IN READING AND SPEAKING. 7 



speaker must be animated, and must exert himself so as 

 to convince his hearers that he is in earnest in what he 

 says. A listless, languid, heavy manner, cannot, under 

 any circumstances, render effective the most nervous 

 language and the most exalted sentiment. A graceful 

 delivery does not by any means imply an affected minc- 

 ing utterance, but, on the contrary, an openness and 

 roundness of delivery. "While full liberty should be 

 given to the motion of the jaws, a pompous and mouth- 

 ing manner should be particularly avoided. Many per- 

 sons err in this respect ; when reading they use a tone 

 different from what they do in conversation ; they in- 

 crease the number of accents and emphases, thinking 

 that they thus increase the importance of the subject. 



As in every word, except monosyllables, there is one 

 syllable, and sometimes more, that receives a stronger 

 percussion of the voice than the rest, which is called the 

 accented syllable ; so in every sentence there is one word 

 at least, and sometimes more, that requires a particular 

 stress of the voice, called the emphasis. The emphatic 

 words must be those whose object is to express the 

 chief design of the speaker ; and the placing the empha- 

 sis on the proper word is not only necessary for a grace- 

 ful and correct delivery, but the sense of the sentence 

 often depends on it. The learner should avoid multi- 

 plying unnecessary emphatic words, and placing the 

 emphasis on trifling monosyllables. A common error, 

 particularly in reading, is a continued uniformity of tone, 

 without emphasis or cadence. During the whole of any 

 discourse, there never occurs a sentence which should be 

 uttered in the same tone of voice. In common conver- 

 sation nature dictates a mode of expression varied ac- 

 cording to the subject ; the same should be the case in 

 reading and speaking. 



As a proper emphasis is of so much consequence, the 

 follow ing directions require the particular attention of 

 the student. 



First. Words that are in opposition, so as to form a 

 contrast or antithesis, require such an emphasis as may 

 clearly mark the contrast. 



Secondly. In a climax, or gradual increase of sense, 



