Miller & Co.'s Educational Series. HOW TO READ; A DRILL BOOK FOR THE Cultivation of the Speaking Voice, AND FOR UNIV. OF CORRECT AND EXPRESSIVE READING. ADAPTED FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS, AND FOR PRIVATE INSTRUCTION. BY RICHARD LEWIS, Teacher of Elocution, Author of "The Dominion Elocutionist," &c. Authorized by the Minister of Education. 3RD EDITION, Toronto: ADAM MILLER & CO 1877, GIFT OF TO VIL Dr. Horace I vie 10 VIMU Ivie Entered according to the Act of Parliament of the Dominion of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, by ADAM MILLER & Co., in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. EDUCATION DEPT PREFACE. The object of this work is to supply the schools of the Province with a course of systematic training in the culture of the speaking voice, and instruction in correct and expressive reading. The first sections of the book embrace all exercises that tend to develope and improve the vocal organization, and to improve the ear. The voice and the ear are the important agents in the music of speech; and as the voice of youth is flexible, and in the best condition for direction and culture, and the ear is quick to appreciate all the variations of tone which give expression to speech, a system of culture founded upon scientific principles cannot fail to be beneficial, and to give to our system of teaching to read some of the qualities of a true art, These exercises as a species of vocal gymnastics are also of the first importance, as they bring into vigorous and healthy action the muscles around the chest, and those important organs, the heart, the lungs, the throat, and all the agents which combine to produce voice. The exercises upon the vowels and consonants which are associated with the vocal exercises are founded upon the true phonetics of the language. Pronunciation is subject to all the influences of bad examples and provincial corruptions. If speech is to be correct and refined, and the true sounds of a language preserved and established, the teacher must be guided both by the approved sounds of the letters, independent of local customs, and by the action and position of the organs used to utter sounds. This method places pronunciation on a scientific basis, and protects it against the attacks and corruptions of 924201 local customs. Hence it is of the first importance in teaching to read and speak correctly, that the pupil should, by regular drill, be made familiar with the true sounds of the vowels and consonants. It is important to remember that the voice of youth changes, and is succeeded by the voice of adult age; and any drill devoted to the culture of the first voice, without reference to the changes that must succeed it, would be positively injurious. But there are preparatory exercises in vocal gymnastics, as there are in all other gymnastics, which strengthen the muscles and quicken the senses without injury to their future development, or to the changes which adult life brings upon them; and these are most appropriate to the sphere of the school room. It is the utter neglect of this principle, the utter absence of all culture of the speaking voice in the education of youth, that makes musical speech and expressive reading such rare qualities in after life. The sections devoted to expressive reading are explained on the principles of sentential analysis. It is true that a thorough and just understanding and conception of a passage are the best guides to its expressive delivery. But all this pre-supposes a ripened judgment, a cultivated voice, and an acute ear. The exercises of the first sections of this "Drill Book" cannot fail to secure the last two qualifications. But the first is not likely to be possessed by youth. The preparatory step is to make the pupil familiar with the structure of the sentences and the relation of all the members to each other. The sentence is the garb of the thought, and as pupils are drilled in analysis they learn to understand the bearings and relative importance of the thoughts by the study of the structure of the sentences. A pupil who could not fathom the depth and breadth of an abstract thought, or the intensity of a passion, could easily be taught to distinguish between a principal and a subordinate clause or phrase; yet that very study would be preparing the dullest scholar for the profounder analysis of the sentiment. Hence it is considered that the first studies in elocution must be mainly guided by the analysis of the sentence. In that view the principles and rules in this book have been formed; and a very large and long experience in teaching the art of elocution has convinced the author that this is the easiest as well as the most successful method for instruction in expressive reading. The best hope that the author can have of this "Drill Book" is that it will be suggestive. The subject is advancing in public estimation; and while in this Province we have done nothing yet to establish our system of teaching to read on a broad and scientific basis, its necessity has been admitted by every one. In England, professorships of Public Reading have been established in connection with leading Universities; but the United States have gone beyond this, and in attention to teaching reading as an art have taken the foremost place. Dr. Rush was the first to place the Art of Reading on a scientific basis; and all who have studied the subject, or taught it in any form, are indebted to his eloquent and profound treatise on the Philosophy of the Human Voice more than to any other work. To this work the author of this book is largely indebted. Appended is a list of other books which he has consulted, and which the teachers and students may find useful for reference. The plan of this book is similar to that of Professor Monroe, the Superintendent of Vocal Culture in the Public Schools of Boston, and several of the illustrations have been selected from his manual. Professor Monroe has established the success of his system in Boston, and his book may be safely taken as a model for similar exercises in Ontario. A special series of selections follows the instruction, marked for practice; and as most of the illustrations are similarly marked, the attention of the reader is directed to the explanation of the marks on page XII. |