McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson Elocution · Part 1: Principles of elocution
3. Principles of Elocution: inflections optional
Goal: Your child hears and makes the rising and falling slides of the voice, and knows when a falling slide is usual.
You'll need
- The book, open to these pages
- A notebook and pencil
What's in the book
III. Inflections, several pages of rules and examples on the rising and falling slides of the voice, with practice sentences marked to show each slide.
The lesson, step by step
What an inflection is
Read the definition together:
Inflections are slides of the voice upward or downward.
The book marks the rising slide and the falling slide with little accent marks over or after a word.
Hear the difference
Read these aloud. The voice goes up on the first choice and down on the second:
Did you walk or ride?
Is he sick, or is he well?
(The book prints small marks over the words to show each slide.)
SayWhere did my voice go up? Where did it come down?
The falling slide
Read Rule VI:
The falling inflection is generally proper wherever the sense is complete.
Try it on a plain statement:
Truth is more wonderful than fiction.
SayDoes your voice go up or down at the end of a statement?
Practice the examples
Go through a handful of the marked examples on the next pages. Have your child read each one, then tell whether the slide was up or down. Don't try to cover all the rules in one day.
Make your own
Have your child write two questions that offer a choice (like "Do you want tea or milk?") and read them aloud with the right slides.
Wrap up
SayAsk me a yes-or-no question, and I'll tell you if your voice went up.
Afterwards
On later days, come back and work through more of the inflection rules, a page at a time.
Tip
Inflections are easier to hear than to explain. Exaggerate the slides at first, then make them natural.