Lavender, lavender! His songs were fair and sweet, Lavender, lavender! He is gone. The sunset glows; But through the brain of London The land to which he goes. -Alfred Noyes Reprinted by permission from Collected Poems, Volume II, by Alfred Noyes. Copyright, 1910, by Frederick A. Stokes Company. The poem, Lavender affords a most interesting study in contrasts. We are asked to think of "linen sweet and "sooty street"; to hear the hum of the bee and the roar of London streets; to see "lanes of wild flowers" and "ragged London slums." The contrasts could hardly be greater. Read the poem again and try to feel that sympathy toward mankind which the poet must have felt as he wrote of the ragged hawker. Recall the pleasant sound of humming bees and the raucous tones of the old lavender vender. Read the poem aloud. You should be able to make your hearers see two pictures while you are reading it. Recite the first stanza of America, sounding final consonants and speaking vowels clearly and correctly. Now read this stanza with your attention directed to vowel sounds and final consonants. What other final consonants do you find in this stanza besides t and d? II REVIEW OF FINAL CONSONANTS THE TWENTY-SECOND OF DECEMBER Wild was the day; the wintry sea They little thought how pure a light With years, should gather round that day; 15 -William Cullen Bryant Read these stanzas silently to get the thought. What event in American history is commemorated in this poem? In preparing to read the stanzas aloud, study them by sentences and sentence-elements (phrases and clauses) instead of by lines. Read the first stanza as if it were printed like this: Wild was the day; the wintry sea moaned sadly on New England's strand, when first the thoughtful and the free, our fathers, trod the desert land. After studying the stanzas until you understand the thought perfectly, read them aloud. Remember that good reading of poetry does not mean reading it as if it were prose. The rhythm of the lines should be clear without being given in a "singsong" way. 1. Speak the vowels clearly and correctly. 2. Sound the final consonants, particularly d and t. In reading the word groups, New England's strand in the first stanza and sons should in the second stanza, complete each word. Do not make the final s in the first word of the group serve also as the beginning letter of the second word. He doesn't think so. It doesn't matter. 11. Common Errors Corrected 91. HOW TO CONDUCT A MEETING You have learned how to conduct a class meeting for election of officers. You may have asked your president to conduct oral English lessons for you. It is interesting. Many of your lessons can be made more interesting if conducted as a class meeting. A meeting is first called to order by the class president, who says, "The meeting will please come to order." The minutes or notes taken during a meeting by a secretary are read first. The president asks for criticism of the minutes. A pupil rises, and asks for permission to speak by saying, "Mr. President.' The president speaks the pupil's name. This gives the pupil a right to speak without interruption. He then makes any necessary comments on the minutes. The president then says, "The minutes will stand approved as read," or "The minutes will stand approved as corrected." Old or unfinished business is taken up next. This is followed by the regular business, which in your case would be talks on certain subjects, discussions of various questions, or committee work on a given project. In a country like ours where political questions are settled by the vote of the people, nearly all other affairs of a social or political nature are discussed in public meetings. Churches, clubs, fraternal organizations, business corporations—indeed, nearly every activity which involves groups of a half dozen or more people must conduct their meetings under what is known as parliamentary order. It is, therefore, very important that you know how meetings should be conducted. For example, here is an illustration of a class deciding a question that has been referred to them as a group. Any question which must be decided by a class vote is handled in this way: President: Will someone put the question in the form of a motion? First Pupil: I move that we choose a committee to plan for three meetings. Second Pupil: I second the motion. President: It has been moved and seconded that we choose a committee to plan for three meetings. favor say, "Aye." Pupils in favor: "Aye." President: Those opposed say, "No." Pupils opposed to motion: "No." Those in The presiding officer counts the number for and against the measure and decides whether or not it was carried. He announces, "The motion is (is not) carried." Your teacher will give you other assignments from Cushing's Manual or Robert's Rules of Order. He divided it between the two. It was divided among the three boys. 12. Common Errors Corrected |