method which tends to bring out most fitly the sense of the subject.

EXERCISES

NOTE: Read the following sentences, using a moderate, rapid, or slow rate according to what seems best adapted to convey the various thoughts and feelings expressed. Observe that some of the sentences require a consistent rate throughout, while others require a change within the sentence.

I. As soon as Macaulay had finished his rough draft, he began to fill it in at the rate of six sides of foolscap every morning, written in so large a hand and with such a multitude of erasures that the whole six pages were, on the average, compressed into two pages of print. (TREVELYAN)

II. Full knee-deep lies the winter snow,

And the winter winds are wearily sighing;
Toll ye the church-bell sad and slow,
And tread softly and speak low,

For the old year lies a-dying. (TENNYSON)

III. Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee
Jest and youthful Jollity,

Quips, and Cranks, and wanton Wiles,
Nods, and Becks, and wreathéd Smiles.

(MILTON)

IV. Slowly, cautiously, they crept forward, and then with a sudden rush they sprang through the hedge and opened fire.

V. I told him plainly and repeatedly to bring the document on this particular date.

VI. Our country should never forget Lincoln's immortal phrases: of the people, by the people, and for the people.

the great bell boomed

out, setting the very walls vibrating.

VIII. Flashing weapons, blazing torches, smoking wagon-loads of wet straw, hard work at neighboring barricades in all directions, shrieks, volleys, execrations, bravery without stint, boom, smash, and rattle; but still the deep ditch, and the single drawbridge, and the massive stone walls, and the eight great towers, and still Defarge of the wine-shop at his gun, now grown doubly hot by the service of four fierce hours. (DICKENS) IX. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time.

(SHAKESPEARE)

X. Great in life, he was surpassingly great in death. For no cause, in the very frenzy of wickedness and wantonness, by the red hand of murder, he was thrust from the full tide of this world's interests, from its hopes, its aspirations, its victories, into the visible presence of death and he did not quail. (BLAINE)

XI. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

(SHAKESPEARE)

XII. And when old Fezziwig and Mrs. Fezziwig had gone all through the dance, advance and retire, both hands to your partners, bow and curtsey, corkscrew, thread-the-needle, and back again to your place Fezziwig "cut!"-cut so deftly that he appeared to wink with his legs and came upon his feet again without a stagger.

(DICKENS)

XIII. I turned in my saddle, and made its girth tight, Then shortened each stirrup, and set the pique

right,

Rebuckled the check strap, chain'd slacker the

bit,

Nor galloped less steadily Roland a whit.

(BROWNING) XIV. I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following; but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you.

(SHAKESPEARE) XV. We fully recognize that, as has been true in the past, so it is true now, and ever will be true, the prime factor in each man's or woman's success must normally be that man's or woman's own character character, the sum of many qualities, of honesty, of courage, and of common sense.

(ROOSEVELT)

XVI. Away, away, my steed and I,
Upon the pinions of the wind,

All human dwellings left behind,

We sped like meteors through the sky.

(BYRON)

XVII The greatest of all the mysteries of life, and the most terrible, is the corruption of even the sincerest religion, which is not daily founded on rational, effective, humble, and helpful action. (RUSKIN)

XVIII. I imagine that a few of the gentlefolks of Cranford were poor, and had some difficulty in making both ends meet; but they were like the Spartans, and concealed their smart under a smiling face. (GASKELL)

XIX. Things are growing desperate up aloft; the enemy tumble rocks upon the rising line; they light fuses and roll shells down the steep; they load the gunt

with handfuls of cartridges in their haste; and as if there were powder in the word, they shout "Chicamauga!" down upon the mountaineers. (TAYLOR)

XX. The solemn ceremonial of the first inauguration, the reverent oath of Washington, the acclaim of the multitude greeting their President, marked the most unique event of modern times in the development of free institutions. (DEPEW)

CHAPTER XIV

PHRASING AND PAUSE

Phrasing

Closely associated with rate are two distinct aspects of delivery: phrasing and pause. Phrasing is the grouping of words for utterance without an appreciable break, or pause. The basic principle of proper phrasing is the joining, in a single utterance, of those words which constitute a thought unit. Correct phrasing is mechanically desirable in that it provides opportunities for renewing the breath supply with reasonable frequency. It also adds to variety of expression by making use of the differing lengths of successive thought units. But the two chief aims of phrasing are to convey our ideas most clearly, and to bring out the relative values of the various factors of our thoughts.

Regarding the first of these aims, it is obvious that many sentences contain two or more concepts which may convey a confusing or misleading impression if they are merged in delivery. Take, for example, the sentence, "The investigators found in the warehouses great numbers of eggs and chickens and people suffering at the same time because of the scarcity of food on the market." Now unless this sentence is properly phrased, the listener may be left wondering why eggs and chickens and people should be in the warehouse, or why the