Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

a real or a supposed one? What would one need to do as a preparation for writing such a piece as this? Would it be sufficient to sit and think? As a preparation for reading it? [This piece is, in the main, minutely descriptive and not imaginative. Careful observation would, therefore, be the . chief requisite as a preparation for writing it. It appeals to the eye, and consequently the teacher must be sure that the pupil, with the mind's eye, sees the scene as a reality. As he stands in his place, he must form for himself a picture, and be able to point out, with his finger, the place upon the picture, of each object mentioned; and also to describe each with its surroundings. Without this there can be no success in the reading of such a selection.] In what part of what country is the above scene situated? Point out the exact locality on the map. Through what towns and by what means of conveyance would you reach the place, from where you live? With what tone of voice should such a piece be read? What degree of loudness? What pitch? What rate of speed? [This is chiefly lively description. The tone of a dignified narrative is not sufficiently animated for it. The degree of loudness is moderate. The pitch. should be a little higher than the medium, and the speed a little more rapid.]

First Stanza.

What kind of a "post" is here spoken of? Of what is it made? [The object of these questions is not to get at the exact and real size, &c., so much as to lead the pupil to form a picture. It is not necessary that the actual length, &c., be given as answers. What is required is, that the pupil should have a picture, and should tell, in answer to questions, what he himself sees in his mind's eye. Almost any consistently formed picture is better than none.] How tall is it,—about how many feet? Where are you standing as you see it? Are you on foot, in a carriage, or in a railway car? On which hand is it? Point to it as you have located it in your imaginary landscape. How far from you is it? How near do the wheels come to it as you pass? What is meant by the expression, "displays its lettered arm"? What is this arm? Why called an arm? What letters are on it? To what does it point? Does it point horizontally, downward, or upward? [Examine the fourth line.] What makes the " opening" in the trees? How large an opening is it? Is it near

the ground? Is it on the same side of the road with the post? Point to it. What time of the year is this? What part of the birch tree is green? What kind of birch trees are these? Color of bark? How large are they? How many feet high? Inches in circumference at the root? What is a "mountain summit"? How far off is this one? Point to it in your picture. What is meant by "towering high"? Where are you directed to "pause"? Why should you pause? What is it to " espy"? What is meant by 'gaze," in the fifth line? Why "anxious"? At what are you looking? What is a "crag"? Why "abrupt"? What is the "mountain's brow"? What is meant by the crag's being "hung" from it? Why are you directed to "look closer"? What is it to " scan"? How does a "cliff" differ from a "crag"? Why is this said to be "bare"? Why "sharp"? [Do not forget its position.] Meaning of "aha"? What "shape" is meant? Why "wondrous"? What is meant by its "bursting"? What is called a "perfect

66

human face"? In what respect is it a perfect human face? Is it so in respect to color? Does the human face appear to the observer at any position whence he may happen to see the rock?

Give the etymology and meaning of post, display, lettered, mountain, summit, anxious, crag, abrupt, cliff, perfect. [In giving etymologies several steps are to be taken. First, separate the word into its parts; next give the radical meaning of each part; next the radical meaning of the whole; next the actual or received meaning of the word; next show how the radical meaning gave place to the received meaning. For an example, take the word affluence. Its parts are af, flu, ence Af ad means to, flu means flow, ence means the state or condition of. The meaning of the whole word then is the state of-flowing-to. But the usual or received meaning is abundance of wealth or property. It is clear that the usual meaning came from the other, because the man of wealth is so situated that money is all the while in the state of-flowing-to him. All these steps must be taken, or the exercise is of little worth. In schools the last step is often omitted, because it requires a little thinking.] Are there many or few words of foreign origin in this stanza? the entire piece in this respect?

How is

Where is the first positive declaration or direction in the first stanza? Which is it, a declaration or direction? [The first positive clause is, "There pause,' a direction. All the preceding clauses and phrases are, therefore, conditional. We express positive declarations, and utter positive directions, with the falling inflection of the voice. Let the pupil utter the expressions, "The grass grows,”- -a positive declaration; "Be diligent and faithful," a positive direction. Let him notice carefully whether his voice slides upward or downward at the words "grows" and "faithful." Let the teacher assist him, by himself pronouncing the sentences. Take also this, "If the weather is fair I will go." Let the pupil notice the direction in which the voice slides on the word "fair." The expression, "If the weather is fair," is conditional. Conditional expressions have the rising inflection or slide.] What inflection then upon the word aim? eye? trees? high? pause? ["What doth thy anxious gaze espy" is an expression usually called an indirect question. All questions that cannot be answered by "yes" or "no" are so called. They are equivalent to positive directions. This is equivalent to saying, "Tell me the thing that thy anxious gaze espies". In all indirect questions the affirmation contained in the verb is assumed: some condition only is in doubt. Here the object of the verb is the thing demanded. Sometimes it is the man ner of the action, as, "How do you travel"? Sometimes it is the cause, as, "Why sleep the brave"? Hence the posi tive character of such questions.] Indirect questions have what inflection of the voice, then? What inflection upon "brow", in the sixth line, and why? upon "closer"? upon "high" in the seventh line? Inflection upon "face"? upon now"? upon brow in the ninth line? [The word " now expresses an important condition. The formi had not burst on him before.]

66

66

[The words, or groups of words, that express the most important thoughts or the new thoughts in a sentence, are spoken louder and more forcibly than the other words. This is called emphasizing them, and the louder utterance is called emphasis. Words thus spoken are said to be emphatic.] What word or group of words expresses the most important idea in the first sentence? [Upon this and similar questions the pupil should be encouraged to think. It is well for the

teacher to read the sentence under consideration several times, placing the emphasis on different words, and to call upon the pupil to decide which, in view of the meaning, is best. Let the pupil be aroused to thinking, and let the responsibility of deciding what is right come upon him. Only thus can he be truly educated.] In the same way, determine the emphatic words in each of the sentences.

[ocr errors]

Second Stanza.

[ocr errors]

What is meant by the word "full" here? " plan What"features are meant? What is it to be "profiled forth against the clear, blue sky"? What kind of view of the face is given? Meaning of the expression "colossal imagery"? Why is it called a "fragment"? fragment"? For what purpose is the fifth line introduced? What is its relation to the preceding two? What is meant by the "compass of his art"? Whose art? Why "plastic"? What is it to try the compass of an art? What do the pine trees constitute? Put the words in the sixth, seventh, and first part of the eighth lines in the natural order, placing the subject of the sentence first. What is said to "shoot"? What is meant by this? Why the "expecting" eye in the last line? What are "fancied forms of air"?

Etymology and meaning of features? profiled? clear? sculptor? chisel? colossal? imagery? compass? plastic? art? curved? illusions? expecting? fancied? forms? air?

What

What is the first positive statement made in this stanza? [The falling inflection should come on "full and plain." These would naturally come after "displayed." The second line may be considered as an additional statement.] How many lines in the statement beginning "as though"? Where and what is the next statement after this? conditional expression comes before this statement? Inflection then upon "high"? upon "hair"? upon "perfect"? What word omitted near the close of the eighth line? [The word "there" expresses an important condition. Elsewhere there may be illusions. The last line may be considered either as a part of the condition, or as a distinct statement. On this will depend the inflection at its close.]

Determine the emphases in the second stanza, as already done in the first. Determine in each case the word or group

of words expressing the important thought. [Only repeated trial and careful listening will enable one to reach correct results. It would be easy to point out the emphatic words; it is much better for the pupil to find them.]

Third Stanza.

What is called a "vision"? Why? Why "wondrous"? Meaning of the expression "broad earth"? Force of the word "broad"? Meaning of "bounds" as here used? Hath not the broad earth the very object here described? What word should be inserted, and where, in order to remove the ambiguity? What is it to "stir the poet's phantasy"? What is the common modern form of the word phantasy? Meaning of "uprear"? Are the features "lifted up" are they not always in the same place? Why call the clouds a "wreath"? Meaning of "grand" in the seventh line? "eternally"? of "gaze" in the eighth line? of the clause, "Thou lookest down"? What kind of "gray" is the color of the image? Is it one single rock? How high does it appear?

Etymology and meaning of vision? object? traveler? recorded? poet? phantasy? awfully? eternally? austere?

[Exclamations and terms of address are sometimes of a positive and sometimes of a negative character. In solemn utterances, and in the proceedings of dignified, deliberative bodies, they are positive announcements of important facts, or truths, or steps in the proceedings. But in colloquial usage, where the object is to ascertain whether the party addressed is attending, or in exclamations expressing a doubt, they assume a questioning or negative character. As examples of the first, take the cases in this stanza, and the expression, "Mr. President," as uttered by dignified speakers in the United States Senate. Of the second, take as examples the following: "My friend, how do you do"? "Mr. Chairman, am I entitled to the floor?" "What! the President killed!"

["An object like to thee" constitutes a condition, limiting the word "hath." Where two clauses are connected by "nor," the second usually has the falling inflection.] What inflection then upon vision? thee? phantasy? Determine the other inflections in this stanza, according to directions already given.

« ForrigeFortsett »