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scramble of feet. They were hurrying up the narrow stairs. Fearing that there was some danger near, I seized the pistol which my father always obliged me to keep loaded in my room. Then I heard my father cry out, "For mercy's sake, child, open the door." I did so; and to my horror I saw, not a friend of his, but the worst enemy of the soldier in Africa, the gorilla. He was overtaking my father; and recovering my senses just in time, I raised the pistol and fired. For once I had aimed well, and the animal fell backward with an angry Father quickly took the still smoking pistol from my hand, and fired another shot, which dispatched the brute.

scream.

Father then told us that when he saw the dreaded animal at the window, he had sent us upstairs; and he hoped to be able to shut and bar the door which always stood open before the creature noticed it. The gorilla had, however, been too quick for him; and this was the cause of the hurried flight up the stairs.

2. Read the selection entitled "Thackeray and the Oyster" (p. 273) to some member of your family or to some friend, and notice the effect of your reading on the listener. Give the class an oral account of your experiment.

3. Be prepared to read to the class two of the following selections:

1. "Baby's First Shoes," page 34.

2. Selection from "The Jungle Book," page 222.

3. "Nehushta," page 296.

4. "A Football Player," page 15.

5. Selection from "Enoch Arden,” page 294.

6. "Incident of the French Camp," page 276.

7. The Importance of Good Recitation. To recite good English is no less important than to read aloud. When you commit passages to memory, learn only such selections as you are willing to live with for weeks, to say over scores of times, to make your own. In making a choice of selections to be memorized, you should always bear in mind that:

1. The selections should be valuable in themselves, since they will become a part of you.

2. They should be illustrations of English that is clear, direct, and simple, for they will help form your style of speaking and writing.

3. They should represent your own sentiments, since you must be able to make them interesting to others.

Having made such a choice, you will be almost sure to make your delivery clear, interesting, and pleasing. First of all you must have a thorough understanding of your selection. Then you should read it aloud until you find yourself entering heartily into the spirit of it. Finally you should rehearse it to some critic till he is satisfied that the delivery is reasonably smooth and finished.

EXERCISES

4. Give orally, in your own language, the substance of one of the prose selections listed in Exercise 3.

5. Give in your own words any one of the poetic selections.

6. Commit to memory the selection which you consider best worth remembering.1

7. Write the selection from memory. If it is poetry, see that every line begins with a capital.

8. Recite your selection to the class as heartily as you would if you had written it yourself.

9. With the following outline before you, give the substance of what this chapter contains. Make careful preparation, so

1 A teacher may help pupils who find memorizing difficult in the following ways: (1) see that the pupil understands thoroughly the passage to be memorized; (2) read it with the class once or twice; (3) give every one an opportunity to ask questions; (4) point out good instances of coherence, such as logical thought, clear reference of pronouns, the use of connectives, etc.

that you can speak without hesitation. Feel free to express do not think that you must repro

yourself in your own way

duce the language of the book.

The Value of Composition

I. Oral composition.

II. Written composition.

III. The practical value of composition.
IV. Learning to talk and to write.

V. Reading a help to writing.

VI. The importance of reading aloud.

VII. The importance of good recitation.

10. Be prepared to talk on the following questions:

1. For what reasons should the study of both oral and written composition be interesting as well as valuable?

2. Which of these two kinds of composition offers the better opportunities for your teacher to help you?

3. Which offers the better opportunities for you to help one another?

4. Which are you likely to remember better, criticisms of your speech or criticisms of your writing?

5. Do you know of any one whose use of English has a high commercial value?

6. In telling a story or an incident, have you ever failed to produce the desired effect on your listeners?

CHAPTER II

THE CHOICE OF A SUBJECT

In our talking and

8. Subjects based on Experience. writing it will at first be best for us to choose subjects based on our own experience. And we should remember that the books we read and the thoughts we have are as much a part of our real living as the games we play and the work we do. Later we shall have opportunities for investigating unfamiliar subjects.

EXERCISE

11. Discuss the following subjects. Make a list of twenty-five on which you have something to say, including any of these and others suggested by them. Be prepared to talk on one of these subjects.

1. A Street Incident.

2. Making Bread.

3. A Fallen Live Wire.

4. The Soldier in the Spanish War.

5. Last Summer's Circus Parade.

6. An Accident.

7. The Roentgen Ray.

8. Things seen from the Train.

9. The Home Chores.

10. Work in School.

11. My Favorite Game.

12. A Runaway Automobile.

13. My First Experience in Plowing.

14. Using a Typewriter.

15. The Harm in Eating too Fast.

16. A Cruise on a Sailboat.

17. Expressions of Different Faces.
18. Camp Life.

19. Dust.

20. Sleepiness; how it makes its Appearance.
21. Games at the Gymnasium.

22. A Scene at the Seashore.

23. Manipulating a Twelve-inch Rifle.
24. The Working of a Vacuum Cleaner.
25. Something seen at a Football Game.

9. Books that suggest Good Subjects. We are not necessarily to read for the sake of finding subjects on which to write. Sufficient motive comes from the companionship of a good book. Yet it is interesting and profitable to write out our impressions of what we read not to reproduce the story, but to tell how we like it and what something in the book has set us to thinking about.

Sometimes we are hungry for a good book but cannot think of one which seems likely to suit our mood. The following list includes books which have appealed to the various tastes of pupils in many schools.

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