_The Village Blacksmith._
Volume V, page 335. _How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to
Aix._
Volume V, page 396. _The American Flag._
Volume VII, page 345. _The Reaper's Dream._
Volume VIII, page 60. _America._

CHAPTER XII

READING ALOUD

Silent reading is selfish, while oral reading is for the benefit and
pleasure of others. The ordinary individual in daily life reads but
little aloud, and probably makes no attempt whatever to improve his
style after he leaves the schoolroom. But parents and teacher are
incessantly called upon to read--to read intelligently and effectively.
To some this power appears to come naturally, but most people acquire it
only by serious study and continuous practice, and will find their
greatest assistance in a thorough knowledge of those things which are
essential to pleasing oral expression.

1. ARTICULATION AND ENUNCIATION. Articulation is one thing; enunciation
is another. A person articulates the sounds of a language; he enunciates
the syllables and words. A clear and distinct enunciation is as
necessary as the perfect articulation on which it is based. Indistinct
enunciation comes from a natural slovenliness of mind, from nervousness,
haste or over-excitement.

Any one who can articulate correctly can acquire a perfect enunciation.
Knowing this fact, and knowing the causes which lead to poor
enunciation, it is comparatively easy to correct the faults and give
drill which will overcome the carelessness or remove the difficulty.

2. EMPHASIS AND INFLECTION. The primary facts upon which rests
intelligibility in reading are emphasis and inflection. Let it be said
at the start that no one can read well who has not thoroughly mastered
the thought in the selection he is rendering. If he is compelled to
search his mind for the meanings of words or to grasp the complete idea
of a sentence, he unwittingly pauses and hesitates and confuses the
ideas of his hearers. But if the thought of a selection is thoroughly
mastered, he places the emphasis almost unerringly and by so doing
raises no conflicting ideas in the mind of the listener. Moreover, if
the meaning of a sentence is clear to a reader his inflections are
ordinarily correct.

3. EMOTIONAL STATES. A person may read with perfect inflection and the
most correct emphasis, yet fail altogether to convey the real feeling of
the author. Not only must a reader master the th