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Read Ebook: The Ontario High School Reader by Marty Aletta E
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Ebook has 1334 lines and 113822 words, and 27 pages
PRINCIPLES OF READING 1-35
Importance of Oral Reading 1
Mechanical Side of Oral Reading 2 Correct Pronunciation, Distinct Articulation.
Expression 3 Concrete Thinking, Abstract Thinking, Emotion.
Elements of Vocal Expression 7 Pause, Grouping, Time, Inflection, Pitch, Force, Stress, Emphasis, Shading, Perspective, Quality.
SELECTIONS 36-305
Jean Valjean and the Bishop Victor Hugo 38
Faith, Hope and Charity Bible 46
The Vicar's Family Use Art Oliver Goldsmith 52
The Schoolmaster and the Boys Charles Dickens 65
Shipwrecked Robert Louis Stevenson 75
Briggs in Luck William M. Thackeray 81
The Prodigal Son Bible 88
The Sky John Ruskin 108
Bless the Lord, O My Soul Bible 116
The King of Glory Bible 119
The Four-Horse Race "Ralph Connor" 121
From the "Apology" of Socrates Benjamin Jowett 145
Of Studies Francis, Lord Bacon 157
The Influence of Athens Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay 159
National Morality John Bright 161
Cranford Society Mrs. Gaskell 178
The Opening Scene at the Trial Thomas Babington, Lord of Warren Hastings Macaulay 194
Peroration of Opening Speech against Edmund Burke Warren Hastings 201
The Handwriting on the Wall Bible 248
Paul's Defence before King Agrippa Bible 251
The Key to Human Happiness George Eliot 266
On the Death of Gladstone Sir Wilfrid Laurier 278
Advantages of Imperial Federation George Monro Grant 296
B. Physical Exercises 312
C. List of Reference Books 314
PRINCIPLES OF READING
There are several reasons why every boy or girl should strive to become a good reader. In the first place, good oral reading is an accomplishment in itself. It affords a great deal of pleasure to others as well as to ourselves. In the second place, it improves our everyday speech and is also a preparation for public speaking; for the one who reads with distinctness and an accent of refinement is likely to speak in the same way, whether in private conversation or on the public platform. Moreover, it is only one step from reading aloud before the class to recitation, and another step from recitation to public speaking. Lastly, oral reading is the best method of bringing out and conveying to others and to oneself all that a piece of literature expresses. For example, the voice is needed to bring out the musical effects of poetry. The following lines will illustrate this point:
But the sea-caves rung, and the wild winds sung The dirge of lovely Rosabelle.
Here the music of the rhythm and the harmony between sound and sense would be almost entirely lost in silent reading.
Burn the fleet and ruin France?
This may be read to express hesitation and deliberation, or, as is the evident intention, shewn by the context as well as by the punctuation, to express Herv? Riel's surprise and indignation that such a thought should be entertained.
Now in what does oral reading consist? It consists, first of all, in recognizing the words, pronouncing them correctly, and articulating them distinctly. The pupil in the First Book, who is learning to read, is trying to master this side of reading, which is the mechanical side. He cannot be too careful as to the habits of speech he forms; for correct position of the organs of speech and proper control of the breath make for correct pronunciation and distinct articulation, which are two of the foundation stones of good reading.
Pronunciation, when perfectly pure, should be free from what we call provincialisms; that is, from any peculiarity of tone, accent, or vowel sound, which would mark the speaker as coming from any particular locality. If our pronunciation is perfectly pure, it does not indicate, in the slightest degree, the part of the country in which we have lived.
Exercises for drill in the vowel sounds and in articulation are provided in Appendix A.
High flew the spray above their heads, yet onward still they bore.
Accordingly, good vocal expression springs primarily from something within ourselves--that is, from our mental and emotional state. It cannot be acquired by mechanical imitation, whether of the reading of another, or of the movements, sounds, and gestures indicated in the subject matter of what we read. Nevertheless it is very stimulating to hear a selection well read, not because a model is thus supplied for our imitation, but because we get a grasp of the selection as a whole, and because the voice, which possesses great power in stirring the imagination and the feelings, thus prepares within us the mental and emotional state necessary for the correct expression.
In the following extract the atmosphere is one of joy. The reader is moved through sympathy with Horatius, and his voice indicates the joy of the Romans, but he does not attempt to imitate vocally, or by gesture, the "shouts," "clapping," and "weeping":
Now round him throng the Fathers To press his gory hands; And now, with shouts and clapping, And noise of weeping loud, He enters through the River-Gate, Borne by the joyous crowd.
Sometimes, as already stated, we imitate spontaneously:
Back darted Spurius Lartius; Herminius darted back: And, as they passed, beneath their feet They felt the timbers crack.
Here we imitate spontaneously the movement expressive of sudden fear. Our action is prompted by our own fears for their safety.
Sometimes the feeling is still more complex. In reading the following we spontaneously reproduce Sextus' alternate hate and fear which, moreover, we tinge with our own contempt:
Thrice looked he at the city; Thrice looked he at the dead; And thrice came on in fury, And thrice turned back in dread: And, white with fear and hatred, Scowled at the narrow way Where, wallowing in a pool of blood, The bravest Tuscans lay.
She must weep or she will die.
In the last line it would savour of melodrama to try to impersonate the lady as she says:
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