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Show 72 HANDBOOK FOR TEACHERS OF INTERPRETATION rightly should be, afraid of material he knows nothing of -fearful that he may misunderstand the author. Sight reading will, moreover, make the careless student more careless, because he will become more thoughtless the more he is allowed to read material he has not thoroughly prepared. The glib student who readily calls off sounds will enjoy his OWB glibness, and it will be come more difficult for the teacher to get him to dig out the feel ing and meaning from the printed page. Sight reading also will help to make speech defectives out of the retiring= bashful, timid is and students. Unity. The end which should be developed in this second aim is the ability to keep all the values, moods, and details of the read ing in a unified, harmonic atmosphere. Whenever such things as roses, 'sunshine, and blue sky, and so on are mentioned, some readers begin imitatively to color, to "gild the lily and paint the rose." Seldom is Brownings "The Patriot" read well, even by teachers of reading. "It was roses, roses, all the way, With myrtle mixed in my path, like mad; house-roofs seemed to heave and sway, The church spires flamed, such flags had they, A year ago this very day." The Here again may be seen the danger of sight reading. Anyone who read no further than the second verse of this poem would nat urally be led to believe that the atmosphere was that of happy, bright, joyful remembrance. But the year that has passed-"a year ago this very day"-bringing with it the indignities now be ing heaped upon "the patriot," ,the fickleness of the mob, the pres ent scaffold-all have helped to transform the "roses" to ashes of roses, and the atmosphere is now one of intense bitterness and despondency. One must look out for just such pitfalls as authors will spread for us. Short Selections. It is wisest to use short selections in develop ing atmosphere. A particular atmosphere will envelop a selection only a stanza long, as it will the short story, poem, novel, or |
