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4. Do not move the arm and hand to the intended position by the shortest course, but describe a curved line; let the motion be rather slow until the position is almost reached, then let the hand move quickly to its place in completing the gesture. The student should select or invent for himself short passages suitable as exercises in descriptive gesture and action.

EXAMPLES.

1. An honest man, my neighbor, there he stands, was struck,— struck like a dog by one who bears the badge of Ursini.

2. See through this air, this ocean, and this earth,

All matter quick and bursting into birth.
Above, how high progressive we may go;
Around, how wide, how deep descend below.

3. On right, on left, above, below,

Sprang up at once the lurking foe.

4. There is my dagger, here my naked breast; within, a heart dearer than gold-richer than Plutus' mine.

5. Look on these hands, these arms, this brow, this bosom, black with early wounds.

6. Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon in front of them,
Cannon behind them,

Volleyed and thundered.

7. Mountains above, Earth's, Ocean's, plain below.

8. Until this hour I held some slack allegiance, but now my sword's my own.

9. The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms.

10. Then up with that flag, let it float on the air,

Though our fathers are cold in their graves;

They had hands that could strike,

They had souls that could dare,

And their sons were not made to be slaves. 11. The Douglas round him drew his cloak,

Folded his arms, and thus he spoke.

12. What, shall one of us that struck the foremost man of all the world but for supporting robbers, shall we contaminate our fingers

with base bribes, and sell the mighty space of our large honors for so much trash as may be grasped thus?

13. If, by charging me with theatrical behavior, any man mean to insinuate that I utter any sentiments but my own, I shall treat him as a calumniator and a villain. On such an occasion, I shall, without scruple, trample on all those forms with which wealth and dignity intrench themselves.

The simplest and the best way to cultivate easy, graceful, and appropriate action, either in expressing your own thoughts and sentiments, or in delivering the language of another, is to carefully imitate the graceful and expressive postures, gestures, and movements that you have noticed and admired in others. When an emphatic word is uttered with great abruptness, the gesture that accompanies it should be abrupt; when the utterance of the emphatic word is smooth, the gestures should be smooth. Generally, voice, features, and gestures should simultaneously express the same feeling and the same thought.

EXPRESSION BY THE HEAD, FACE, EYES, ARMS, BODY, AND LOWER LIMBS.

The Head and Face.

The hanging down of the head denotes shame or grief. The holding of it up, pride or courage.

To nod forward implies assent.

To toss the head back, dissent.

The inclination of the head implies diffidence or languor. The head is averted in dislike or horror.

It leans forward in attention.

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They are downcast or averted in shame or grief.

They are cast on vacancy in thought.

They are cast in various directions in doubt and anxiety.

The Arms.

The placing of the hand on the head indicates pain or distress.

On the eyes, shame or sorrow.

On the lips, an injunction of silence.

On the breast, an appeal to conscience.

The hand is waved or flourished in joy or contempt.
Both hands are held supine, or they are applied or

clasped, in prayer.

Both are held prone in blessing.

They are clasped or wrung in affliction.

They are held forward, and received, in friendship.

The Body.

The body held erect indicates steadiness and courage. Thrown back, pride.

Stooping forward, condescension or compassion.

Bending, reverence or respect.

Prostration, the utmost humility or abasement.

The Lower Limbs.

The firm position of the lower limbs signifies courage or obstinacy.

Bended knees indicate timidity or weakness.

The lower limbs advance in desire or courage.

They retire in aversion or fear.

Start in terror.

ADVICE TO READERS AND DECLAIMERS

1. To make sure that you understand and have a proper appreciation of what you wish to express, write out your ideas concerning the passage, talk about it to yourself as if giving your thoughts to another, and be sure that your explanations and statements concerning it are full, clear, and entirely satisfactory to your own mind.

2. Practice on plain, simple, conversational pieces, until you can give them as if giving unpremeditated utterance to your own thoughts; afterwards practice upon simple emotional passages; and last of all, on difficult rhetorical and dramatic pieces.

3. A necessary condition to successful declamation, is that the words of the piece to be delivered must be perfectly committed to memory, and the meaning fully understood. Imperfect recollection of the words to be delivered is usually followed by partial or total failure.

4. Do not, when reading, declaiming, or speaking, think about your voice or manner; leave nature to suggest the tone, the look, and the action. The reader or declaimer who fully understands the meaning of what he reads or speaks, will make himself understood by those whom he addresses; but if his attention be withdrawn from his subject to himself, to voice, manner, or any thing else he will make an unfavorable impression on his hearers.

5. One of the most important matters in connection with the arts of reading, speaking, and acting, is that of avoiding all appearance of art. To do this, the speaker must be so thoroughly and deeply affected with the thoughts, facts, and sentiments uttered, that he never bestows a moment's thought on his manner.

6. Cultivate the habit of speaking distinctly, correctly, and pleasantly at all times. Be as careful to speak correctly in familiar conversation as in declaiming a passage, in reading before critics whom you know to be critics,

or in speaking your own thoughts before an intelligent and critical audience.

7. Cultivate a habit of reading, declaiming, and of speaking your own thoughts, first in a light, and then in a loud, whisper. This exercise, if frequently and faithfully practiced, will not only improve your articulation and increase your control of your breathing organs, but will also increase your command of words and your facility in the expression of your own thoughts, an important attainment in which silent thinkers are generally deficient.

8. Try every way to find out your own elocutionary faults and defects, and be untiring in your endeavors to remove them.

9. If you fully understand what you attempt to read or speak, you can tell whether you are doing it correctly or not, without the aid of rules; if you do not understand it, no rules will enable you to express it correctly.

10. Put yourself, as well as you are able, by the aid of your imagination, in the place of the person for whom you speak, and excite in your own mind similar feelings to those which animated him; in this way you can find out the emphasis and the expression that the piece requires.

11. Commence with a few sentences; commit these thoroughly, then practice on them until you develop in your own mind the proper spirit with which they should be given.

12. Cultivate a deliberate manner. Most young declaimers and speakers hurry through their pieces, or express what they have to say with constantly increasing force and rapidity.

13. Cultivate an unstudied, earnest, extemporaneous manner in reading, declaiming, or speaking. It is the greatest excellence in delivery.

14. To understand a short and simple passage requires some thought; to understand long and complex passages requires the closest attention and the most careful thinking.

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