[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Tommy out by the neck], the door opened a little and there appeared in the aperture the face of Tommy,
tear-stained but excited. "I ken the word now," he cried, "it came to me a' at once; it is hantle!"
Mr. Ogilvy ... said in an ecstasy to himself, "He had to think of it till he got it--and he got it. The laddie is a
genius!"
QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1. What is the derivation of the word vocabulary?
2. Briefly discuss any complete speech given in this volume, with reference to (a) exactness, (b) variety, and
(c) charm, in the use of words.
3. Give original examples of the kinds of word-studies referred to on pages 337 and 338.
4. Deliver a short talk on any subject, using at least five words which have not been previously in your
"dynamic" vocabulary.
5. Make a list of the unfamiliar words found in any address you may select.
CHAPTER XXVII 173
6. Deliver a short extemporaneous speech giving your opinions on the merits and demerits of the use of
unusual words in public speaking.
7. Try to find an example of the over-use of unusual words in a speech.
8. Have you used reference books in word studies? If so, state with what result.
9. Find as many synonyms and antonyms as possible for each of the following words: Excess, Rare, Severe,
Beautiful, Clear, Happy, Difference, Care, Skillful, Involve, Enmity, Profit, Absurd, Evident, Faint, Friendly,
Harmony, Hatred, Honest, Inherent.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 32: How to Attract and Hold an Audience, J. Berg Esenwein.]
[Footnote 33: A book of synonyms and antonyms is in preparation for this series, "The Writer's Library."]
[Footnote 34: Composition and Rhetoric, J.M. Hart.]
CHAPTER XXVIII 174
CHAPTER XXVIII
MEMORY TRAINING
Lulled in the countless chambers of the brain, Our thoughts are linked by many a hidden chain; Awake but
one, and lo! what myriads rise! Each stamps its image as the other flies!
* * * * *
Hail, memory, hail! in thy exhaustless mine From age to age unnumber'd treasures shine! Thought and her
shadowy brood thy call obey, And Place and Time are subject to thy sway!
--SAMUEL ROGERS, Pleasures of Memory.
Many an orator, like Thackeray, has made the best part of his speech to himself--on the way home from the
lecture hall. Presence of mind--it remained for Mark Twain to observe--is greatly promoted by absence of
body. A hole in the memory is no less a common complaint than a distressing one.
Henry Ward Beecher was able to deliver one of the world's greatest addresses at Liverpool because of his
excellent memory. In speaking of the occasion Mr. Beecher said that all the events, arguments and appeals
that he had ever heard or read or written seemed to pass before his mind as oratorical weapons, and standing
there he had but to reach forth his hand and "seize the weapons as they went smoking by." Ben Jonson could
repeat all he had written. Scaliger memorized the Iliad in three weeks. Locke says: "Without memory, man is
a perpetual infant." Quintilian and Aristotle regarded it as a measure of genius.
Now all this is very good. We all agree that a reliable memory is an invaluable possession for the speaker. We
never dissent for a moment when we are solemnly told that his memory should be a storehouse from which at
pleasure he can draw facts, fancies, and illustrations. But can the memory be trained to act as the warder for
all the truths that we have gained from thinking, reading, and experience? And if so, how? Let us see.
Twenty years ago a poor immigrant boy, employed as a dish washer in New York, wandered into the Cooper
Union and began to read a copy of Henry George's "Progress and Poverty." His passion for knowledge was
awakened, and he became a habitual reader. But he found that he was not able to remember what he read, so
he began to train his naturally poor memory until he became the world's greatest memory expert. This man
was the late Mr. Felix Berol. Mr. Berol could tell the population of any town in the world, of more than five [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
Tommy out by the neck], the door opened a little and there appeared in the aperture the face of Tommy,
tear-stained but excited. "I ken the word now," he cried, "it came to me a' at once; it is hantle!"
Mr. Ogilvy ... said in an ecstasy to himself, "He had to think of it till he got it--and he got it. The laddie is a
genius!"
QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1. What is the derivation of the word vocabulary?
2. Briefly discuss any complete speech given in this volume, with reference to (a) exactness, (b) variety, and
(c) charm, in the use of words.
3. Give original examples of the kinds of word-studies referred to on pages 337 and 338.
4. Deliver a short talk on any subject, using at least five words which have not been previously in your
"dynamic" vocabulary.
5. Make a list of the unfamiliar words found in any address you may select.
CHAPTER XXVII 173
6. Deliver a short extemporaneous speech giving your opinions on the merits and demerits of the use of
unusual words in public speaking.
7. Try to find an example of the over-use of unusual words in a speech.
8. Have you used reference books in word studies? If so, state with what result.
9. Find as many synonyms and antonyms as possible for each of the following words: Excess, Rare, Severe,
Beautiful, Clear, Happy, Difference, Care, Skillful, Involve, Enmity, Profit, Absurd, Evident, Faint, Friendly,
Harmony, Hatred, Honest, Inherent.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 32: How to Attract and Hold an Audience, J. Berg Esenwein.]
[Footnote 33: A book of synonyms and antonyms is in preparation for this series, "The Writer's Library."]
[Footnote 34: Composition and Rhetoric, J.M. Hart.]
CHAPTER XXVIII 174
CHAPTER XXVIII
MEMORY TRAINING
Lulled in the countless chambers of the brain, Our thoughts are linked by many a hidden chain; Awake but
one, and lo! what myriads rise! Each stamps its image as the other flies!
* * * * *
Hail, memory, hail! in thy exhaustless mine From age to age unnumber'd treasures shine! Thought and her
shadowy brood thy call obey, And Place and Time are subject to thy sway!
--SAMUEL ROGERS, Pleasures of Memory.
Many an orator, like Thackeray, has made the best part of his speech to himself--on the way home from the
lecture hall. Presence of mind--it remained for Mark Twain to observe--is greatly promoted by absence of
body. A hole in the memory is no less a common complaint than a distressing one.
Henry Ward Beecher was able to deliver one of the world's greatest addresses at Liverpool because of his
excellent memory. In speaking of the occasion Mr. Beecher said that all the events, arguments and appeals
that he had ever heard or read or written seemed to pass before his mind as oratorical weapons, and standing
there he had but to reach forth his hand and "seize the weapons as they went smoking by." Ben Jonson could
repeat all he had written. Scaliger memorized the Iliad in three weeks. Locke says: "Without memory, man is
a perpetual infant." Quintilian and Aristotle regarded it as a measure of genius.
Now all this is very good. We all agree that a reliable memory is an invaluable possession for the speaker. We
never dissent for a moment when we are solemnly told that his memory should be a storehouse from which at
pleasure he can draw facts, fancies, and illustrations. But can the memory be trained to act as the warder for
all the truths that we have gained from thinking, reading, and experience? And if so, how? Let us see.
Twenty years ago a poor immigrant boy, employed as a dish washer in New York, wandered into the Cooper
Union and began to read a copy of Henry George's "Progress and Poverty." His passion for knowledge was
awakened, and he became a habitual reader. But he found that he was not able to remember what he read, so
he began to train his naturally poor memory until he became the world's greatest memory expert. This man
was the late Mr. Felix Berol. Mr. Berol could tell the population of any town in the world, of more than five [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]