Chapter I: Preface

After communication with many of the teachers who have been using the Principles and Practice of Oral Reading in their classes, the author has made a number of important additions and changes. In its amended form the book is published under the title of the "Ontario High School Reader."

As the book is intended for the teaching of oral reading it contains an introductory chapter on the Principles of Reading, and selections for practice, with appended notes. An effort has also been made to grade the selections in the order of their difficulty. Accordingly, a number of selections, each illustrating in a marked degree only one, or at most two, of the various elements of Vocal Expression, have been placed at the beginning; these should, of course, be taught before the more complex selections are attempted.

It is not intended that the pupil shall master the chapter on the principles before beginning to read the selections; he should become familiar with each topic as it is illustrated in the lesson. In dealing with each lesson the teacher should first ascertain the elements of vocal expression that it best exemplifies. He should then discuss these elements with the pupils, using the necessary paragraphs of the Introduction, and such black-board exercises as he may deem necessary, until he is satisfied that the pupils are ready to undertake the study of the selection. At the oral reading the pupils should be able to show their mastery of the principles thus taught. Toward the close of the course, they will naturally read connectedly the various sections of the Introduction, in order to obtain a comprehensive and systematic view of the principles.

To secure good reading, systematic drill on the exercises in Vowel Sounds and in Articulation is also necessary.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

_The Banner of St. George_ Shapcott Wensley 36

Jean Valjean and the Bishop Victor Hugo 38

_The Well of St. Keyne_ Robert Southey 43

Faith, Hope and Charity Bible 46

_The Legend Beautiful_ Henry W. Longfellow 47

The Vicar's Family Use Art Oliver Goldsmith 52

_The Soldier's Dream_ Thomas Campbell 58

_Van Elsen_ Frederick George Scott 60

_Pibroch of Donuil Dhu_ Sir Walter Scott 61

_The Day is Done_ Henry W. Longfellow 63

The Schoolmaster and the Boys Charles Dickens 65

_The Knights' Chorus_ Alfred, Lord Tennyson 70

_The Northern Star_ Unknown 71

_The Indigo Bird_ Ethelwyn Wetherald 72

_The Pasture Field_ Ethelwyn Wetherald 73

Shipwrecked Robert Louis Stevenson 75

_On His Blindness_ John Milton 80

Briggs in Luck William M. Thackeray 81

_The Laughing Sally_ Charles G. D. Roberts 84

The Prodigal Son Bible 88

_Christmas at Sea_ Robert Louis Stevenson 90

_The Evening Wind_ William Cullen Bryant 93

_Paradise and the Peri_ Thomas Moore 95

_The Lady of Shalott_ Alfred, Lord Tennyson 100

_Home they brought her
Warrior dead_ Alfred, Lord Tennyson 107

The Sky John Ruskin 108

_The Return of the Swallows_ Edmund W. Gosse 111

_Barbara Frietchie_ John Greenleaf Whittier 113

Bless the Lord, O My Soul Bible 116

_The Eternal Goodness_ John Greenleaf Whittier 118

The King of Glory Bible 119

The Four-Horse Race "Ralph Connor" 121

_Mrs. Malaprop's Views_ Richard B. Sheridan 126

_The Glove and the Lions_ Leigh Hunt 131

_The Fickleness of a Roman Mob_ William Shakespeare 133

_Sir Peter and Lady Teazle_ Richard B. Sheridan 136

_The Parting of Marmion
and Douglas_ Sir Walter Scott 140

_Columbus_ Joaquin Miller 143

From the "Apology" of Socrates Benjamin Jowett 145

_Highland Hospitality_ Sir Walter Scott 151

_The Outlaw_ Sir Walter Scott 154

Of Studies Francis, Lord Bacon 157

The Influence of Athens Thomas Babington,
Lord Macaulay 159

National Morality John Bright 161

_Hamlet's Advice to the Players_ William Shakespeare 164

_Rosabelle_ Sir Walter Scott 166

_The Island of the Scots_ William E. Aytoun 168

Cranford Society Mrs. Gaskell 178

_Sir Galahad_ Alfred, Lord Tennyson 182

_Song for Saint Cecilia's Day_ John Dryden 186

_The Day was Lingering_ Charles Heavysege 189

_On First Looking into
Chapman's Homer_ John Keats 189

_Great Things Were Ne'er
Begotten in an Hour_ Sir Daniel Wilson 190

_A Wood Lyric_ William Wilfred Campbell 191

_To Night_ Percy Bysshe Shelley 193

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 Song My Paddle Sings_ E. Pauline Johnson 203

_The Defence of the Bridge_ Thomas Babington, Lord
Macaulay 206

On the Death of King Edward VII Sir Herbert Henry
Asquith 217

The Heroes of Magersfontein _The London Daily News_ 221

_Funeral of Julius Caesar_ William Shakespeare 225

_The Revenge_ Alfred, Lord Tennyson 234

_Herve Riel_ Robert Browning 241

The Handwriting on the Wall Bible 248

Paul's Defence before King
Agrippa Bible 251

_The Stranded Ship_ Charles G. D. Roberts 254

_Sir Patrick Spens_ Old Ballad 258

_King John and the Abbot of
Canterbury_ Old Ballad 262

The Key to Human Happiness George Eliot 266

_The Vision of Sir Launfal_ James Russell Lowell 271

On the Death of Gladstone Sir Wilfrid Laurier 278

_The Downfall of Wolsey_ William Shakespeare 286

_The Italian in England_ Robert Browning 290

Advantages of Imperial
Federation George Monro Grant 296

_Collect for Dominion Day_ Charles G. D. Roberts 305

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