The remedy would lie in starting the word higher, as, This fault results very Finding that the last word note, the speaker puts the Do not allow the voice to rise at the end of the downward slide at the close of a sentence. often from the preceding one. is started too low for a good last part of it, or sometimes the whole last note, higher, thus sacrificing meaning for the sake of tone. Avoid this. Examples are given below. There are many reasons which make a good and thorough battle necessary. The Southern men are infatuated. They will not have peace. Do not give a falling slide where the thought is not complete. This is really not an elocutionary fault, but a logical one. The student more often does not see the meaning than sees the meaning and does not give the cor rect inflection. To correct this fault, it is generally sufficient to show that the thought is not complete at this particular place, but that at some point farther on it is complete. The fault is most prevalent in the case of poetry where the thought is not complete at the end of a line. Example: Even as he spake, his frame, renewed Rose, as it seemed, a shoulder higher; EXERCISES 69. Give the following, beginning on high pitch and gradually mov ing downward. (a) Ah, me! Ah, me! Those days! Those days! (c) All gloom, all silence, all despair. 70. Give the following with continually falling melody: The eye of Heaven penetrates the darkest chambers of the soul. How dare you tread upon the earth which has drunk in the blood of slaughtered innocents? 71. Extend the hands, with the palms down, on the right, obliquely toward the ceiling, standing with the right foot forward and the left heel raised slightly from the floor. Now, swaying the hands down in a curved line, elevate them to a corresponding position on the left, striking at the end of the movement, and bringing the left foot forward as you sway your hands across. Sway them back to the right again, ending with a stroke. Repeat eight times. See Figures 56 and 57. 72. With the right hand describe a horizontal figure eight in front of the body, letting the wrist lead both going and coming. Repeat eight times. Do the same with the left hand. Repeat with both hands, first letting one go above, then the other. LESSON XXXII SOURCES OF POWER IN SPEECH MELODY A PLEASING melody will probably do as much toward attracting and holding an audience as any accomplishment the orator can have. Below are given a few sources of power in its use. Use the monotone for grandeur, sublimity, solemnity, and kindred emotions. Where the different speech notes are given along on one line of pitch, although some may be rising slides and some falling, the melody is said to be the Melody of Monotone. This kind of melody will be found very effective for the emotions of solemnity, grandeur, devotion, sublimity, awe, dread, terror, etc. Examples: O Thou Eternal One, whose presence bright Use the semitone for sadness, pity, etc. This direction will need no explanation. Read the caution against the use of the semitone in the preceding lesson. Do not overdo the matter; this is a powerful agent, and should not be abused. Example: Alas! Alas! I know not; friend and foe fall together. NOTE. There is no good way of indicating the semitone. It is necessary to secure a good example, such as that given in the preceding lesson, and then apply the effect to all cases where its use would be proper. |