevelt VI CONTENTS The Power and Worth of Character William Jennings Bryan Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard . Thomas Gray Chapter 19, Oratorical Gettysburg Address . Abraham Lincoln The Southern Soldier Liberty and Union Chapter 20, Dramatic . lochinvar .... Barbara Frietchie Paul Revere 's Ride . GlAUCUS AND THE LlON Chapter 21, Narrative and Descriptive The Lady of Shalott . . . . IcHABOD Crane . . . . . The Death of Little Nell . 211 Abraham Lincoln Charles H. Fowler Henry Grady Daniel Webster . 216 . Sir Walter Scott John Greenlea} Whittier Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . Edward Bulwer-Lylton . 228 . Alfred Tennyson Washington Irving . Charles Dickens How They Brought the to Aix The Gray Champion . Chapter 22, Humorous . A Curtain Lecture . Whitewashing the Fence INDEX .... Good News from Ghent . Robert Browning . Nathaniel Hawthorne 249 . Douglas Jerrold Mark Twain 253 PREFACE THERE seems to be no scarcity of thoroughly good manuals of elocution, of expositions of primary methods, and of essays on the teaching of literature. Each field of work, excepting possibly that of methods in intermediate and grammar-school reading, seems to be satisfactorily covered by the material contained in a half- dozen books, each one of which touches but a single de- partment. There seems to have been no book which in- cludes those things in all the departments that are of practical value to the ordinary teacher. This book is planned to meet this need. Effort has been made to cover all that is of real use to the teacher in the many lines of reading work. Effort has been made to cover all the essential elements that the good teacher of reading should know, and to omit all that is not essential. It has been attempted to put under one cover at least the minimum of what the teacher of reading should know. No attempt has been made to invent novel methods, or to make the book a dictionary of devices. No good thing has been omitted because it is old. The authors feel pleased rather then chagrined when an experienced teacher says, "That plan is not new. I have been using it for years." As a matter of fact, all of the methods explained have been tested by experience. Part Three, including the chapters on Primary Meth- ods, Parts of a Recitation and Assignment of the Lesson, Classification of Material, Obstacles to Good Expression, Use of the Dictionary, Articulation, and the Illustrative Lessons, is the most important part of the book. Parts One and Two (The Mechanics of Reading, and vii viu PREFACE Interpretative Reading) have been placed first in order to lay the foundation for the method chapters by show- ing that thought and emotion determine expression. An attempt is made throughout to convince the teacher that all work with the pupil should be done from the thought side. For much of the material in Part Two, credit is due to Dr. L. A. Sherman, Professor of Literature in the Uni- versity of Nebraska, whose "Analytics of Literature" started the new teaching of literature in colleges, and whose latest publication, " Elements of Literature and Composition," marks the beginning of a new epoch in the teaching of literature in high schools. The Illustrative Lessons are included with the inten- tion of visualizing the work of the teacher as well as of emphasizing some of the most important things in method. Effort has been made to make these lessons typical rather than brilliant, workable rather than over-laden with device. Just such lessons have been seen by the authors in schools in widely differing sur- roundings. They represent the every-day work of the good teacher. It is with the idea, therefore, of supplying to the teachers of elementary schools, to the students of high schools, normal schools, and colleges, a simple yet com- prehensive treatise on reading, methods of teaching read- ing, and the psychological foundation of those methods, that this book is offered to the teachers of the country. The Authors PART I MECHANICS OF READING HOW THOUGHT AND EMOTION DETERMINE EXPRESSION CHAPTER I TIME The teacher of reading should have a clear idea of the importance of thought and emotion in reading. There have been two different schools of teaching reading. One school devotes the greatest attention to the mechanics of read- ing; 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 w hat a sentence means, who merely names the words in it. The 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, Emphasis, Inflection, Force, and Quality belong to the teacher, not to the pupil. To the teacher it is essential for the proper teach- 3 ESSENTIALS OF READING ing, 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 tiling 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 ' TIME 5 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 uo 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 t^ 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 Hollev:, 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 liis colt with a yell. He was none too soon, for the pursmng pack, now uttering short, shrill yelps, were now at th'^ 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 reac!- 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 Neil ' ' 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 life: 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 7 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 Hke 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 Hfe, I am now ready here to stake upon it; and I leave off as I began, that Uve 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 INDEPE^'TD- 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 children 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 : — lo 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 n 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 RepubHc." 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 bom 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 1. 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? vVhy? 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 ancesti^ require any different treatment from pupils of American ancestry ? 18. Under what circumstances should a teacher read to pupils ? CHAPTER n 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 mean 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 conmias set off 13 14 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 !<; 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 UnioUj / wave! Peace/and order/and beauty/draw Round thy symbol of hght 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- i6 ESSENTIALS OF READING sure. The following verses are separated into groups. There are good 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 m a selection. Many will read the lines thus: iHis brow is wetnwith honest sweat,] (He eamsiiwhate'er he can^ I And looks the whole worldnin the face,i [For 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 herlnand let a tear Fall j [for her sake,||on 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 1. [Under a spreading chestnut tree| [The village smithy stands;) (The smithii \a. mighty man is he,| [With large and sinewy hands;| I And the muscles of his brawny armsj |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,| iHe earns whatever he can,i {And looks the whole world in the f ace^i {For he owes not any man.] GROUPING 3. iWeek. injiweek out,iifroin mom till night) lYou can hear his bellows blow;; iYou can hear him swing his heavy sledge,| iWith measured beatnand slow,i [Like asextoDj)ringing the village bell,| iWhen the evening sugjis low.| 4. [And children coming home from school} |Look in at the open door;| iThey love to see the flaming forge,| I And hear the bellows roar,| |And catch the burning sparkS| jthat fly Like chaff from a threshing-floor.| 5. |He goes on Sunday to the church,| [And sits among his boy?;| |He hears the parson pray and preach ;[ iHe hears his daughter's voice, ^ jSinging in the village choir^ [And it makes his heart rejoice.) 6. |It sounds to him like her mother's voice j [Singing in paradise!) iHe needs must think of her once more,; [How in the grave she lies;) I And with his hard, rough handjjhe wipes A tear out of his eyes.) 7. [Tolling,, — |fejoicing„ — |Sorrowing,| [Onward through life he goes;| [Each morningi [Sees some task begun,) [Each evemng|[sees it close;] [Something attempted ,| [something done,| [Has earned a night's repose.) 8. |Thanks,| [thanks to thee,||my worthy friend,] [For the lesson thou hast taught!; ,Thus at the flaming forge of life) iOur fortunes! [must be wrought;] yThus on each sounding anvilnshaped Each burning deedtiand thoughtlj i8 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 1. How does grouping affect time ? 2 . Upon what principle 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. How would you group the sentence, "He laughed at the sugges- tion?" Change to the passive voice. 9. Did the cow jump ) Over the moon,, or , jump over, the moon? 10. Divide into groups, " The dish ran away with the spoon." 11. Can you suggest a single verb that could be substituted for the verb-phrase in the preceding sentence ? 12. What difference in meaning in "The boy who was hurt was taken home," and "The boy, who was hurt, was taken home?" CHAPTER III EMPHASIS The function of emphasis, the directing of attention to a word or group of words, 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. Sometimes a motion of the hands or head or feet is also used to make very clear the motive in the mind of the speaker. This directing of attention is called emphasis. In reading it is accomplished mostly by the voice, and it is the movement of the voice and the cause of this movement that we must study. 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. 19 20 ESSENTIALS OF READING The first time an idea is mentioned, it is, generally, the main idea, and so is emphatic. For example: | 1. Mary has a doll. 3. She has a book, too. 2. She loves her doll. 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 that 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 succeeded 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. EMPHASIS 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 ? * * 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 22 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 EMPHASIS 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 impHed 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 quaHty. 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. Mary 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 be to emphasize but few words, but to emphasize those few EMPHASIS 25 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 wide awake 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 yonr 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. Towards noon the Farmer and his son came into the field again. "See how late in the day it is," said the Farmer, "and not a man has come to help us." 26 ESSENTIALS OF READING "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 kinsfolk 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." ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS — EMPHASIS 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, "This is the 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 EMPHASIS 27 stress, and in the attitude of the reader toward them. Accord- ingly the sentence should be read : ^^^^ is the house that ^^^^ 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: ^^^^ is the malt that ^^^ ^ 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 imimportant but the ideas, "This," and "Jack," or "this" and "lay in." When this is accomplished, the mechanical expression of this 28 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 : — ^^^^ is the rat that ^^^ the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. The rest of the story should be read: ^^^ is the cat that caught ^j^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^t that lay in the house that Jack built. ^^^ is the dog that worried ^^^ ^^^ ^^iSi^ caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. ^^^ is the cow with the crumpled horn that mossed the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. ^^^ is the maiden all forlorn that bilked ^^^ ^^^ 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. ^^^ is the man all tattered and torn that ^^sed ^j^^ 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. ^^^ is the priest all shaven and shorn that carried 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. EMPHASIS 29 ^^^ 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. is the farmer sowing his com that ^^^^ 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 house ^y^j^ jack ^^^^^ r^j^^^.^ was some ^^^^' which ^^^ ^ the house that Jack built. Along came a ^^^» which ^^^ the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. There was a ^^^' which caught ^^^ 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 30 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 Little (i) was in a <^^^™' where she had "O ^i'5HT to be, when a ''°^^ leaf fell on (2) her ^ah- away ^^e ran in great ^=^1™! ^^^^ ^^^ ^^j henny penny. "O, henny p^^^y^,, 31^^ ^^j^j_ „jjj^ SKY i^ falling!" (3) " How do you ^^°^ ' " asked Henny Penny (i). " Oh ! I SA^ it with my ''^S' and I =e*«'' it with my ^aRS, and a ^'^^^ of it ^"""-^ on my ^'"'- I 'm ^O'^o ^TEl-i. the king." (4) "Let me go ^^'^^ (5) you, " said Henny Penny. So they ran to °UCKY Lucky. "I'^CKY Lucky !" cried Henny Pemiy, the ^^^ is calling." "How do you ™°^ '' " asked Ducky Lucky, EMPHASIS 31 "CHICKEN Little TOLD ^^ „ -How do ^^^ (^) know, ^^^^^N LITTLE?" (^) "^^•" answered Chicken Little, ''I ^^^ it with my ^^^' I SEA^ it with my ^^^^' and a ^^^^ of it fell on my ^^^• I'm ^o^N^ to ^^^^ the ^^-^ (4) "Let me go ^^^^ you'\ said Ducky Lucky. So they ran until they came to ^^osey Loosey. "GOOSEY Loosey^,. cried Ducky Lucky, "the ^^^ is ^^^^- ING. " So the story is continued. NOTES (i). 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 circimiflex 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, into a position of emphasis. 32 ESSENTIALS OF READING OUTLINE OF CHAPTER III EMPHASIS The function of emphasis. The main idea. A new idea. Related ideas. Training children to find main ideas. The circumflex inflection indicating contrast in main ideas. An example. FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION 1. What is the function of emphasis? 2. What is 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. What is the peculiar melody in emphasis of contrast? 8. What is the effect of trying to emphasize too many words ? CHAPTER IV INFLECTION The melody of the voice has more to do than to point out main ideas. It must also show the motive of the speaker in other respects. It does this by many different movements of the voice, all called inflections. 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 34 ESSENTIALS OF READING 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 Antonyms 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 is an honorable man. ' ' Later in the speech it becomes, " For Brutus is an honorable man.'' It is not necessary to analyze 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 INFLECTION 35 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!" A low 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 s^l." 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 36 ESSENTIALS OF READING 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 ai INFLECTION 37 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 imtil 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 on.'' 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, \ 38 ESSENTIALS OF READING 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 select- ed, 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 INFLECTION 39 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 EHzabeth'* 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 IV INFLECTION 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. Circumflex inflection. Rising inflection. Succession of ideas. Illustration. Methods of work. FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION 1. What office does melody perform besides indicating main ideas? 2. How can you say, "She is a sweet lady," and mean the opposite ? 3. Can a reader give a thought that is not in his own mind ? 4. What determines key? 5. What may a falling inflection indicate ? A rising ? A circumflex 6. How can a pupil be trained to read periodic sentences ? 7. How can pupils be trained to read by sentences? 8. Should children ever be allowed to cut up sentences in reading them ? When ? 9. Should children be required to look at the text as they read ? CHAPTER V 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 and again over the backs of his four. 40 FORCE 41 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 hy means of suggestion^ not at all hy 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 1" 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 42 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 43 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. We shall sleep in our old quarters to-night. ' ' H. A. GuERBER, Story of the Great Repxjblic. 44 ESSENTIALS OF READING THE FLAG GOES BY Hatsoflf! Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,^ A flash of color beneath the sky; Hats ofiF! 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; Weary 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 45 OUTLINE OF CHAPTER V FORCE The difference between reading, declaiming, and acting. Acting, — imitation. Declaiming, — imitation and suggestioOi 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 1. What is the difference between acting, declaiming, and reading? 2. Under what circumstances is it profitable to have the pupils heai elocutionists and actors? 3. What idea of reading should a teacher have in mind? 4. What does force indicate? 5. Of what psychological 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 shou-'d 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 VI 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 position 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 Dy 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 46 QUALITY 47 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, liveHncss and the like. For example' Has there any old fellow got mixed with the boys? If there has take him out, without making a noise. Hang the almanac's cheat and the catalogue's spite; Old Time is a Har! We're twenty to-night! We're twenty, we're twenty I 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 snowflakes 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. Adam. Dear master, I can go no farther: I die for food! Here lie I down, and measure out my grave. Farewell, kind master. "As You Like It." Emerson. The organs of speech when not changed from the normal by any emotion give the quality called normal. Example; 48 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 49 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 appalls 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 oflF 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 principal 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 so 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 ! 9|e sic H< ^ 4: 4^ From my heart I give thee joy, — I was once a barefoot boy. QUALITY 51 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 Hght, fantastic toe; And in thy right hand lead with thee The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty; 52 ESSENTIALS OF READING And if I give thee honour due, Mirth, admit me of thy crew. To live with her, and live with thc«, In unreproved pleasures free. Milton. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing 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 VI 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 53 FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION 1. 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 t© 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 " Chariot Race " ? Milton's "Sonnet on His Blindness"? Lowell's " Courtin' " ? PART II INTERPRETATIVE READING HOW THE READER MUST INFER MUCH OF THE AUTHOR'S MEANING CHAPTER VII 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 57 58 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 walls 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 59 "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 mere similarity is afl&rmed, 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 similarity 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 6o 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 Hne, *' 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 6i 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 a tree is a 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 62 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 with the 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 ofiice. " 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 63 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 oi "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: — 1. 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. 64 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 unwiJlingly to school. And then the lover, sighing like furnace, with woeful 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 the dark Norway pine, On that dark heart of mine Fell 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, Longfellow. Bore I the maiden. Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Longfellow TYPES 65 "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 66 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 Hfe 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 HOLUIS 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 1 And every chambered cell. Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dw«ll, As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell, Before thee Hes 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 th«e. Child of the wandering sea. TYPES 67 Cast from her lap, forlorn! From thy dead Hps 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 s«a! OUTLINE OF CHAPTER VII 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 ? OfhumiHty? 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 ? 68 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 VIII 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 imion. 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 69 70 ESSENTIALS OF READING see how this is accomphshed. 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, Maclaren 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 Umbs about in strange and weird contor- EFFECTS 71 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 biuried 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 sb'pt 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- 72 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 73 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 imkindness and caricature. 74 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 oj dialect selections with pupils is not to he advised, THE COURTIN' 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 thet 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 75 The very room, coz she was in, Seemed warm from floor to ceilin'; And she looked full ez rosy agin Ez the apples she was peeHn'. 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 breshed 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 scarlit, right in prayer, When her new meetin'-bunnet Felt somehow thru' its crown a pair O' blue eyes sot upun it. 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' I'itered 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 dasignin' " — "To see my Ma? She's sprinklin' clothes Agin tomorrer's i'nin." To say why gals act so or so. Or don't, 'ould be presumin* ; 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 77 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? When Ma bimeby upon 'em ships, 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 mind Snow-hid in Jenooary. The blood clost roun' her heart felt glued Too tight for all expressin'; Tell 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 meetin' 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: — 78 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 ?he 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 79 He parted 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 VIII EFFECTS Function of effects. Examples. Classification of effects. Incident. Character. Mood. Kind. Degree. The duty of the teacher. Exercises. FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION 1. 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 Uking for literature? 1 1 . Give some exercises in effects ? 12. Discuss the frequency of inferring effects in every day Ufe. 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 HOW THE TEACHER MAY SECURE GOOD RESULTS IN READING CHAPTER IX 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 ac ad af ag al am an ap ar as eb ec ed ef eg el em en ep er es ib ic id if ig im in ip ir IS ob oc od of og ol om on op or OS ub uc ud uf ug ul imi un up ur us 83 84 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 S, 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; t, the little pigs; and oo, the rooster. K is the fish-bone sound; sh is the sound that means hush; 5 means " Be careful; " ti 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 S^ 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. 86 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 : 1. 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, (i) 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 S; 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 leam to read already developed. Words. Our children now having the desire to leam 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. 88 ESSENTIALS OF READING Our list of words to be taught must be carefully made. It should include these elements: 1. 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 is 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, speUing 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 89 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 90 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 seats in pasteboard boxes, to be used in building the sentences used in the recitation, PRIMARY READING 9i 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, o, u, ey d, I, n, pf tf 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 92 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 soimd 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 mistakes 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 s and ingf that " light " is / and ighty 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, beauHfuly must still be taught by the sight. Such words PRIMARY READING 93 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 94 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 ightj 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, T, u,"G, 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 6, un, Tc, Tp, k, ick, 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 who^e 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, S, i, o, ly, less, ness, §. Continue the sound training. PRIMARY READING 95 FOURTH PERIOD Characteristic. — Increasing proportion of phonetic words. Time. — The remainder of the first year 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, 5, g, gl> gr, g, j, h, sh, ish, th, v, 00, 06, ph, ful, 6, ou, o, g, 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, e, 6r, ear, gh, 1, 1, ir, B, 6, 6, 6r, oi, oy, q, qu, a, t, iar, x, 5, f, 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 can 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. 96 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 ? Cai. 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 97 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 a-mowing 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. 98 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. What, lost your mittens! You naughty kittens! Then you shall have no pie. Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. No, you shall have no pie. Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. O mother dear. See here, see here. Our mittens we have found. Oh, found your mittens You darHng kittens. Then you may have some pie. Purr-r, purr-r, purr-r, Oh, let us have some pie. Purr-r, purr-r, purr-r. O mother dear, We greatly fear Our mittens we have soiled. What, soiled your mittensl You naughty kittens! To wash them you must try. Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. Yes, to wash them you must try* Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. O mother dear. Do you not hear. Our mittens we have washed. Ah, washed your mittens! You are good kittens. But I smell a rat close by I Mother. Kittens. Mother. Kittens. Kittens. Mother. Kittens. Kittens. Mother. Kittens. Mother. Kittens. Kittens. Mother. PRIMARY READING 99 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 15^ What do you think I saw this morn? 2nd. I know, I know; it was some corn. 15^ How many crows will go with me ? 2nd. Be quiet, friends, a man I see. ist. Caw, caw! Caw, caw, he has a gun! 3fi. 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. loo ESSENTIALS OF READING THE BEGGARS 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 'T 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 Gary. 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. Scene i. Little Red Hen. Here is a grain of wheat. Who will plant it? Will you, little mouse? 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. Little Red Hen. Well, I will plant it myself, then. PRIMARY READING loi 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. Wih you cut it, cat? Cat. No, I am too sleepy. Little Red Hen. Well, I will cut it myself, then. Scene ni. (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 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. I02 ESSENTIALS OF READING OUTLINE OF CHAPTER IX 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 1. 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 ? J 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 103 1 1 . 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.f 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 X 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 i 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 104 ASSIGNMENT OF LESSON 105 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 io6 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 107 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 io8 ESSENTIALS OF READING storniy 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 Jorge, measured heat, 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 109 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 no ESSENTIALS OF READING ' oral supplementary reading. The children should also be suppHed 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 m 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 comer 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 112 ESSENTIALS OF READING the interest or stimulate the effort in reading, both silent and oral. OUTLINE OF CHAPTER X 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 1. 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 if 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 113 10. What proportion of the children should be supplied with dictionaries ? 11. 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 experiential 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 XI 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 114 CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIAL 115 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 difl&culties 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 difi&culties 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 ii6 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 Hves 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 117 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 ii8 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 McMurry 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 119 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 I20 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 lead with pleasure. Teachers can verify this assertion by CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIAL 121 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 122 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 123 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. 124 ESSENTIALS OF READING The purpose in havirg 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 125 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 v/here 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. 126 ESSENTIALS OF READING OUTLINE OF CHAPTER XI CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIAL Five kinds of material. First class. Average degree of difl&culty. 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 127 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 quaHties should material have besides attractiveness? 10. Name some selections of the first class. 11. 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 Murry'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 Hke dime novels? 19. What should this teach us ? 20. What kind of material should be used for sight reading ? 2 1 . 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? j(9. Of what value is reproduction in reading ? CHAPTER XII 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. 128 OBSTACLES TO GOOD EXPRESSION 129 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 I30 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 131 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 132 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 133 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, 134 ESSENTIALS OF READING unnatural tone. It is, "one, two, three, four, five." This is similar to, "JO^N is on the sled.*' 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 one ^j-g two. Two times ^^^ are ^^^^• Two times ™ree ^^^ six. Two times ^^^^ are ^^^^T- Problems in analysis would be given as follows: If PENCIL ^Qg^g FIVE CENTS, ^^^^ ^j^ FOUR ^^^^-^^ ^,^5^ p If ^NE pencil costs ^^^ cents, ^^^^ pencils will cost four "^^^ five cents, which are ^^^^ty ^^^^^ Therefore, if ^^^ ^^^^^^ costs ^^^ cents, ^^^^ pencils will cost ™EN^^ cents. TWELVE ig TWO-THIRDS ^f ^^^^ number? If TWELVE jg TWO_ti^^g ^f ^ number, ^^^-third of that OBSTACLES TO GOOD EXPRESSION 135 number is one"^^^^ of twelve, which is ^^' if ^^ is ^^^ third of a number, •'■"^^^■^"thirds, or the number, are three ™^s gi^^ ^hich are eighteen. Therefore, ^^^^^^ is two-thirds ^j 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 oral recitation should be watched carefully. Unnaturalness can be corrected only by atten- tion at every point where it can exist. 136 ESSENTIALS OF READING OUTLINE OF CHAPTER XII 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 1 . What is the "reading tone" ? 2. What causes it? 3. How can it be overcome ? OBSTACLES TO GOOD EXPRESSION 137 4. How can the book be an obstacle ? 5. How can this obstacle be overcome ? 6. How can the obstacle of too difficult words be overcome ? 7. How can the difficulty of taking in the tnought 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? 12. What should be the mental attitude of a reader? 13. What may prevent gaining this attitude? 14. How may the methods of the nimiber class effect expression in reading ? 15. How may they help expression? 16. What care is to be exercised in pronouncing lists of words? 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 «^qually satisfactory to buy primary dictionaries for the fourth grade, common school dictionaries for the fifth and sixth 138 USE OF THE DICTIONARY 139 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 I40 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 141 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 J lafey 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-00-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, subscribe. 4. Unaccented < a * 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 diflScult 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, jf, ft, th, ss, sp, st, nee, nt, and 142 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 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 sufflx 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 143 in the sound of the vowels in the words Mary^ marry y 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 (i), ba-rom- e-ter (4). car, care, ca-ret (i), car-et (6), ca-reer (4). err, er-ror (6), er-u-dite (6), e-ra (i), e-rupt (2). or, o-ral (i), or-a-tor (6), or-ris (6), o-ra-tion (2). sir, sire, si-ren (i), 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 wo rds Elding 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 144 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 !'.,/.,»., and F. In determin- ing the meaning and the pronunciation of "contract," it is necessary to understand the abbreviations ^., /., %.■, a.y 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 14S 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 /m, jrCy 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. 146 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 provided* By district. By pupils. Teach table of contents. Key to symbols. Through 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 i47 Abbreviations in dictionary. Body of dictionary. Pupils must be taught. Order of letters. Relative position. Relative space. Exact place oi 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? IT. 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 ? " "Yeh." "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- cherrat?" " 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 148 ARTICULATION 149 boy's articulation, the prospective employer unconsciously judges the boy's character. An indistinct, mumbled sentence indicates to him inacciu*acy, 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 I50 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 fs 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 i-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 151 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 soimds, 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. bear bat rub dab brute bob A big black bug bit a big black bear. Brother Bill beat brother Ben. Bees build beautiful abodes. LABIALS I. B bill robber tub button battle hubbub 2. p 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 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 152 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 cat tar tickle tattle fat tread titter fit boat tote mitten teeth 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 153 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 children's 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. II. 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 ease buzz surprise zinc freeze expose shoes tears husband The prize pleased the visitors. The reason for those things is easy. Please excuse Susie's sneeze chisel chicken enchant giraffe majestic magic Susan solar mistake busy because amaze 154 ESSENTIALS OF READING 13. 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.^ 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€ can milk rebuke kind drink acorn cow frisk dictate Kate kindly killed the kittens. The cat drank and crept away. This key can conquer creaking locks. 17 G get gas garter gift ghost muggy gum guide begin looking kitten Yankee garden govern giggle ARTICULATION 155 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 mm 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. LIQUIDS 21. L long link languish belate hall old expel laughter large mule liquid lily All listen to the liquid melody. Large bells excel in loudness. Laughter lasts longer than mela ncholy . 156 ESSENTIALS OF READING 22. R rat car rattle rarify ring bore marl hurry roU 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 hem hard hushing hole huge hickory 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 rubs bobs stubs tubes hubs cabs 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 lads hides beholds loads dudes abodes 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 bags bogs kegs tags hubbub handle harm hubbubs imbibes describes unloads ballads succeeds rags hags rugs dogs lags pegs ARTICULATION 157 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? 158 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 ien 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 159 He is the generalissimo of the antidisestablishmentarian amal- gamation. 36. The following exercises are added for further drill. 1. 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. i6o 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 i6i 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. l62 ESSENTIALS OF READING OUTLINE OF CHAPTER XIV ARTICULATION Importance. Duty of the schools. Systematic drill. Method of instruction Exercises. 'i-b 2-p Labials -s 4-v 5-m 6-w .7-t Dentals ■ng Nasals | ^o-ni Liquids | ^a-r Aspirate 23-h 24-bs 25-ds 26-gs 27-ps 28-ks Hard Combinations ■< 29-st 30-wh ^31-zh 32-Long words. 33-Sentence of long words. 34-Long words. 35-Sentences of long words. ARTICULATION 163 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 diflFerent nation- alities ? 10. What consonant sounds are usually pronounced poorly? 11. 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 ? CHAPTER XV ILLUSTRATIVE LESSON — AN ORDINARY PRIMARY LESSON The primary teacher has just finished her opening exercises. Her pupils have sung three songs, including a motion song. She has passed around among them a pod of cotton, a bit of cot- ton batting, and a bit of cotton cloth. She has had a bright conversation with them concerning the manufacture of cotton goods. Now she and they are ready to take up the regular tasks. She turns to her first-reader class. Spring is now approaching, and this class started to school in September. They have read the first parts of two first readers. They are now reading in the first part of a more difficult first reader. The teacher is carrying three lines of work with this class: articulation drills, phonic work, and the regular reading. For convenience she has these lines of work at different times in the day. There is no reason for using different times, aside from convenience and the proper distribution of work. In the early primary work it is important to keep the phonic work and reading separate, in order to inculcate a right ideal of reading, but this reason no longer holds with this class. She has a phonic period immediately after the opening exercises, a reading period after recess, and an articulation exercise just before the forenoon dismissal. Her work to-day is the ordinary hum-drum work, unrelieved from monotony by any bright device. She uses such devices as will serve her purpose, but she knows that it is the regular methods that count. The time has now come for the phonic work. The teacher plans in the work of this day, to teach the sounds of 164 AN ORDINARY PRIMARY LESSON 165 "q." She expects also to teach some new phonic analysis, as well as to review and drill on some sounds and sound analysis already given. The teacher brings her class before the black-board. She will do the review work first, in order to have the foun- dation upon which to build the new work. The pupils see on the board the following sound symbols and words: 9, g, g, j, V, 00, do, 6, 9ell, -eradle, big, flag, cage, job, wedge, gity, lafe, love, have. These have all been on the board before, but the teacher has changed the order and position, so that she may be sure that no pupil is remembering by position, rather than by the appearance of the word or symbol. The teacher calls pupils by name, while pointing to one place after another. The pupils answer promptly. Finally the teacher points to "cage." It happens that the teacher has missed this word in the exercise. The pupil who is called upon remains silent. He does not recall the word. The teacher turns to the board and covers with her hand the letters "age." The pupil rec- ognizes the symbol "-e," and sounds it. The teacher now covers the letter "«," and the pupil recognizes and sounds "age." The teacher lifts her hand, uncovering the whole word, and the pupil speaks the word "cage." The drill con- tinues until the teacher is satisfied that the pupils know these sounds and words. She is now ready to teach the new lesson. She writes on the board, "broom, moon, shoot, shge, twQ, prQve. The pupils readily speak the three words, "broom," "moon," and "shoot," for these are old words. They know the words "shoe" and "two" as sight words, words that they recognize without regard to the sound. The teacher now, by questions, brings out the fact that the sound in these words is the "00" sound. The teacher adds as her contribution to the lesson, the fact that the letter "o" when marked "q," indicates the i66 ESSENTIALS OF READING same sound that "ob" indicates. She now marks the words ''shg^, and "t^Q," and then the new word "prgv^." The pupils sound and pronounce these words. The teacher now writes on the board the words, "cang^," and " rngv^," and has the pupils pronounce these, thereby adding them to their vocabulary. The teacher continues the drill until the time has expired. Immediately after recess the teacher turns to her first-reader class once more. She says to them: "In the lesson to-day there are three new words. It may be that you know one of them." She writes on the board the words, "my, owlet, Ewa-yea." The raising of the hands tells her that at least one word is old, and she finds that every member of the class knows " my." It has been brought to their attention in another reader. She marks the other words, and helps the class to learn them. She sees to it that the meaning of each word is clear. For fear that memories may prove faithless, she also places on the board the words, "lived," "lulled," and "stilled." These words have been used in the preceding lessons, but she fears that they may have been forgotten. "To-day we will read more about Hiawatha," she says. "Open your books at page twenty and read what is on that page. I shall want you to tell me how Nokomis puts little Hiawatha to sleep." The pupils read the following text: The owlet lived in the trees. Hiawatha lived in the wigwam. Nokomis lulled him into slumber. " Hush, " she said, " my Hiawatha, Hush! the Bear will hear thee!" She called him a little owlet. She stilled his wail by singing, "Ewa-yea! my little owlet ! " While the pupils read silently, sounding out to themselves any words not instantly recognized, the teacher waits, watching AN ORDINARY PRIMARY LESSON 167 for an opportunity to help some one who can not help himself. She soon finds a chance. A small boy raises his hand. " What is it, my boy?" " S-1-u-m-b-e-r," he spells. The teacher turns, writes the word on the board, marks it, and turns back to the pupil, without saying anything. There is nothing to be said. The pupil needs help, and she is giving help. Any talk would interfere with the process. He needs still more help. She covers the first syllable with her hand. He says, "ber." She moves her hand back until it covers only the "si." The pupil says, "umber." She now removes her hand, and he says, "slumber." The teacher now asks, "Do you know what 'slumber' means ? " The pupil satisfies her that he does. Two or three of her pupils ask and receive help, the teacher each time helping them to get the word from the marking. After a time has been allowed for this silent preparation, the teacher calls for the attention of the class. It is her pur- pose now to find out how well the pupils have gleaned the thought from the printed page. "Please close your books," she says. " What is our lesson about ? " Many hands wave in the air. "Patrick." "About Hiawatha." "Is that all ? " " It's about Nokomis, too." " What does it tell about Hiawatha and Nokomis, Howard?" "It tells how Nokomis puts Hiawatha to sleep by singing to him." "What does Nokomis call him, Estelle?" "A little owlet," says Estelle. "Why does Nokomis tell him to hush, Mitchell?" "Because the bear will hear him," answers Mitchell. "What did she sing to him, Howard?" "She sang, 'Ewa-yea! my little owlet!" And the teacher continues the conversation until satisfied that the class has the thought. She finally says to her pupils, "Now we will read the story itself. The first sentence, Earle." Earle reads the first sen- tence, to the satisfaction of the teacher. " The next, Howard." Howard reads the second sentence, but the expression is poor. i68 ESSENTIALS OF READING He pronounces the words as if he were calling off, "eny-meny- miny-mo." The teacher isn't at all satisfied. "Please close your book, Howard, and tell me where Hiawatha lives." Howard forgets that he is reading and answers correctly: "Hiawatha lives in a wigwam.''^ His attention has been drawn from the separate words to the thought relation. He answers in the words of the text, for he has been taught that when the teacher asks such questions in the reading class, she expects the sentence to be read again, and the answer brought out by emphasis. "The next, Estelle." Estelle wants to read with expression. She reads, ^'Nokomis lulled him into slumber" She nods her curly head as she brings out the italicized words. The teacher doesn't like this much better than she did Howard's reading. The cause of each failure is the same — lack of attention to the thought. The treatment needed is the same. "Estelle," she says, "what does Nokomis do?" Estelle reads the sentence again, thinking this time of what Nokomis does, and not of how she is making every one envy her on account of her good reading. "The next, Irene." Irene reads well. "The next, Mit- chell." Mitchell does not bring out the thought of the sentence. "What is mentioned for the first time in this sentence, Mit- chell?" Mitchell answers, "The Bear." "Then read the sentence again." Mitchell reads the sentence, and reads it well. "The next, Patrick." Patrick proves hopeless. He does not respond to any of the teacher's devices. If the teacher could devote all her time to this one boy, she might be able to lead him to give the correct expression to the thought. But she must pass Patrick in the interests of the remainder of the class. While she has been working with Patrick, Earle has begun to wink at Howard, and Irene is about to balance her book on her head, hat fashion. So the teacher turns away from Pat- AN ORDINARY PRIMARY LESSON 169 rick. "Please read the sentence, Hulda." Hulda reads it with good expression. "Now, Patrick.'* Patrick does better than heretofore, though much might still be desired. Frank is called upon for the next sentence, and he is much abashed when his attention is called to the fact that the next sentence includes two lines. At his second attempt he reads well. Other members of the class are called upon, and the teacher finishes this part of her work by asking Howard and then Estelle to stand facing the class while they read the entire lesson. The teacher has so planned, that she has still some time left. She devotes this time to supplementary reading. She has within her reach three copies of another first reader. Quickly she hands two out. "Page 41," she says. The places is found almost as soon as she says it, and the reading begins. The text is easy, much easier than that which they have been reading. The pupil designated looks over the first paragraph, is told any new word, reads the paragraph, and passes the book on. The next paragraph is read in the same way by the pupil having the other book, and so the lesson is continued. Finally she has the story told and asks what are the important things in what has been read, what is to be remembered. Just before the noon dismissal the teacher calls up the class once more, this time for the articulation exercise. The teacher has placed on the blackboard the following : Pet pipe pint pen nap trap fan full calf muff half fast prove move vim vote give have With pointer in hand, she says, "The first line of words to- gether. You know that we have had these words before, but you know how hard it is to pronounce the p's." As she points lyo ESSENTIALS OF READING to the words, the pupils pronounce, "Pet, pipe, pint, pen, nap — " "No." the teacher interrupts, "that is not distinct enough. Altogether now, the p's very hard. 'Nap, trap.' Once more ; 'nap, trap, pet, pipe, pint, pen, nap, trap.' " "Now, the second line as I point. Let us work hard on these f's. Ready, 'fan, full, calf, muff, half, fast.' Now, once more, 'fan, full, calf, muff, half, fast.' "This third line," continues the teacher, "has a sound that we have not practiced. If is like the f, but the voice helps make the sound. It is this sound (gives the sound of v). It is a hard sound to make loud, but we are going to try hard. I shall stand in this corner away off from you. See if you can make me hear the sound. Now, three times with me, V,v,v.' That is good. Now without me. Ready, V,v,v.' That was well done. Now, the words, 'prove, move, vim, vote, give, have.' Once more, without my help. That was fine. Now each one by himself down this row, up this, down this, up this, as I point to the words." So the teacher continues the drill until the time is exhausted. OUTLINE OF CHAPTER XV ILLUSTRATIVE LESSON — AN ORDINARY PRIMARY LESSON The three lines of work. Articulation drills. Phonic work. Reading. The time of the recitation. The Phonic work. Review work. New work. The word preparation. The silent reading. The assistance of the teacher. AN ORDINARY PRIMARY LESSON 171 The conversation about the lesson. The oral reading. Methods. The supplementary reading. Thought questions. Articulation drill. Review work. New words. FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION 1. How does this primary teacher open her day's work? 2. What three lines of work is this teacher doing in this class ? 3. When does she find time for each exercise? 4. Why have the exercises at different times ? 5. Why does she devote so much time to review work in phonics? 6. Why have the review work first ? 7. Of what value is the word preparation? 8. What work does she assign for preparation ? 9. What does this teacher do while the pupils are reading silently? 10. What is the purpose of the conversation about the lesson ? 11. How does the teacher try to secure correct expression from one who has read poorly? 12. What does the teacher do after the failure of a number of at- tempts to secure good expression from a pupil ? 13. How difficult work does she use for the supplementary reading? 14. Why so much review in articulation work? CHAPTER XVI ILLUSTRATIVE LESSON— WHAT THE INTERMEDI- ATE TEACHER ACTUALLY DOES THE STONE IN THE ROAD There was once a very rich man who lived in a beautiful castle near a village. He loved the people who lived in the village, and tried to help them. He planted beautiful trees near their houses, and made picnics for their children, and every Christmas gave them a Christmas tree. But the people did not love to work. They were very unhappy because they, too, were not rich like their friend in the castle. One day this man got up very early in the morning, and placed a large stone in the road that led past his home. Then he hid himself behind the hedge and waited to see what would happen. By and by a poor man came along, driving a cow. He scolded be- cause the stone lay in his path, but he walked around it and went on his way. Then a farmer came on his way to the mill. He complained because the stone was there, but he, too, drove around it and went on his way. So the day passed. Every one who came by scolded because the stone lay in the road, but nobody touched it. At last, just at nightfall, the miller's boy came past. He was a hard- working fellow, and was very tired, because he had been busy since early morning at the mill. But he said to himself, " It is almost dark. Somebody may fall over this stone in the night, and perhaps be badly hurt. I will move it out of the way." So he tugged at the heavy stone. It was hard to move, but he pulled, and pushed, and lifted, until at last he moved it from its place. To his surprise, he found a bag lying beneath it. He lifted the bag. It was heavy, for it was filled with gold. Upon it was written, "This gold belongs to the one who moves the stone." Great value can be gained by examining in detail the work of a skillful teacher of reading. While the study of the different principles upon which right method rests is essen- 172 WHAT THE TEACHER ACTUALLY DOES 173 tial, the observation of an application of these principles in a specific case is the operation of final importance. Let us, therefore, take the selection printed above and set forth the way a skillful teacher would handle it. The teacher would plan his work at least two days in advance. One day is not sufficient, for the assignment must be planned as carefully, and even more carefully, than the recitation. Let us imagine that some time on Monday, pos- sibly Monday evening, the teacher decides to have the above selection for Wednesday's lesson. He intends to make this a lesson whose purpose is the training of the pupils in the gleaning of thought and the increase of vocabulary, as well as training in expression. He looks over the lesson, noticing how many new words are used. He decides that the whole selection will not be too long for a single lesson. He is influenced in this decision by his knowledge of the ability of his class as well as by his knowledge of the selection. He then underlines in his book the words that he believes will be new to his pupils. This is a part of his preparation for the assigning of the lesson. He knows that he will not have time when the moment comes to decide just which words are new. True, the list of words at the head of the lesson are probably all new. But this class may know some of them, and this class may know some not included in that list. So he must verify the list and add other words according to his judgment. When he finishes, he has underlined "castle," "village," "Christmas," "early," "hedge," "complained," and "surprise." He then thinks of the work that should be assigned. He decides what this shall be, and makes notes in the margin of his book in order that he may not forget his plan. He places crosses opposite the sen- tences beginning, "To his surprise," "One day this man," "There was once." He also writes in the margin, "Words hard to spell." 174 ESSENTIALS OF READING An articulation exercise also must be planned, unless the teacher has already mapped out a series of exercises for the whole month or term. A systematic course of exer- cises is much more profitable than improvised exercises. In case, however, the teacher has planned no course, he will select some sound upon which to build his exercise. He may, if he have a nimble mind, leave the details until the time comes for placing the exercise on the blackboard, although most teachers will find it advisable to plan this detail in advance. The teacher whose work we are following, decides to base the exer- cise on the sound of "f." He writes in the margin of his book the words, "beef, fife, muff, five, flap, trough," and the sen- tences, "Half his life was spent in grief." "Can't you find your fan?" After reading the lesson carefully enough to know it, the teacher now leaves it until the time for the assigning of the lesson. A certain definite time should be put apart for the assigning of the reading lesson. Three times are possible: at the beginning of the previous day's lesson, at the end of the previous day's lesson, or immediately before the time set apart for the study of the lesson. In the lower grades the last time is probably the best, in that it gives the children an interest in the work that they are to begin. Another advantage is that the directions are fresh in the minds of the children, and the meanings of the new words are still fresh. Many programs, however, are not so arranged as to make it possible to assign the lesson at this time, and the assignment must perforce be made at the previous recitation period. There is but one argument that can be used in favor of assigning the lesson at the beginning of the previous day's recitation; namely, that by so doing the teacher will run no risk of omitting the assign- ment by reason of lack of time. The teacher should have such control of herself, as well as of her pupils, that she can arrange WHAT THE TEACHER ACTUALLY DOES 175 her work to suit the time at her disposal. The good teacher is able to keep three things in her mind at the same time : the class reciting, the other pupils in the room, and the time. The teacher who assigns lessons at the beginnings of periods, and then spends the recitation on other work, not only loses the opportunity to leave the pupils interested in the new lesson, but loses the chance to build the new lesson upon the old. In classes above the primary, most teachers will find it most convenient and almost as effective to assign the new- lesson at the end of the previous recitation period. By calculation, sufficient time can be reserved, and almost all of the advantages of a period immediately before the study time, can be gained. The teacher whose work we are observing, finishes the work on the Tuesday's lesson at least five minutes before the expiration of the period. He then says to his class, " For tomorrow, we will prepare the lesson entitled, ^The Stone in the Road.' You will find it on page 00. It is the story of how a poor boy became rich. I think you that will find it very interesting. There may be some words in the lesson that are new to you. Look at this word." The teacher passes to the blackboard and writes the word "castle." He marks the sounds, and turning to the class, requires them to sound and pronounce the word. He then asks some one for the meaning of the word. The pupil probably answers that a castle is a big stone house with towers. Another pupil volunteers the information that a casde has big iron gates and a ditch around it. The teacher asks if people build castles any more, and when a negative answer is given, he asks why. The idea then comes out that a castle is for the defense of the home, and that such elaborate structures are no longer necessary in our civili- zation. If possible, the teacher shows to the class a picture of a castle, or draws a rough sketch of one on the board. It is a lucky thing for teachers who are poor artists, that very poor 176 ESSENTIALS OF READING drawings will serve to start the pupil's imagination. Again, it is often possible that there may be in the pupil's knowledge some castle-like building. By referring to that building, the teacher may build up in the mind of the pupil the concept ''castle." Three things are necessary in the complete teaching of a new word: teaching the sound, teaching the spelling, and teaching the idea. The act has not been completed until all three are accomplished, and the result tested. It is an act of injustice to start the pupils at studying a new lesson until the new words are taught in their entirety. "Village" is the next word. Most children have this concept already, and the identifying of a small town with "village" is all that is neces- sary, besides the calling of the attention to the spelling of the word. If, however, the children live in a large city, the concept must be developed in the same way as that in which the concept "castle'* was developed. Let not the teacher think that the pupils have the same stock of concepts he, himself, has. He should increase their stock until it approximates his own. He handles the remainder of the list in the same way, finding no especial difficulty with any of them. It may be that the teacher has not included in his list all of the new words. To make sure that the preparation is com- plete, the teacher finally says, " I think we have gone over all the new words, but, to be sure, I want you all now to glance through the lesson, and see if there are any words that you still do not know. Probably a pupil raises his hand and upon being called up, indicates "scalded." The teacher turns, writes and marks the word, and the pupil sounds it, immediately recognizing it as a word he knows very thoroughly. Another suggests "beneath," and the teacher handles it in the same way, only this time having to discuss the meaning. This process is continued until the teacher is sure that the pupils can WHAT THE TEACHER ACTUALLY DOES 177 read the new lesson. He does not read the lesson to them. Certainly not! Nor does he tell them the story. Most cer- tainly not! He leaves that value and that pleasure to the children. How often children are robbed of the joy and the profit of a discovery because some grown person can not control his desire to exhibit his superior knowledge. The preparation now completed, the teacher tells the pupils to read the lesson through three or four times, in order to be able to tell the story, and he tells them also that when the time for studying reading comes, they will find directions on the black-board, and questions, whose answers they must find. The teacher must see to it that the assignment of work is placed on the board properly. It must be written in such a place, and in sufl&ciently large letters, as to be easily visible to all members of the class. It must be on the board in plenty of time for the pupils' work. The teacher chooses his own time, but, without doubt, uses the time before the pupils come in the morning. He knows that after school begins his time will be occupied by instruction. He opens his book at the lesson, notices the marginal marks and notes, and writes the following on the board: Reading A, Wednesday. Do you think that the miller's boy deserved the gold ? Why ? What did the rich man do? Why do you think he did it? What village have you seen? When? What did the village look like? Would you like to live in a castle ? Why ? Make a list of all the words in the lesson, that you think are hard to spell. It may seem that the order of questions is wrong, that the first question should be the last. The teacher has a good reason for the order. He wishes to make sure that the pupils 178 ESSENTIALS OF READING read the whole lesson intelligently before they try to answer any of the questions. The questions on the village and the castle are asked in order to fix the knowledge of these new words. The lesson may be prepared by the pupils, either by writing out the answers and doing the work asked for, on paper, or by thinking over the answers and trying to remember them. The writing of the answers causes the pupil to do the work somewhat carefully, and ensures his work- ing and keeping in some degree of order. These are things that are worth gaining. However, there is too much written work required of pupils in school. It is so easy to keep children busy by requiring much written work, that altogether too much is assigned by the teacher. Almost as bad is the common neglect to require a proper position while writing. More than half of the near sightedness of young people has been caused by the teacher's allowing the pupils to put their eyes too close to their work. The case can be put even stronger ; more than half of our high school pupils are somewhat near sighted, as a result of too much written work in an unhealthful position. Therefore, let the teacher of reading require the minimum of written work and see to it that the work is done in a proper position. In the above assignment, the answers to the ques^ tions may be oral, and the list of words, written. The recitation should begin promptly at the appointed time. The teacher knows just how many minutes he can use for the reading period. We dislike to call it a reading recitation, for the American teacher has altogether too much reciting, and not nearly enough instruction and drill. This reading period will be part recitation, part instruction and inspiration, and part drill. It will include an articulation exercise, a reading exercise by the pupils, a questioning by the teacher, and some instruction relative to this lesson and the WHAT THE TEACHER ACTUALLY DOES 179 lesson to be assigned for the next day. The teacher appor- tions for this lesson, three minutes for articulation drill, five minutes for the assignment of the next lesson, and the remainder of the time for hearing the pupils read, and questioning them and talking with them. The articulation drill should come first. It will then be out of the way, and yet its influence will be felt in the re- mainder of the period. The teacher will depend on this in- fluence to get good articulation in the reading exercise. He knows that he cannot expect the pupil to keep both the thought of the selection and articulation in mind at the same time. The teacher calls his class to attention. He turns to the black- board or chart, where he has written the following exercise : F Beef muff flap fife five trough Half his life was spent in grief. Can't you find your fan? He points to the letter at the top of the exercise. All the children give the sound. He is not satisfied. He gives the sound himself. They repeat it. He calls upon a pupil who seems to be making no effort in giving the sound distinctly. The pupil gives the sound alone. The teacher points to the first word. All say the word. The teacher is not satisfied. He shakes his head and says, "Again." They sound it again. He points to the next word, and the next, and so on till the words are all sounded at least twice. Then he points to the first sentence. This is more difficult, but he secures a good result. In the second sentence some difl&culty is found in "Can't you." The pupils want to say "Can choo." If the work goes well, he has a moment left for individual drill. As he points to the words the pupil in the first seat says, "beef," the second, "fife," the third, "muff," and so on until the time is i8o ESSENTIALS OF READING exhausted. Occasionally the teacher takes time to review the past articulation exercise. He has written them out in big letters, each one on a sheet of print paper, and has attached them to a stick, making a rude but valuable chart. One page of this chart contains the diacritical marks, for he keeps the knowledge of these marks fresh in the minds of his pupils. The articulation drill over, the teacher now has what may properly be called a recitation. He calls for the an- swers to his questions. He designates the pupil who shall answer the first question. This pupil thinks that the boy did deserve the gold because he was doing a service for other people. All the pupils agree that the answer is correct. Ques- tion number two calls out the story in the words of the pupil, a good language lesson. Question three brings out a difference of opinion. One thinks the rich man wished to teach the people a lesson, another thinks he wanted to make them feel bad, another thinks he wanted to give away some money. After a moment's discussion, all agree that the first answer is the best. Some difference is found in the answers to the other questions, and the teacher is surprised to find the idea of castle still hazy in the minds of some of the class. The lists of words hard to spell are read and if time permits, an exercise on them is given. Each pupil is allowed to pronounce one word and to designate some member of the class to spell it. The teacher now takes up the reading exercise. He says to the class, "Now let's listen while the story is read. Mary, the first paragraph, please." The other pupils shut their books, keeping their fingers in the place. Mary rises, glances through the paragraph, and reads. She reads well and the teacher is satisfied. He does not praise Mary. That would direct attention to her ; he wishes attention to be on the story. He calls upon John. John rises, opens his book, and begins. The teacher stops him. "John, please look through WHAT THE TEACHER ACTUALLY DOES i8i the paragraph before you read ; you can not read well unless you know what you are to read." John obeys, and begins again. "But — the — people — did — not — love — to — work — They — were — " The teacher stops him. He is merely naming the words. His attention must be directed to the thought. The teacher says, "John, what is said about the people?" John tries again. He emphasizes "love" and "work," but he runs right along into the next sentence. The teacher now asks, "What was it the people didn't love to do?" John now has in his mind the one thought, and he reads the sentence with expression. The teacher varies the work somewhat for the next para- graph. He asks, "What are the important things in the next paragraph?" The pupils name "poor man," "cow,'' "scolded," "walked around it," and "way." He then calls on a pupil to read the paragraph, and it is read with good expression because the main ideas are now in the minds of the pupils. In the first sentence of the third paragraph, the attention can be called to the thought relations by the questions, "Who came along next?" "Where was he going?" If the pupil is still in doubt, the teacher, as a final effort, reads the sentence with substitutions, thus: "Then as doctor came on his way to the store." The pupil now sees the important relations, and he reads, "Then a farmer came on his way to the millJ^ In the next paragraph, the question, "How did the day pass?" brings out the importance of "so." The contrast between "everyone" and "nobody," and "scolded" and "touched it," can also be brought out very easily. The remainder of the lesson is handled in the same way, the teacher continually working through questions and substitu- tions, and continually keeping the minds of the pupils upon the story. He knows that pupils can give out the thought only i82 ESSENTIALS OF READING when holding the thought in the mind. If time permits, he rounds out the lesson by asking some pupil to pass to the front of the room, stand, and read the whole lesson. OUTLINE OF CHAPTER XVI ILLUSTRATIVE LESSON —WHAT THE TEACHER ACTU- ALLY DOES Planning the work. Selection. Words and ideas. Work. Articulation exercise. Assigning the lesson. The time. New words and ideas. The work. The recitation. Articulation drill. Recitation proper. Report on work. Oral reading. Questions. Substitutions. Reading the story. FOR REVIEW AND SUGGESTION 1. When should a teacher plan his work? 2. In reading, what does the plan include ? 3. When should the reading lesson be assigned ? 4. Give reasons for and against each possible time. 5. What things should be included in the assignment ? 6. What things are necessary in the teaching of a new word ? 7. Should the teacher ever read the lesson to the pupils ? 8. What advantages has a blackboard assignment ? 9. What cautions are to be remembered in assigning a lesson on the blackboard? 10. Must the pupils' work be written? 11. Do schools do too much written work? WHAT THE TEACHER ACTUALLY DOES 183 12. What things should the recitation include? 93. When should the articulation exercise come ? Why? 14. May the teacher ever omit the report on work ? 15. Why does the teacher have the other pupils shut their books while one reads ? 16. What may a teacher do when a poor expression is given ? CHAPTER XVII ILLUSTRATIVE LESSON— SILENT READING AND EXPRESSION Silent Reading is not given sufficient attention by- teachers. It is really in itself the most important study of the elementary school. Not only is it the key by means of which the child may enter the treasure house of knowledge, but it is the only means by which he may continue his advancement. It seems strange that the one operation that can lighten the work of the teacher in all the subjects of the elementary and secondary schools should be given so little attention by teachers after the very beginnings of the work. One needs only to think of the part silent reading plays in the subjects of history, geography, physiology, grammar, arithmetic, in order to realize its transcendant importance. It is by silent reading in papers and magazines that one keeps pace with his fellow- man in the progress of civilization. It is by silent reading also that one must find the beauties and values of literature. By oral reading one can give the pleasure to another, but it is only by silent absorption that one can possess it for himself. Teachers continually overestimate the ability of pupils to get the thought from the printed page. Many instances, some of them almost ludicrous, could be given as proof. For instance, a teacher had given out slips of paper on which were printed the flag salute. The children had not only read, but committed the words of the salute, "We give our heads and our hearts to our country, one country, one language, and one flag." The children could repeat the words with the usual 184 SILENT READING AND EXPRESSION 185 motions. The teacher happened to ask, " What do we mean by saying that we give our heads to our country ?" The chil- dren were puzzled. They had not thought of what the words mean. Finally one suggested that it means we can cut off our heads and give them to the country. This met with some objection from the others. Another suggested that we can let the enemy shoot bullets into our heads, and so give them to our country. Still some objection. One little girl thought that it means that we mustn't stick our heads out of the car windows. Finally one boy, a big dull fellow, older than the others, a left-over from previous classes, volunteers the infor- mation that in his opinion, " We don't mean anything, we just say it." And the class heartily agreed with him. ■ Even our common school songs are not read with intelligence by many children. One case, well authenticated, is of a school girl who was asked to write the words of "America." She wrote the second stanza thus: — My native country, thee, Land of the noble free, Thy name, I love. I love thy rots and chills, Thy woods and temper pills, My heart with ratcher thrills Like that above. She was really a bright girl. Her explanation proves it. She merely had not gotten the thought. She explained that we should love not only the pleasant and agreeable things in our country, but also the horrid and disagreeable things. As to "ratcher," she thought that it sounded something like a disease. Very often children have a wrong idea of what reading is. They think of the operation of reading in the history as one thing and the operation of reading in the reader as another. They go to the history to find out certain things for which they i86 ESSENTIALS OF READING have been told to look, they go to the reader to go over a certain amount of print. When a teacher finds that his pupils are not devoting atten- tion to the thought, he should see that they have the right idea of silent reading. One of the best possible exercises for this purpose is the assigning of reading lessons from some text- book other than the reader. As an illustration, let us suppose that the teacher selects the following lesson from the geography text: ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA White men first came to North America about four hundred years, ago. After some years they brought cows, horses, sheep, and hogs from Europe. There are millions of these animals here now. Many wild animals live in this continent. Black bears are seen in the mountains and in the forests. The white bear lives in the frigid zone. It catches fish and seals for its food. This is the largest of the bear family. The grizzly bear is very fierce. It has long, curved claws. Its home is in the western highland. Many of the grizzly bears have been killed, and very few are now to be found. There are many deer. They feed on grass and tender branches. Most of the deer are now found in the forests. The moose is the largest of all the deer family. It is common in the forests of the northeast part of the continent. Years ago there were many bisons in the central plain. Nearly all have been killed. A few live in the western highland, but most of them are in public parks. They are large and strong. The bison and the ox belong to the same family. The bison is often called the buffalo. Among the smaller animals are the big-horn or Rocky mountain sheep, the wolf, fox, opossum and peccary. The turkey is a native of the New World and is still found wild. Many fur animals live in the cold parts of the world. They need their warm fur where they live. Useful animals are found in the waters of the frigid zone. Among these are the seal, the whale, and the walrus. The skins of the seal are made into clothing. Whales are killed for their oil. The walrus also supplies oil. Its teeth are made of ivory. SILENT READING AND EXPRESSION 187 The purpose of the teacher in giving this lesson is to train the pupils to glean thought. He has not assigned it in advance, for he wishes the work done under his direction. He directs them to open the geography at the location of the text. He asks, "What are we to read about?" He receives the answer, "The animals of North America." The pupils have gleaned this thought from the title of the lesson. It should be the practice of the reader to find out, if possible, what he is to read about, just as the business man often glances at the sig- nature of a letter he has received before he reads it. The subject ascertained, the teacher directs the class to read the first paragraph. The class do this, silently, and close their books, keeping their fingers in the place, so that time may not be lost in finding the place when reading is to be resumed. The teacher asks, "What is this paragraph about?" The first time this exercise is used, the children will look at the teacher in surprise and in ignorance. It takes but little training to start the practice of hunting for the subject of each paragraph. In the case of the recitation we are observing, the pupil called upon answers, " It is about the white men coming to America and what they brought." The teacher then asks, "What is there in this paragraph that we must remember ? Open your books. Read the paragraph again, and then tell me what is important enough to be worth remembering." The pupils look, as directed, and one answers, " That the white men came four hundred years ago, that they brought cows, horses, sheep, and hogs, and that there are millions of these here now." "Very good," says the teacher, "now read the second para- graph silently, and tell me what it is about." The children read the paragraph. "It is about wild animals," one says. "No," says another, "it is about bears." The class decides that the paragraph is really a "bear" paragraph, because so much of it is about bears. " What is important enough to be i88 ESSENTIALS OF READING remembered?" "Where the white bear lives, and what it eats," says one. "And its size," says another. "Yes," says the teacher, "and we must also remember what it says about the black bear's home." "What is the first paragraph about, children ? " " About the animals of North America." " What is the second paragraph about?" "About bears." "What does the first paragraph tell about the animals of North Amer- ica?" A pupil answers. "What does the second paragraph tell about bears?" Another pupil answers. "Read the third paragraph." The paragraph is read. "What is it about?" The pupil asked, answers. "What shall we remember of it?" "What is the first paragraph about? "The second?" "The third?" "What shall we re- member of the first ? " " Of the second ? " " Of the third ? " "Now read the fourth paragraph." "Do you know what a moose is ? " asks the teacher. " A deer ," answers a boy. " Are all deer moose?" "No," is the answer, "a moose has big, long horns, kind of wide." "Do you know of any other dif- ference?" "Well, they're bigger, and I think they have longer hair." "Did you ever see one?" "No." "Did you ever see a picture of one ? " "Yes." No further information is forthcoming from the pupils, and the teacher shows the children a picture of a moose, and describes it briefly, doing her best to build up in the minds of the children the concept of "moose." The teacher handles the remainder of the lesson in the same way. The fifth paragraph is found to be about bison, the sixth about the smaller animals, the seventh about fur animals, and the eighth about the sea animals. The teacher continually brings up the contents of the earlier paragraphs, and sees to it that the new knowledge is built upon the old. After the whole selection has been covered in this careful way, the teacher requires the pupils to make an outline of the SILENT READING AND EXPRESSION 189 whole lesson. They can now answer the question, "What is worth remembering in what we have read?" With the assis- tance of the teacher, they have read and have gotten the pith of the material. Older readers, when using their own books, may be trained to place the subjects of paragraphs in the mar- gins of their books. Such a practice compels close attention to the thought, and careful analysis of the thought. A book so read becomes an intimate acquaintance of the one reading it, one whose influence will continue for years. Assignments that direct or compel attention to the thought are of great value in training the pupils to glean the thought. Among such assignments may be mentioned the Blackboard Question Assignment. The teacher pre- pares questions that cover the important things in the lesson, places the questions on the blackboard, and asks the pupils to prepare answers. The task is easy, but the element of analyz- ing the thought in order to find what is important is lackmg. This work the teacher does when he makes out the questions. Another assignment is the familiar Topical Assignment, where the teacher places an outline of the lesson on the board and asks the pupils to be ready to recite on each topic. This is a valuable exercise, though the element of analysis is lacking, that work being performed by the teacher. It is not a hard task for the pupils, and the results are good in the memory way. The Reproduction Assignment is also familiar to most teachers. The pupils are directed to read the lesson carefully a number of times, and to write it out in their own words, either a paragraph at a time, or the whole lesson at once. This method of assignment ensures a valuable language lesson as well as careful attention to the thought. A valuable assignment is the Original Question Assign- ment. The teacher directs the class to read the lesson care- ipo ESSENTIALS OF READING fully and to write questions that cover the important things in the lesson. These questions are to be used in the recita- tion, a pupil reading a question and the teacher calling upon some one to answer it, or allowing the pupil to designate the person who shall answer. This assignment gives to the pupil the valuable task of finding the important things, but is more difficult than the preceding assignment. The Quiz Assignment is very useful. The pupils are told to read the lesson so carefully, and to think of it so carefully, that they can answer any question the teacher may ask about the lesson. While this is one of the most difl5cult tasks to set the pupil, it is a valuable one, for all of his after reading must be done without an exact knowledge of what he may be ex- pected to know. Good expression in reading depends in the greater part upon the efficiency of the silent reading that should pre- cede. The other thing of importance is the success of the teacher in keeping the mind of the reader upon the thought that he has gleaned. If the silent reading has been good, the chances are all in favor of good expression. If the silent reading has been poor, the oral reading will certainly be poor. It can not be otherwise. Let us notice how a teacher may expect to gain good expression, in the following selection: Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward. All in the valley of death Rode the six hundred. "Forward the light brigade! Charge for the guns!" he said; Into the valley of death Rode the six hundred. "Forward the Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismayed? SILENT READING AND EXPRESSION 191 Not though the soldiers knew Some one had blundered; Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die; Into the valley of death Rode the six hundred. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volleyed and thundered; Stormed at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well. Into the jaws of death. Into the mouth of hell Rode the six hundred. Flashed all their sabers bare. Flashed as they turned in air Sabring the gunners there, Charging an army, while All the world wondered. Plunged in the battery smoke. Right through the line they broke; Cassack and Russian Reeled from the saber-stroke — Shattered and sundered. Then they rode back, but not — Not the six hundred. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them. Cannon behind them Volleyed and thundered; Stormed at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell. They that had fought so well. Came through the jaws of death. Back from the mouth of hell. 192 ESSENTIALS OF READING All that was left of them, Left of six hundred. When can their glory fade ? Oh, the wild charge they made! All the world wondered. Honor the charge they made. Honor the light brigade. Noble six hundred. We assume that the teacher knows the importance of the following things in securing expression, and that he expects to see that each element is properly secured. He will see that he has selected the (i) right material, and that he has made a (2) careful assignment. He has already made sure that the pupil has had (3) good models, and he will now see to it that the pupil is in the (4) right mental attitude, that he (5) gets the thought, and (6) gets the emotion. During the exercise of oral reading itself , he will strive to secure good expression by (7) the use of questions, (8) the use of substi- tutions, (9) the use of the child^s experience, (10) the use of the child's imagination. The teacher has thought over the selection, the advancement and ability of the class, and the purpose to be attained by this lesson. He has decided that this lesson is of the right degree of difficulty and of the proper length. He has therefore at- tended to the matter of << right material." The second matter, " careful assignment," he has accomplished by assigning the following work: Read the lesson carefully. Be able to tell the story in your own words. Be able to tell what each paragraph is about. Why is the action of the Light Brigade to be admired ? Why did the poet write of this incident ? Does this poem make you feel excited or sad ? What do you keep thinking of as you read ? SILENT READING AND EXPRESSION 193 The third matter of importance, the furnishing of " good models " of reading, the teacher has attained by reading to his pupils. He has never read to them what he does not understand and appreciate. He has never read to them with- out first preparing himself to read what he has selected. As a consequence, the pupils have heard good reading, and they know when reading is good. The fourth matter, "the right mental attitude," the teacher tries to gain in two ways. He wants the right attitude toward the class. To gain this he avoids calling attention to anything other than the thought. Without attracting atten- tion, he removes all obstacles to attention. He asks that books be closed while a pupil is reading, he tries in every way he can invent to make the reader feel the importance of giving expres- sion to the thought. The teacher tries also to bring the pupil into the right mental attitude toward the selection. In the assignment of the lesson he has had this in mind. He has tried to ask such questions as will lead the pupils to see that this is not a battle song or a story of adventure. It is rather a dirge. He does not want them to try to imitate the noise of the cannon or suggest the quick flashes of the sabers. He wants them to feel and express the sadness of the catastrophe. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them Volleyed and thundered; The asking and the answering of these questions before the oral reading is begun, puts the pupils into the right mental attitude toward the selection. The fifth thing, " getting the thought," the teacher has in mind all the time. He has given a direction, "Be able to tell what each paragraph is about," that will make every pupil 194 ESSENTIALS OF READING know the contents of the poem. By the <