EXPRESSION. EXPRESSION of Speech is the utterance of thought, feeling, or passion, with due significance or force. Its general divisions are EMPHASIS, INFLECTION, SLUR, MODULATION, MONOTONE, PERSONATION, and PAUSES. Emphasis Slur Expression Modulation Monotone Personalion Expression enables the reader to see clearly whatever is represented or described, to enter fully into the feelings of the writer, and to cause others to see, feel, and understand. I. EMPHASIS. I. DEFINITIONS. MPHASIS is the peculiar force given to one or more words of a sentence. 2. To give a Word Emphasis, means to pronounce it in a loud1 or forcible manner. No uncommon tone is 1 Loudness.-The instructor will explain to the clåss the fact, that loudness has not, of necessity, refer ence to high pitch, but to volume of voice, used on the same key or pitch, when reading or speaking. necessary, as words may be made emphatic by prolong. ing the tonics, by a pause, or even by a whisper. 3. Emphatic Words are often printed in Italics; those more emphatic, in small CAPITALS; and those that receive the greatest force, in large CAPITALS. W II. RULES IN EMPHASIS. ORDS and Phrases peculiarly significant, or important in meaning, are emphatic; as, Whence and what art thou, execrable shape? 2. Words and Phrases that contrast, or point out a difference, are emphatic; as, I did not say a better soldier, but an elder. 3. The Repetition of an emphatic word or phrase usually requires an increased force of utterance; as, You injured my child-You, sir! 4. A Succession of important words or phrases usually requires a gradual increase of emphatic force, though emphasis sometimes falls on the låst word of a series only; as, His disappointment, his ANGUISH, his DEATH, were caused by your carelessness. These misfortunes are the same to the poor, the ignorant, and the weak, as to the rich, the wise, and the powerful. The students will tell which of the rules are illustrated by the following exercises-bōth those that are marked and those that are unmarked. EXERCISES IN EMPHASIS. 1. Speak little and well, if you wish to be thought wise. 2. He buys, he sells,-he STEALS, he KILLS for gold. 3. You were taught to love your brother, not to hate him. 4. I shall sing the praises of October, as the loveliest of months. 5. It is not so easy to hide one's faults, as to mend them. 6. Study not so much to show knowledge, as to possess it. 7. The GOOD man is honored, but the EVIL man is despised. 8. Custom is the plague of wise men and the idol of fools. 9. He that trusts you, where he should find you lions finds you HARES; where foxes, GEESE. 10. My friends, our country must be FREE! The land is never lost, that has a son to right her, and here are troops of sons, and LOYAL ones! 11. If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop remained in my country, I NEVER would lay down my arms-never, NEVER, NEVER.1 12. It is pleasant to grow better, for that is to excel ourselves; it is pleasant to subdue sins, for this is victory; it is pleasant to govern our appetites, for this is empire. II. INFLECTION. I. DEFINITION. NFLECTION is the bend or slide of the voice, used in reading and speaking. Inflection, or the slide, is properly a part of emphasis. It is the greater rise or fall of the voice that occurs on the accented or heavy syllable of an emphatic word. 2. There are three inflections or slides of the voice: the RISING INFLECTION, the FALLING INFLECTION, and the CIRCUMFLEX. Rising Inflection Falling 1 In order to make the last never more fōrcible, the emphasis is produced by the falling slide, and a deep depression of the voice-almost to a deep aspirated whisper, drawn up from the very bottom of the chest. 3. The Rising Inflection is the upward bend or slide of the voice; as, home? 4. The Falling Inflection is the downward bend or slide of the voice; as, The rising inflection carries the voice upward from the general pitch, and suspends it on the highest tone required; while the falling inflection commences above the general pitch, and falls down to it, as indicated in the last two examples. 5. The Circumflex is the union of the inflections on the same syllable or word, either commencing with the rising and ending with the falling, or commencing with the falling and ending with the rising, thus producing a slight wave of the voice. 6. The acute accent ['] is often used to mark the rising inflection; the grave accent [`] the falling inflection; as, réad or spèll? Will you 7. The falling circumflex, which commences with a rising and ends with a falling slide of the voice, is marked thus; the rising circumflex, which commences with a falling and ends with a rising slide, is marked thus which the pupil will see is the same mark inverted; as, You must take me for a fool, to think I could do that. I II. RULES IN INFLECTION. NFLECTION occurs on the accented or heavy syllables of important or emphatic words; as, I will never stay. I said an old man, not a bétter. 2. The Falling Inflection is employed for all ideas that are leading, complete, or known, or whenever something is affirmed or commanded positively; as, He will shed tears, on his return. It is your place to obey. Speak, I charge you! 3. The Rising Inflection is employed for all ideäs that are conditional, incidental, or incomplete, or for those that are doubtful, uncertain, or negative; as, Though he sláy me, I shall love him. On its retúrn, they will shed tears, not of agony and distréss, but of gratitude and joy. 4. Questions for Information, or those that can be answered by yes or no, require the rising inflection: but their answers, when positive, the falling; as, Do you love Máry? Yès: I dò. 5. Declarative Questions, or those that can not be answered by yes or no, require the falling inflection; as, What means this stìr in town? When are you going to Ròme? 6. When Words or Clauses contrast or compare, the first part usually has the rising, and the last the falling inflection; though, when one side of the contrast is affirmed, and the other denied, the latter has the rising inflection, in whatever order they occur; as, I have seen the effects of love and hatred, jóy and grief, hópe and despair. This book is not mine, but yours. I come to bury Cæsar, not to praise him. 7. The Circumflex is used when the thoughts are not sincere, but are employed in jest, irony, or doublemeaning—in ridicule, sarcasm, or mockery. The falling circumflex is used in places that would otherwise require the falling inflection; the rising circumflex, in places that would otherwise require the rising inflection; as, He intends to ride, not to walk. Ah, it was Maud that gave it! I never thought it could be you! Students will be careful to employ the right slides in sentences that are unmarked, and tell what rule or rules are illustrated by each of the following 1. I want a pèn. It is not a book I want. 2. The war must go on. We must fight it through. 3. The cause will raise up àrmies; the cause will create nàvies. |