McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LVI · Part 6: Lessons XLIX-LX: Sieges, patriots and pilgrims
62. Rienzi's Address to the Romans (Mary Russell Mitford)
Goal: Your student delivers a dramatic speech in verse and explains how Rienzi stirs the people.
You'll need
- The book, or the scan beside this guide
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
An author note on Mary Russell Mitford, then Rienzi's speech from her play, urging the Romans to throw off their petty tyrants. Notes on Rienzi and the Ursini follow.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Read the book's notes on Rienzi (driven from power, restored in 1354, and killed the same year) and the Ursini, one of the noble families of Rome.
Before reading, find these words in the selection and look up any your student does not know: thralldom, tyrants.
About the author
The book says Mary Russell Mitford (1786-1855), an English writer born in Hampshire, published three volumes of poems at twenty and made writing her life's work. Her best-known prose is Our Village, a picture of country life full of humor and feeling; her chief drama is Rienzi.
Read it aloud
Your student reads the speech standing. Near the beginning:
The story of our thralldom. We are slaves!
The bright sun rises to his course, and lights
A race of slaves!
Talk about it
SayWhom does Rienzi say the Romans are slaves to?
SayWhat happened to the honest neighbor, and why does Rienzi tell that story?
SayFind a question Rienzi asks the crowd. Why ask instead of tell?
SayRead the note about Rienzi's end. Does it change how you see the speech?
Tell it back
Your student gives Rienzi's argument in plain words.
Copywork and memory
Copy and learn the three lines quoted above.
Afterwards
Use the elocution lessons on pitch and emphasis to deliver the speech to the family.