A COMPLETE DRILL BOOK FOR PRACTICE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF VOCAL PHYSIOLOGY, AND FOR ACQUIRING THE ART OF ELOCUTION AND ORATORY COMPRISING ALL THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF VOCAL DELIVERY AND GESTURE, WITH ALL THE LATER SELECTIONS FOR PUBLIC RECITALS, FOR SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, THE PULPIT, PRIVATE LEARNERS, ELOCUTIONISTS BY ALLEN AYRAULT GRIFFITH, M.A., LATE PROFESSOR OF ELOCUTION IN STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, MICHIGAN, NOW PRESIDENT FULTON, ILLINOIS. TWENTY-FOURTH EDITION. CINCINNATI: ROBERT CLARKE & CO. STANFORD LIBRARY INTRODUCTORY SUGGESTIONS. A DRILL BOOK, for training in Elocution and Oratory, should be practical rather than theoretical. It should furnish concise definitions, as acknowledged by the best authorities, with brief and varied examples for individual and class practice, by which an interest in the general subject may be excited, the taste formed, and the mind of the student led to just conclusions as to what is right and appropriate in the delivery of extemporaneous or written discourse. We do not intend to say that instruction or drill in elocution can create the essential powers of a speaker, but it can and will improve and direct those powers. From a well-devised practical system of Elocution, we look for no more than we are every day receiving from established arts. All men speak and reason; for these acts, as far as we know, are as natural as passion; but the arts of Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric, and Elocution, teach us to do those things in the best manner. For, the systematizing of the principles of art signifies the teaching of the best manner of execution in said art. There is a will in man, with a system of muscles, which the common calls of exercise render obedient to that will, and which thereby produces motion in every direction not forbiden by nature. Now, there is scarcely a boy of any physical activity or enterprise, who does not, on seeing an accomplished skater, desire to imitate him; to catch and keep the center of gravity through all the varieties of balance and motion. Yet, this will not prevent his fall, on a first trial, however natural the tie between his will and all his muscles may be. The truth is, that without long experience, he knows not what is to be done; or, if he knows, he is unable to effect it. With some analogy to this case, there are many persons, not destitute of feeling or passion, who have a pretty fine command of the voice on the common occasions of life, but who betray a faltering tongue if they attempt to imitate the varied powers of the long-practiced speaker. When the voice is prepared by elementary training 4 INTRODUCTORY SUGGESTIONS. the feeling which prompts the expression will find the pliant and strengthened organs ready to furnish a satisfactory and elegant accomplishment of its designs. Passion, say a writer, knows more than art. It may know more than art; but art sometimes knows better than passion. The display of the passions on memorized discourse is not always addressed to those who are under the sympathetic influence of those passions. When it is so, or when, at moments, the speaker can raise that sympathy, all is right that passion does. When, however, we are in that state of deliberation which contemplates what passion should be, there arises such comparisons between what we feel ourselves and what we ought to feel, that we are obliged to call up, from taste, some ideal rule to settle an uncertainty, of opinion. It is the opinion of many that the fear of failure, on account of the want of a knowledge of the principles of elocution, deters many speakers from a forcible and clear exhibition of ideas and emotions. They wisely prefer monotony and tameness to affectation or rant. We claim that the practice of the principles of elocution gives confidence; and if the training is continued until it becomes a habit, it becomes a part of the personal talents of the man. We have presented herein the results of twelve years' experience in voice culture; and it will be found that the descriptions and directions contained in this course are so simple, and the exercises and examples so numerous, that the comprehension of the science of elocution will be comparatively easy, and the application of them in practice so clearly illustrated that there will be little difficulty in making them our own. The plan will commend itself to thoughtful students, as it begins with Vocal Physiology and ends with Expression, in which are applied all the elements of Elocution, Articulation, Quality, Pitch, Transition, Force, Stress, Time, Emphasis and Inflection, Pauses and Personation. Some suggestions are made to clergymen, and others, who have had experience in speaking, but who can not modulate the voice, or who suffer from throat affections, caused by improper vocalization or imperfect breathing. These suggestions have been of great value in like circumstances. Exercises may be selected for almost all grades of students, under-graduates, graduates, and professional men. For youth especially, the practice of Gesture is commended, as an agreeable and graceful style once formed will not be forgotten. In diagrams, models, plain and practical simplicity, this book offers much 5 that is new. For most valuable help in its preparation, acknowledgments are due Professor A. M. Bell, of London, England; Dr. Gilbert Austin, England; and Dr. Weaver, of this country, whose elaboration of Dr. Rush's system is most complete. In combining the "Drill Book" with the "Lessons in Elocution," many changes and improvements have been made, suggested by the experiences of the school room. New examples and selections have been introduced, and the whole book brought up to the requirements of the times. Hoping the student will take courage in this special department, and prepare himself for the clear and perfect expression of his thoughts, and the gems of our language, I submit this revised Hand-Book to his keeping. October, 1872. A. A. G. |