Essays and Postscripts on Elocution (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1886 Excerpt: ... XXVI. A SHADOW-CLASS OF STUDENTS. Allow me to introduce to you a class of Shadow-students. With your mind's eye, you will please to notice them now gathered around the reading-desk. These gentlemen have all some dialectic peculiarities or faults of utterance, which they desire me to point out and correct. I take the opportunity of doing so in your presence, thinking that you may be interested in the progress of the work; and that possibly you may afterwards make some profitable application of the principles which I shall have occasion to rehearse. Now, Shadow-gentlemen, I shall call on each of you to read a few lines, to exemplify your present styles; and, as I point out the characteristics requiring attention in each individual case, I invite you to put any questions or make any observations that may aid in securing a perfect understanding of the directions and the principles involved. Mr. Anderson, will you please to commence? (Edinburgh.) "Shall I read any particular part?" Open the book at random; take the first passage that meets your eye. "No more shall nation against nation rise, Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes; Nor fields with gleaming steel be covered o'er, The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more." Thank you. Your pronunciation is strongly dialectic. I say nothing of dialects in the way of approving one or contemning another. Each has its charm to ears accustomed to it. But dialects are out of place in all public life. Our standard literature has no dialects, neither should our standard speech have any. A pure and uniform pronunciation should be taught in every school. There are but few elements in speech; correct these and the whole of speech is corrected. For example, in the passage just read, more than one-half of the words were mispr...