McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XVI · Part 3: Lessons XIII-XXIV: Dickens, Gray and Patrick Henry
22. My Experience in Elocution (John Neal)
Goal: Your student enjoys a humorous memoir about learning to speak and draws lessons for their own reading aloud.
You'll need
- The book, or the scan beside this guide
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
Neal's amusing recollections of how elocution was taught at his academy, the overdone declaiming of a schoolmate, and his own first recitations at home. Notes follow.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Read the book's notes: Brunswick, Maine, the seat of Bowdoin College; "The Mariner's Dream," a poem by William Dimond; and "The Lake of the Dismal Swamp," by Thomas Moore.
Before reading, find these words in the selection and look up any your student does not know: eccentric, academy, exhibition, declaim, oratory.
About the author
The book says John Neal (1793-1876), a brilliant but eccentric American writer, was born in Portland, Maine. His early business with the poet John Pierpont failed, and he turned to law and then to literature. He lived for a time in England and wrote for Blackwood's Magazine.
Read it aloud
Read the opening together:
In the academy I attended, elocution was taught in a way I shall never forget — never!
Your student reads on, enjoying the humor. One line to find:
it sounded like a crash of broken crockery, intermingled with chicken-peeps.
Talk about it
SayHow was elocution taught at Neal's academy, and why was he never chosen?
SayWhat was wrong with the schoolmate's declaiming?
SayNeal says such noises "are not oratory." What does he think real oratory is?
SayWhat can you take from this for your own reading aloud?
Tell it back
Your student retells two of Neal's experiences in their own words.
Copywork and memory
Copy:
In the academy I attended, elocution was taught in a way I shall never forget — never!
Write (optional)
Write a funny paragraph about a time you had to speak or perform in front of others.