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An Experimental Study Of The Retention And Comprehension Of Poetry Resulting From Silent Reading And From Oral Interpretation

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An Experimental Study Of The Retention And Comprehension Of Poetry Resulting From Silent Reading And From Oral Interpretation

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Content AN E X P E R IM E N T A L STUDY O F TH E R E T E N T IO N AND CO M PREH EN SIO N OF P O E T R Y RESULTING FROM SILEN T READING AND FRO M O R A L IN T E R P R E T A T IO N by P au l N e w e ll C a m p b ell A D is s e r ta tio n P r e s e n t e d to the FA C U L T Y O F THE G RAD UATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY O F SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In P a r tia l F u lfillm e n t o f the R e q u ir e m e n ts for the D e g r e e D o cto r of P h ilo so p h y (S p eech ) A u g u st 19 59 UNIVERSITY O F S O U T H E R N CALIFORNIA G R A D U A T E S C H O O L U N IV E R S I T Y PA R K LOS A N G E L E S 7, C A L I F O R N I A This dissertation, written by ..................P au 1 _ .Newel. 1 _ _ C amp be 1.1.................. under the direction of hi~&...Dissertation C om mittee, and approved by all its members, has been presented to and accepted by the Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of D O C T O R O F P H I L O S O P H Y T A B L E O F C O N TEN TS P a g e LIST O F T A B L E S ......................................................................................................... iv C h ap ter I. THE P R O B L E M A N D REVIEW O F THE L IT E R A T U R E . 1 S tatem en t of the P r o b le m S ig n ifica n ce o f the Study D efin itio n s R e v iew of the L iter a tu r e P r e v ie w of th e R em a in in g C h ap ters II. SU B JE C T S , M A TER IA L S, A N D PR O C E D U R E S . . . . 27 S u b jects M a te r ia ls P r o c e d u r e s S u m m a ry III. P R E SE N T A T IO N AND IN T E R PR E T A T IO N O F DATA . . 40 R eten tion R e s u ltin g from O ra l In terp reta tio n and from S ilen t R ead in g C o m p r e h e n sio n R e su ltin g from O ra l In terp reta tio n and from S ilen t R ead in g E ffe c ts of T r a in in g in O r a l In terp reta tio n and L ack of T r a in in g in E ith e r O r a l In terp reta tio n or S ilen t R ead in g on R eten tion R e su ltin g from O r a l In terp reta tio n E ffe c ts of T r a in in g in O r a l In terp retation and L ack o f T r a in in g in e ith e r O r a l In terp reta tio n or S ilen t R ead in g on C o m p re h e n sio n R e su ltin g fr o m O r a l In terp reta tio n E ffe c ts of T r a in in g in O r a l In terp reta tio n and T r a in in g in S ilen t R eading on R eten tion R e su ltin g fr o m O ral In terp reta tio n E ffe c ts of T r a in in g in O r a l In terp reta tio n and T r a in in g in S ilen t R ead in g on C o m p re h e n sio n R e su ltin g fro m O ral In terp reta tio n ii iii C h a p te r P a g e E f f e c t s o f T r a in in g in S ilen t R ead in g and L ack of T r a in in g in e ith e r O r a l In te r p r e ta tio n or S ile n t R ea d in g on R e ten tio n R e su ltin g fro m S ilen t R ea d in g E ffe c ts of T r a in in g in S ilen t R ea d in g and L ack of T r a in in g in e ith e r O r a l In te r p r e ta tio n or S ile n t R ead in g on C o m p r e h e n s io n R e su ltin g fro m S ilen t R eading E f f e c t s o f T r a in in g in S ilen t R e a d in g and T r a in in g in O ra l In ter p r eta tio n on R eten tion R e su ltin g fr o m S ilen t R ea d in g E ff e c t s of T r a in in g in S ile n t R ea d in g and T r a in in g in O ra l In ter p r eta tio n on C o m p r e h e n s io n R e su ltin g fr o m S ilen t R ead in g S u m m a r y IV. SU M M A R Y , CO NCLUSIO NS, A N D IM PLIC A TIO N S . . . 53 S u m m a ry C o n c lu s io n s Im p lic a tio n s S u g g e s tio n s fo r F u r th e r R e s e a r c h B I B L I O G R A P H Y .................................................................................................. 62 A P P E N D I X E S ....................................................................................................... 68 A P P E N D IX A. T he P ilo t S t u d y .................................................. 69 A P P E N D IX B . In str u c tio n S h eet and L is ts o f Q u e stio n s . . 97 A P P E N D IX C . S e le c t io n s M arked fo r R ead in g w ith R ea d in g T i m e s .................................................................. 110 LIST O F T A B L E S T ab le P a g e 1. Raw S c o r e s fo r R e t e n t io n ........................................................................... 41 2. Raw S c o r e s for C o m p r e h e n s i o n ............................................................ 42 3. A n a ly s is of V a ria n ce b a se d on R eten tio n S c o r e s ....................... 44 4. “ R e te n tio n ” A n a ly s is , W ith in -G rou p s and In tera ctio n P o o l e d ......................................................... 44 5. A n a ly s is of V a ria n ce B a se d on C o m p r e h e n sio n S c o r e s . . 45 6. “ C o m p r e h e n sio n ” A n a ly s is , W ith in -G ro u p s and In tera ctio n P o o l e d ............................................................................... 45 7. S c o r e s O btained in the P ilo t S t u d y ................................................. ..... 93 8. T o ta l R ight and W rong A n sw e r s to ea ch Q u estio n on each S e le c tio n , O btained in the P ilo t S t u d y ................................ 94 9. R e su lts of the P ilo t Study R e s c o r e d a fte r E lim in a tin g the F iv e P o o r e s t Q u e stio n s fro m each S e le c tio n . . . 95 iv CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE In the field of speech it has long been assum ed that the m ost effective method of presenting poetry to an audience is by oral in te r pretation. Although sp ecific and p recise reason s are rarely given, authorities such as B a ssett (1:4), Cooper (3:327), C rocker and Eich (4:11), Dolm an (5:5), Johnson (7:153), Lee (8:427), Shurter and Watkins (9:i), and T assin (10:5) have agreed that poetry, if not all of literatu re, is at its best only when o ra lly interpreted. The above authors, and oth ers, have repeatedly stated that this superior effectiv en ess of oral interpretation is particularly m arked when com pared with silen t reading. They have referred to the living word, the incom parable beauty and e x p r e ssiv e n e ss of the human voice, the m eaning provided by the shadings and innuendoes of o ral language, the vivid n ess of the im a g es when read aloud, and the wedding of sight and sound as audiences watch and hear the oral interpreter. P resu m ab ly these phenomena explain or account for the superiority of oral interpretation over silent reading. While it w as, of cou rse, ex trem ely difficult to determ ine, in concrete term s, exactly what w as m eant by refer e n c es such as those above, it seem ed to the w riter that, in the m ajority of c a s e s , these au th orities w ere sa yin g , e x p lic itly o r im p lic itly , that a u d ien ces r e m em b er and understand m o re from the o ral in terp retation o f poetry than from the silen t reading o f poetry. C ertain ly the logic of c o n sid erin g su p e r io r the m ethod of p resen tation that r e su lts in the g r e a te r retention and/or co m p reh en sio n would s e e m im p e cc a b le. H ow ever, d esp ite the a ssu m p tiv e preced en t e sta b lish e d by the aforem en tion ed a u th o rities, the w r ite r knew of no in stan ce in which ex p erim en ta l evid en ce had been p resen ted to support th e se b e lie fs. Statem en t of the P ro b lem It w a s the purpose of this study (1) to d isc o v e r the d iffe r e n c e s, if any, in the reten tion and com p reh en sion of poetry r esu ltin g from o r a l in terp retation and from sile n t reading, and (2) to d is c o v e r the d iffe r e n c e s, if any, r esu ltin g from a cad em ic training in o ral in terp retation and in sile n t read in g. T h is study w a s a u d ie n c e -c e n te r e d throughout. In o th er w o rd s, o r a l in terp reta tion w as studied from the point of view of the audience rather than the o r a l in te r p r e te r . A ttem p ts w ere m ade to a n sw e r the follow ing sp e c ific qu estion s: 1. D o es the o r a l in terp retation of poetry r e su lt in g r e a te r reten tion, on the part of the au d ien ce, than d o e s silen t read in g? 2. D o e s the o r a l in te r p r e ta tio n of p o e tr y r e s u lt in g r e a t e r c o m p r e h e n s io n , on the part o f the a u d ie n c e , than d o e s s ile n t read in g? 3. D o e s an a u d ien ce tra in ed in o r a l in te r p r e ta tio n r e ta in m o r e , w h en p o etry is o r a lly in te r p r e te d , than an a u d ien ce w ith tr a in in g in n e ith e r o r a l in te r p r e ta tio n n o r s ile n t read in g? 4. D o e s an a u d ien ce tra in ed in o r a l in te r p r e ta tio n c o m p r e hend m o r e , when p o etry i s o r a lly in te r p r e te d , than an a u d ien ce w ith tra in in g in n e ith e r o r a l in te r p r e ta tio n n or s ile n t read in g? 5. D o e s an a u d ien ce tra in ed in o r a l in te r p r e ta tio n r e ta in m o r e , w hen p o etry is o r a lly in te r p r e te d , than an a u d i e n c e w ith ou t su ch tra in in g but w ith tra in in g in s ile n t read in g? 6. D o e s an a u d ien ce tra in ed in o r a l in te r p r e ta tio n c o m p r e hend m o r e , w hen p o etry is o r a lly in te r p r e te d , than an a u d ien ce w ithout su ch tra in in g but w ith tra in in g in s ile n t read in g? 7. D o e s an a u d ien ce tra in ed in s ile n t rea d in g r e ta in m o r e , w h en p o etry i s s ile n t ly rea d , than an a u d ien ce w ith tr a in in g in n e ith e r o r a l in te r p r e ta tio n nor s ile n t read in g? 8. D o e s an a u d ien ce tra in ed in s ile n t rea d in g com p reh en d m o r e , w hen p oetry i s s ile n tly rea d , than an a u d ien ce w ith train in g in n e ith e r o r a l in te rp re ta tio n nor s ile n t reading? 9. D o e s an au d ien ce tra in ed in s ile n t r ea d in g reta in m o r e , w hen p oetry is s ile n tly rea d , than an a u d ien ce w ithout su ch tra in in g but with tra in in g in o r a l in terp reta tio n ? 10. D o e s an aud ien ce w ith train in g in s ile n t rea d in g c o m p r e hend m o r e , w hen p oetry is s ile n tly rea d , than an au d ien ce w ithout su ch train in g but with tra in in g in o r a l in terp retatio n ? S ig n ifica n ce of the Study W ithin the a r e a of O ra l In terp reta tio n , th is study s e e m e d s i g n ifica n t fo r the fo llo w in g r e a so n s: (1) for b a s ic a c a d e m ic o r s c h o la r ly a c c u r a c y it is im p ortan t to e s ta b lis h the v a lid ity , o r the lack th e r e o f, of the a ssu m p tio n of the su p e r io r e ffe c tiv e n e s s o f o r a l in te rp re ta tio n in the c o m m u n ic a tio n o f p oetry, (2) fo r a c le a r u n d ersta n d in g of the v a lu e s of o r a l in te rp re ta tio n , it is im p ortan t to know w h eth er th e se v a lu e s in clu de su p e r io r reten tio n an d /or c o m p r e h e n sio n of p o etry , (3) fo r a c le a r u n d erstan d in g of the r e s u lts , p a r tia l o r p o s s ib le , of tea c h in g O r a l In terp reta tio n , it is im p ortan t to know w h eth er su ch tea c h in g e n a b le s stu d en ts to in c r e a s e th e ir c o m p r e h e n sio n an d /or r e te n tio n of p o e try , and ( 4 ) in o r d e r to in c r e a s e , if p o s s ib le , the e f f e c t iv e n e s s of tea c h in g te c h n iq u e s and m e th o d s , it is im p o r ta n t to d e te r m in e the r e la tiv e e ffic ie n c y of the a b o v e -m e n tio n e d m e a n s of p r e se n ta tio n of p o etry . C le a r ly a p p lic a b le to m a n y , if not a ll, o th er e d u c a tio n a l fie ld s , w ou ld s e e m to be the d e te r m in a tio n of the s u p e r io r ity o f e ith e r o r a l in te r p r e ta tio n o r s ile n t rea d in g a s a te a c h in g to o l. D e fin itio n s At the tim e of th is stu d y the d e fin itio n s o f p o e try w e r e e x c e e d in g ly a b s tr a c t, a c c o r d in g to a u th o r itie s su ch a s D o lm a n (5:56 ), B a x te r (50), and M cC oard (51), who fe lt that “ p o e tr y ” r e f e r r e d , not to lite r a r y fo r m , but to the s p ir it, the m a g ic , the ju ic e of lan gu age. F o r p u r p o s e s of th is e x p e r im e n ta l stu d y , t h e r e fo r e , “ p o e tr y ” w a s o p e r a tio n a lly d efin ed a s the s e le c t io n s u sed in the stu d y. A d d itio n a lly , in an e ffo r t to m in im iz e su b je c tiv ity , th e se s e le c t io n s w e r e p r e se n te d to five fa c u lty m e m b e r s o f the E n g lis h D e p a r tm e n t of the U n iv e r s ity o f S ou th ern C a lifo r n ia who w e r e a sk e d to in d ica te th o se s e l e c t io n s , if any, that cou ld n ot, in th e ir op in ion , be c a lle d “ p o e tr y .” O f the s e l e c tio n s u s e d in th is e x p e r im e n t, none w a s c o n s id e r e d u n d e s e r v in g of the la b e l “ p o e tr y .” (D e ta ils on the fin a l c h o ic e o f the s e le c t io n s u s e d w ill be found in A p p en d ix A .) T he te r m “ o r a l in te r p r e ta tio n ” w a s d efin ed in tw o w a y s . W hen c a p ita lize d (O ral In terp retation ) the te r m w a s defined a s the r ec o g n ize d a c a d e m ic a r e a w ithin the field of S p eech that is known by that n a m e. W ritten w ith s m a ll le tte r s (o r a l in terp reta tio n ) the ter m w a s defined a s the p r o c e s s of read in g aloud to an au d ien ce in a f a c e - t o - fa ce situ a tio n . It w ill be s e e n that th is d efin ition im m e d ia te ly e lim in a ted such p r e sen ta tio n a l m ea n s a s te le v is io n , radio, and r e c o r d in g s. S in ce, a s h as b een stated e a r lie r , th is study w a s a u d ien ce - c e n te r e d , o r a l in terp reta tio n w as stu died only from the a u d ie n c e ’s point of v ie w . The p h ra se “ r e su ltin g from o r a l in te rp re ta tio n ” w a s, th e r e fo r e , defined a s the p r o c e s s of lea r n in g by w atching and listen in g to a “ liv e ” o r a l in te r p r e te r . The te r m “ r eten tio n ” w as defin ed a s the ab ility to a n sw e r c e r ta in q u e stio n s req u irin g a d eterm in a tio n of the c o r r e c t n e s s o r in c o r r e c tn e s s of quotations from a g iv en s e le c tio n . L is ts o f the q u e s tio n s te stin g “ r eten tio n ” w ill be found in A ppendix B . The te r m “ c o m p r e h e n sio n ” w as defined a s the a b ility to a n sw e r c e r ta in q u estio n s req u irin g that in fe r e n c e s be draw n fro m the e x p lic it sta te m e n ts in a given s e le c tio n . L ists of the q u e stio n s te stin g “ c o m p r e h e n sio n ” w ill be found in A ppendix B . (D e ta ils on the final fo rm u la tio n of the q u estio n s on both “ r e te n tio n ” and “ c o m p r e h e n sio n ” w ill be found in A ppendix A .) The te r m “ tr a in in g ” w as defin ed a s study in a c o lle g e - le v e l co u r se for a period of eight w eek s or lo n g er. “ T rain in g in silen t read in g1 '’ w as defined a s study in an E n g lish litera tu re su rv ey c o u rse em p h a sizin g silen t read in g. Such train in g w as co n sid ered to exclud e a ll r e m e d ia l read in g and reading im p ro v em en t c o u r s e s . R eview of the L iteratu re A study of the reten tion and co m p reh en sio n r esu ltin g from o r a l in terp retation and from silen t reading fa lls lo g ic a lly into the g e n e ra l p rob lem atic a rea of the co m p a riso n of v isio n and audition as s e n s o r y chann els of com m u nication . That this h as long been a fru itfu l a r ea for r e s e a r c h e r s w ill be se e n by glancin g at the d a tes o f the w orks cited below . In review in g the litera tu re in th is a r ea , the w r ite r w as often confronted by new te r m s . Two of the m o st im portant of th e se w ere the te r m s “ aud” and “ auding,” defined by C affrey (18:238) as “ h e a r ing, listen in g to, reco gn izin g, com prehending, and in terp retin g spoken la n g u a g e,” and by Brow n (15:586) as “ the g r o s s p r o c e ss of listen in g to, reco g n izin g , and in terp retin g spoken s y m b o ls .” In a problem atic a rea a s old, and a s o ft-ex p lo r ed , as this one, it w a s, perhaps, inevitab le that r e su lts should fa il to be c o m p letely c o n c lu siv e . A fter pointing out this in con clu sive n e s s , H ennem an su g g ested that, as an o v e r -a ll approach to the a r ea , a th e o r e tic a l com p arison of v isio n and audition m ight be even m o re valuable than a su rvey of the literatu re (27). He listed the follow ing nine b a s e s of com parison: 1. Audition is a tem p oral se n s e , w h erea s v isio n is a sp atia l s e n s e . V ision is , th erefo re, p articu larly w ell adapted to the presentation of sp a tia l relation s data, such as m ap s, ch arts, graphs. 2. The auditory se n se p e r c e iv e s m e s s a g e s seq u en tially, the visu a l se n se eith er seq u en tially or sim u ltan eou sly . 3. B eca u se of sequ en tial perception, aurally presen ted stim u li have poor referab ility, while v isu a lly presen ted stim u li usually afford good refera b ility . 4. A uditory stim u li have few er d im en sio n s for “ cod in g” m e s sa g e data, th ese d im en sio n s usually being lim ited to sp eech and m o r se code. V isu al stim u li, h ow ever, can be presen ted in a wide variety of fo rm s. 5. C om m unications p erson n el and lin gu ists co n sisten tly s t r e s s the flex ib ility of the spoken w ord, p articu larly in te r m s of nuances and connotations. The w ritten word is , in a se n s e , lacking in this attribute. 6. In auditory, particu larly vocal, com m unication, s e l e c tivity of relevant m a ter ia l is p o ssib le , w h erea s in m any v isu a l d isp lays this se le c tiv ity is not p erm itted . 9 7. Auditory, e sp e c ia lly v ocal, com m unication is nearly alw ays far slo w e r than v isu a l com m unication. 8. A uditory stim u li are usu ally far m ore “ atten tion- dem anding” than v isu a l stim u li which require the v ie w e r ’s v isu a l co -o p era tio n . 9. The se n s e of hearin g is apparently m ore r e sista n t to body conditions such as fatigue, d u lln ess resu ltin g from drug e ffe c ts, e tc ., than is the se n se of sigh t (27:162-63). M aking a som ew hat sim p le r th eo retica l com p arison of auding and reading, C affrey pointed out that auding, the student cannot get help from (or be baffled by) sp ellin g , paragraphing, ita liciza tio n , capitalization , punctuation, or glancing back to review . Reading, he is not a s s is te d by pronun ciation, intonation, v o ca l e x p r e ssio n , p a u ses, or the invaluable chance to ask the author q u estion s, interrupt him , or challenge h is fa cts and co n clu sio n s. (18:237) T h ese th eo retica l co m p a riso n s su ggested the need for v e r if i cation by ex p erim en ta l evid en ce. In 1896, in one of the e a r lie s t stu d ies in this field , W hitehead s e t out to d isc o v e r (1) What is the rela tiv e qu ick n ess of the v isu a l and aural s e n s e s when em p loyed in the m em o rizin g of n on sense sy lla b le s . . . ? (2) What is tne rela tiv e pow er of retention for m atter m em o rized v isu a lly with that m em o rized au rally . . . ? (3) In what m anner is the e a se of learning a new m atter once m em o rized — but now partially or w holly forgotten — affected by the fact of its being presen ted on the secon d o c ca sio n to a different se n se from that to which it w as orig in ally presented? (41:259) U sin g thirteen p erso n s, W hitehead p resen ted , v isu a lly or aurally, 10 n o n sen se s y lla b le s , rep eatin g the p resen ta tio n until the su b ject could fa u ltle s s ly rep ea t the s y lla b le s . He found ten o f the th irteen w ere q u ick er with v isu a l p r e sen ta tio n s, two with au ral p r e sen ta tio n s, and one “ doubtful.” R egard ing reten tion, h is c o n clu sio n w as that the two s e n s e s w ere about equal, and, oddly enough, he rep o rted no a n sw er to the third q u estion he had o rig in a lly propounded. In 1897 Hawkins (26) rep orted the r e s u lts of h is t e s t s of v isu a l, auditory, and auditory and v isu a l m e m o r y . The te s t populations w e re grade sch o o l, high sc h o o l, and c o lle g e stu d en ts. U sin g lis t s of n u m b e r s and lis t s of w ord s, Hawkins found that: when the lis t s w ere read aloud one rep etitio n of each item low ered the r e c a ll s c o r e s , w hile two rep etitio n s m ark ed ly in c r e a se d such s c o r e s ; with w ritten word lis t s , youn ger stu dents sc o r e d h igh er when the individual w o rd s w ere e xp osed sin g ly , w h ile o ld er, c o lle g e - a g e , stu d en ts sc o r e d equally w e ll w hen the ite m s w ere ex p o sed sin g ly and when the en tire lis t w a s e x posed at one tim e; with w ritten lis t s and spoken lis t s you n ger, grad e- sc h o o l, ch ild ren sc o r e d co n sid era b ly h igh er on the spoken t e s t s , w hile fifteen to tw enty y e a r old stu dents sc o r e d m uch h ig h er on the w ritten t e s ts . In 1916 P in te r and G illilan d rep orted the r e su lt of th eir m e a su r e m e n t of the num ber of id ea s c o r r e c tly rep rod uced per tim e unit. With stu dents from g ra d es th ree through eigh t, high sc h o o l and c o lle g e , and u sin g sh ort paragraphs containing about fifty w ord s “ and 11 se v e n d istin ct id e a s ” (35:202), the students w ere ask ed to read the paragraphs sile n tly or aloud and then to r e s ta te , in th e ir own w o r d s, the id ea s they had read. The num ber of id ea s c o r r e c tly rep rod u ced w as “ divided by the tim e in seco n d s req u ired to read the paragraph, giving the p er cent of an idea gained per se c o n d ” (35:203). C o n clu sio n s w ere that it d oes not s e e m to m ake m uch d ifferen ce w h eth er a child in the third grade r ea d s aloud or sile n tly . He g e ts about the sa m e n u m b er of id ea s per secon d e ith er w ay. A s we p r o g r e ss through the g ra d es and up into c o lle g e we find that it tak es c o m p a ra tiv ely lon g er and lon ger for read in g aloud and th is in c r e a se d tim e m ay r e su lt in an in c r e a se in the num ber of id ea s rep rod u ced . But th is num ber of id e a s gained is not n e a r ly co m m en su ra te with the ex tra tim e expended. The sile n t read in g of the adult is q u ick er than the o r a l read in g, and at the sa m e tim e the num ber of id e a s r e m e m b ered is slig h tly g r e a te r , c er ta in ly m uch g r e a te r per unit of tim e . Thus it would appear that sile n t read in g is undoubtedly the m o re e co n o m ic a l b e sid e s being the m ethod b e st adapted to the ord in ary a c tiv itie s of life , sin ce the v a st m a jo rity of our read in g is sile n t. (35:211) In 1917 E rik so n and King rep orted the r e s u lts of th e ir attem pt “ to d eterm in e the d iffe re n c e, if any, betw een the p resen ta tio n of l e s son m a te r ia l v isu a lly , that is through sile n t read in g, and the p resen tation of the sa m e or s im ila r m a te r ia l o r a lly by the te a c h e r ” (23:146). With groups of stu d en ts, from n in eteen to th ir ty -th r e e in nu m ber, from the third through the ninth g r a d e s, and u sin g s e le c tio n s from the tex ts em p loyed by the v a rio u s c l a s s e s , the stu d en ts a n sw ered q u estio n s on the m a te r ia l a fter a sile n t read in g o r being read to by the te a c h e r or e x p e rim en ter . D iffe r e n c e s w ere: sig n ifica n tly h igh er 12 s c o r e s for o ral presentation with grad es three and four; insign ificantly higher s c o r e s for o ra l presentation with grades five and six; sig n ifi cantly higher s c o r e s for oral presentation with grad es se v en and eight; highly sign ifican t d ifferen ces in favor of o ral presentation with grade nine. In 1917 Mead reported the r esu lts of ex p erim en ts perform ed in 1914, 1915, and 1916. F ir st, 112 sixth g ra d ers w ere tested on “ A lice in W onderland” and rated as to the num ber of points they w ere able to reproduce. Each of five c la s s e s reproduced a g rea ter p e r centage of the p o ssib le points by silen t, rather than by oral, reading. In the follow ing y e a r s the sa m e tests w ere repeated with students from the third through the tenth grades (the ninth not included), and “ fifteen of the sev en teen c la s s e s did better by the silen t method of read in g” (32:367). In 1925 W o r ce ster reported the r e su lts of his attem pts to d eterm in e “ by which method of presentation, v isu a l or auditory, of m eaningful, connected m a teria l is learning m o st e a sily accom p lish ed , that is , with the few est rep etition s and in the lea st tim e ,” and “ con sequent to which of the above m ethods is the m a ter ia l b e st retained after la p se s of one day, two days, and seven d a y s” (42:19). With thirteen su m m er s e s s io n students from the U n iversity of C olorado — students ranging in age from twenty to fifty-eigh t — as su b jects, and using a s m a ter ia ls twenty one-hundred-w ord p rose se le c tio n s from the 13 w o r k s o f A rnold and H u xley, W o r c e s te r read alou d , o r had the su b je ct read s ile n tly , a g iv en s e le c t io n u n til the su b je c t could o r a lly rep ro d u ce the s e le c tio n v e r b a tim . C o n clu sio n s w e r e that “ n e ith e r m eth od o f p r e se n ta tio n , au d itory o r v isu a l, p r e se n ts any m a rk ed d e g r e e of s u p e r io r ity in the rate o f lea r n in g o f m ea n in g fu l, co n n ected m a t e r ia l,,, but that “ su b seq u en t to the au d itory m eth od o f p r e se n ta tio n r ete n tio n s e e m s tc be b e tte r than a fte r the v is u a l m ethod of p r e se n ta tio n ” (42:26). In 1928 R u s s e ll rep o rted the r e s u lt s of h is e x p e r im e n t w ith 690 stu d en ts in the fifth, sev en th , and ninth g r a d e s, the stu d en ts b ein g equated on the b a s is of th e ir s c o r e s on the N a tio n a l In te llig e n c e T e s t , and u sin g a 1 ,0 0 0 -w o r d c o m p o sitio n on the m o n g o o s e . R u s s e ll had one su b -g r o u p h e a r the te a c h e r read the m a te r ia l aloud tw ice in s u c c e s sio n , a n oth er read the m a te r ia l, g iv in g th em the s a m e tim e d evoted to r ea d in g aloud , and the third read the m a te r ia l through tw ice at n o r m a l rea d in g sp e e d . C o n clu sio n s w e r e that: (1) Students le a r n m o r e from h avin g m a te r ia l rea d to them than in read in g it th e m s e lv e s in grad e five; (2) T he r e la tiv e e ff e c t iv e n e s s o f the two m eth o d s is p r a c tic a lly eq u a l in g ra d e se v en ; (3) The advan tage is slig h tly in fa vor o f the m eth od o f le a r n in g by r ea d in g in g ra d e n in e. (38:238) In 1928 G reen e (2 4) rep o rted the r e s u lts of h is e x p e r im e n t w ith 648 c o lle g e stu d en ts who w e r e te s te d on the con ten t o f 2 3 0 0 -w o rd s e le c t io n s on p sy ch o lo g y follo w in g le c tu r e s by p r o f e s s o r s and sile n t r ea d in g o f p a m p h lets. No sig n ific a n t d iffe r e n c e s w e r e found. In 1930 Rankin (36) reported the r esu lts of his exp erim en t with grade sch o o l stu dents, concluding that auding, at the third grade le v e l, w as v a stly su p erio r to reading, and that th ereafter auding ability in c re a se d slow ly and reading ability rapidly until, at the seven th grade le v e l, there w a s no sign ifican t d ifferen ce betw een the two. In 1932 J o n es reported the resu lts of h er exp erim en t testin g com p reh en sion resu ltin g from oral and silen t reading. With 300 grade sch o o l ch ild ren , and using form s V and W of the New Stanford R eading T e st, Jon es had the su b jects read one form silen tly and the other aloud. She found that “ the m ajority of the th ree hundred pupils m ade ap p rox i m a tely the sa m e sc o r e on o ral as on silen t r e a d in g /’ and “ that the good silen t rea d er is u su ally a good o r a l r ea d er ” (28:29 5). F urther, Jon es concluded that a d ifferen ce or “ in c re a se in in tellect does not cau se a child to e x c e l in eith er o ra l or in silen t reading to the d isc r e d it of the other type of read in g” (28:295). In 1933 L um ley (30) reported the r e su lts of h is ex p erim en t on the relative retention resu ltin g from silen t reading and from listen in g to radio p ro g ra m s. With app roxim ately 500 students from grad es five through eight, and u sin g m a ter ia l on geography, L um ley tested the stu d en ts’ retention and found that silen t reading w as sign ifican tly favored in grad es five and six , and v e r y sign ifican tly favored in grades se v en and eight. In 1934 C orey reported the r e su lts of h is exp erim en t with 165 15 c o lle g e fre sh m en , u sin g a 2 ,5 0 0 -w o rd p a ssa g e on outlining. M e a su r ing im m ed ia te and d elayed r e c a ll of the m a te r ia l, follow ing p resen tation by the lectu re and s ile n t read in g m eth o d s, C o r ey found that, b ased on s c o r e s of the objective, t r u e - f a ls e , co m p letio n , and sh ort a n sw er te s ts a d m in istered , im m ed ia te r e c a ll is b etter for m a te r ia ls stu dents have read than for the sa m e m a te r ia ls heard in le c tu r e , the two ty p e s of p r e s e n tation have no v e r y sig n ifica n t e ffe c t on delayed (fou rteen d a y s) r e c a ll, and s c o r e s on te s ts m ea su r in g reten tion of m a te r ia ls read a r e m o r e c lo s e ly related to stan d ard ized te s t r e su lts for read in g, vocab u lary and in te llig en ce than a r e s c o r e s on te s ts m e a su r in g the reten tion of m a te r ia ls listen ed to in le c tu r e . (20:469) In 1934 Stanton (39) rep orted the r e su lts of h is e x p e rim en t with 160 students in psych ology at Ohio State U n iv e r sity . U sin g s i x teen a d v e r tise m e n ts Stanton had the su b jects read the copy sile n tly or lis te n to a hidden rea d er via lou d sp eak er. On both im m ed ia te and d elayed (one, se v e n , and tw en ty-on e d ays) r e c a ll r e s u lts favored listen in g . In 1934 Sw anson rep orted the r e s u lts of h is e x p e rim en t w hich “ w a s undertaken to d eterm in e w h eth er or not th ere a r e any com m on e le m e n ts in poor sile n t and poor o r a l rea d in g ” (40:37). D efining “ p o o r” r e a d e r s a s those who ranked at the th irtieth p e r c e n tile or below in to ta l co m p reh en sio n on the Iowa S ilen t R eading T e s t and at the fifty-n inth p e r ce n tile or below on the U n iv e r sity of Iowa Q ualifying E x a m , Sw anson te ste d th ese s u b je c ts ’ o r a l read in g a b ility on two paragraphs from the a r tic le “ Individual D if f e r e n c e s ,” by Hennon in 16 P s y c h o lo g y T o d a y , a t e s t p aragraph by W a lk er, P s y c h o lo g ic a l M on o g r a p h s , 44, 1933, pp. 9 5 -1 1 7 , and a part of the a r tic le “ T he V ib r a to , *’ by S e a sh o r e in P s y c h o lo g y T o d a y . C o n c lu sio n s w e r e that “ e le m e n t s c o m m o n to both s ile n t and o r a l rea d in g am on g poor r e a d e r s w ere: (1) in a c c u r a te p e r c e p tio n , (2 ) poor c o m p r e h e n sio n , and (3 ) slo w rate o f r e a d in g ” (40:57 ). In 1935 D eW ick (21 ) r ep o rted the r e s u lts o f h is e x p e r im e n t te s tin g s e v e n ty -th r e e p sy ch o lo g y stu d e n ts on the con ten t of a d v e r t is e m e n ts read s ile n tly and by a hidden r e a d e r o v e r a lo u d sp e a k e r . D eW ick found that d ela y ed r e c a ll (tw e n ty -fo u r h o u r s, 120 h o u r s, 168 h o u r s, and fiv e m o n th s) fa v o red a u r a l p r e se n ta tio n . In 1936 E llio tt (22) rep o rted the r e s u lt s o f h is e x p e r im e n t te s tin g s e v e n t y - s i x c o lle g e stu d en ts and s ix t y - s e v e n g o v e rn m e n t e m p lo y e e s on t h ir t y -s ix p ie c e s o f a d v e r tis in g cop y read s ile n tly fro m a c o n tr o lle d -r a te s c r e e n and h eard o v e r a lo u d sp e a k e r . R e c a ll s c o r e s fa v o re d lis te n in g in n in ete en c a s e s , and r ea d in g in o n e. In o th er in s ta n c e s d iffe r e n c e s w e r e in sig n ific a n t. In 1936 Y oung (4 4 ) r ep o rted the r e s u lt s o f h is e x p e r im e n t te s tin g 2,000 fourth th rou gh sixth g ra d e stu d en ts of s e v e r a l s c h o o l s y s t e m s on m a t e r ia ls on n atu re lo r e , h is to r y , in d u stry and p o etry . A fte r the su b je c ts had read the s e le c t io n s s ile n tly o r h eard th em read aloud by a te a c h e r , Young te s te d c o m p r e h e n s io n and r eten tio n , c o n clu d in g that lis te n in g , r ea d in g s ile n tly for the sa m e p erio d o f tim e , 17 and liste n in g plu s read in g w e r e not sig n ific a n tly d ifferen t, but that a ll th r ee w e r e m a rk ed ly su p e r io r to only one s ile n t read in g, th is su p e r io r ity b ein g g r e a te s t in the fourth grade and s m a lle s t in the sixth g ra d e. In 1937 A n d erso n and F airb an k s rep orted the r e s u lts of th e ir e x p e r im e n t to d e ter m in e “ the rela tio n sh ip b etw een the a b ilitie s to un derstand w o rd s read and h e a r d ” (12:317). W ith 220 c o lle g e f r e s h m en rated as good, m ed ian , and poor r e a d e r s , and u sin g F o rm C of the In glis T e s ts of E n g lish V oca b u la ry and a r ec o r d in g of ite m s from F o r m B of the sa m e te s t, A n d erson and F a irb a n k s found that m ed ian and good r e a d e r s favored read in g w h ile poor r e a d e r s favored lis t e n ing, and that a ll th ree kinds o f r e a d e r s show ed sig n ifica n t d iffe r e n c e s b etw een m ean read in g v o c a b u la r ie s and m ean listen in g v o c a b u la r ie s. C o n clu sio n s w e r e that “ vo ca b u la ry a b ility is a c e n tr a lly d eterm in ed function, op eratin g, on the a v e r a g e , independent of the m ode of p r e s entation of m a t e r ia l,” and that “ w h ile su p e r io r sile n t read in g ab ility is c h a r a c te r iz e d by rea d in g know ledge of w o rd s w hich a r e not o r d in a r ily u sed , one attribute o f poor read in g is in ab ility to r e c o g n iz e w o rd s v isu a lly , although the r ea d e r m a y u n derstand th e se in h earin g th e m ” (12:324). In 1940 G o ld stein (25) rep o rted the r e s u lts of h is e x p e r im e n t te s tin g the c o m p re h e n sio n of p ro se p a s s a g e s read s ile n tly from a co n - tr o lle d -r a te s c r e e n and heard on r e c o r d in g s at c e r ta in s p e e d s . No 18 sign ifican t d iffe re n c es w ere found, although insign ificant d iffe re n c es favored listen in g. In 1940 L arsen and F ed er reported the r e su lts o f their e x p e r i m ent to “ determ ine w hether o r not certain p sy ch ological a b ilities d ifferentiate betw een the p r o c e s s e s involved in reading and hearing co m p reh en sio n ’’ (29:241). With 150 co lleg e fresh m en , tested ind i vidually or in v ery sm a ll groups, and using “ factual reading m a ter ia l on various to p ic s ” (29:241) read silen tly or recorded by trained sp ea k er s, L a rsen and F ed er m easu red the com p rehension of twenty- nine se le c tio n s totaling approxim ately 4,500 w ords. T hey found that the su p erio rity of perform ance in reading com p reh en sion o v er that in hearin g com p rehension w as found to be dependent upon the le v e l of difficulty of the m a teria l. T his su p erio rity w as sligh t for those low in sc h o la stic aptitude and reading ab ility, but quite m arked for those high in ability. (29:250) An additional, and som ew hat contradictory, finding w as that this study su pp orts the con clu sion s of previous stu d ies that c o m prehension is la rg e ly a cen tra lly -d eterm in ed function operating independently of the m ode of presentation of the m a teria l. (29:251) In 1941 C arver (2) reported the r e su lts of his exp erim en t testin g fifty-tw o adults and tw enty-nine co lleg e students on m a ter ia ls rated as e a sy , m edium , and difficult. S electio n s w ere read silen tly or heard read by a hidden rea d er over a loudspeaker. C arv er found that e a s ie r m a te r ia ls w ere m ore e ffe ctiv e ly read aloud, m edium difficult m a te r ia ls gave equivocal r e s u lts , and difficult m a te r ia ls w ere m ore 19 e ffe c tiv e ly read sile n tly . In 1943 Rulon and o th ers (37) rep orted the r e s u lts of th eir ex p erim en t testin g com p reh en sio n of a p laylet when read sile n tly and heard on a record in g. With o v er 800 high sc h o o l students from m any a r e a s o f the country, Rulon found that im m ed ia te g ain s, both in factual and r ela tio n a l know ledge, favored sile n t reading, although the lo n ger la stin g im p r e s sio n w as crea ted by aural p resen tation . In 1944 Burton (17) reported the r e s u lts of his ex p erim en t com p arin g reading and hearin g v o ca b u la ries of high sch o o l stu dents. U sin g fo rm s X and Z of O ’R ou rk e’s Survey T e s t of V ocabulary for G rad es III-XIII, Burton found that reading vocab u lary and c o m p r e h en sion w as sig n ifican tly su p erio r at the tw elfth grade le v e l. In 1948 Brow n reported the r e s u lts of h is ex p erim en t testin g listen in g and reading ab ility. U sin g two fo rm s of the read in g te s t (P a rt V) of the Purdue P la c em e n t T e st in E n g lish , Brow n a d m in istered ten m u ltip le -c h o ic e q u estio n s on the p a ssa g e read sile n tly by the s tu dent or aloud by the in stru cto r, and found “ a d efin ite, though low , p ositive c o rr ela tio n betw een read in g and listen in g a b ility , a s t a t is t i ca lly sig n ifica n t co rrela tio n of .349> .01” (16:107). In 1948 N ic h o ls, in rep orting the r e su lts of h is ex p erim en t te stin g listen in g co m p reh en sio n , stated that it w a s sa fe to a ss u m e , on the b a s is of p reviou s r e s e a r c h , “ that reading com p reh en sion and listen in g com p reh en sion are of ap p roxim ately equal e ffic ie n c y in 20 le a r n in g ” (34:155). He w ent on to sa y that a study of the r e la tiv e e ffic ie n c y of read in g and liste n in g c o m p r e h en sio n at s e v e r a l co n tro lled r a te s sh ow s that v a r ia tio n s in the ra te o f a s s im ila tio n do not sig n ific a n tly a lte r the c o m p a ra tiv e e ffic ie n c y of the two s k ills . (34:155) In h is own study N ic h o ls com p ared s u b je c ts ’ c o m p re h e n sio n s c o r e s on ten m inute a u ra lly p r e sen ted s e le c tio n s on e c o n o m ic s , b iology, so c io lo g y , p sy ch ology, and c h e m is tr y with th e ir s c o r e s on the Iowa S ilen t R eading E xam in ation , and, finding the ra th er low P e a r s o n r of .46, conclu ded that listen in g involved c e r ta in fa c to r s fo re ig n to r e a d ing. In 1950 H arwood (49) rep o rted the r e s u lts of h is e x p e rim en t c o m p a rin g listen in g and read in g c o m p r e h e n sib ility . P r e s e n tin g to 240 tenth g r a d e r s se v e n s t o r ie s rated by the F le s c h fo r m u la s a s d ifferin g in d ifficu lty , H arwood had th e se s t o r ie s read s ile n tly by h alf the su b je cts and heard on r ec o rd in g by the o th er half. F in d in gs w e re that with s e le c tio n s tw o, th r e e , fiv e , and s ix , th ose rated e a s y to read , fa ir ly e a s y to read , fa irly d ifficu lt to read , and d ifficu lt to read , r e s p e c tiv e ly , in sig n ifica n t to sig n ifica n t d iffe r e n c e s fav ored sile n t read in g. With s e le c tio n four, rated standard to read , th ere w e r e no sig n ific a n t d iffe r e n c e s . With s e le c tio n s one and se v e n , th o se rated v e r y e a s y to read and v e r y d ifficu lt to rea d , in sig n ific a n t d iffe r e n c e s favored liste n in g . In 1951 B lew ett rep orted the r e s u lts of h is e x p e rim en t 21 attem p tin g to c r e a te a v a lid and r e lia b le lis te n in g c o m p r e h e n s io n t e s t , and “ to e s ta b lis h r e la tio n sh ip s b e tw e en the lis te n in g a b ilitie s o f 150 c o lle g e fr e sh m e n g ir ls and c e r ta in o th e r m e a s u r e d s k ills and a t t i tu d e s ’ ’ (14:5 7 5 ). A fter m e a s u r in g lis te n in g a b ility on the fa ctu a l le v e l, by a te s t on conten t reten tio n , and on the in fe r e n tia l le v e l, by a t e s t on “ the a b ility to draw c o n c lu sio n s fro m a s e r i e s of r e la te d id e a s p r e sen ted o r a lly ” (14:577), B le w e tt c o m p a re d th e se com b in ed s c o r e s w ith th o se on s ile n t read in g, and co n clu d ed that lis te n in g and read in g a r e co m m o n ly r eg a rd ed by the laym an a s c lo s e ly r e la te d a s s im ila t iv e p r o c e s s e s . H o w e v er , th is study has produ ced e v id e n c e to the c o n tra r y . T he r e la tiv e ly low c o r r e la tio n b etw een s c o r e s on the liste n in g t e s t and th o se on the r ea d in g te s t (.3 9 ) s e e m in g ly in d ic a te s that, d e sp ite s o m e o v e rla p p in g , th e se tw o t e s t s m e a s u r e d is s im ila r s k i ll s . (14:58 3) In 1951 M cC oard and L eC ount r ep o rted the r e s u lts o f th e ir e x p e r im e n t ev a lu a tin g the o r a l read in g of good and p oor s ile n t r e a d e r s . U s in g a p a s sa g e from the R e a d e r s ’ D ig e s t , M cC oard and L eC ount found that w h en the o r a l read in g o f a c o lle g e group is a p p ra ised in te r m s of the b ro a d er a s p e c ts o f sp e e c h (g e n e r a l e f f e c t iv e n e s s , p h ra sin g , v a r ie ty o f pitch, e tc .), by a group o f sp e e c h t e a c h e r s , the e x tr e m e s (good and p oor) o f a random d istr ib u tio n o f s ile n t r e a d e r s show a sig n ific a n t d iffe r e n c e in th e ir o r a l rea d in g a b ilitie s . (31:2 91) In 1952 B e ig h le y c ite d K now er, P h illip s , and K o ep p el’s rep o rt o f the r e s u lt s o f th e ir e x p e r im e n t c o m p a rin g “ the am ount o f c o m p r e h e n sio n and r e c a ll a c h iev e d fr o m good, m ed iu m , and poor s p e a k e r s , fro m good, m ed iu m , and poor o r a l r e a d e r s , and fro m s ile n t r ea d in g ” 22 (13:63). C o n clu sio n s, b ased on te s ts on the s e le c tio n s on ele m en ta ry p h y sic s, w ere that 1. The am ount of r e c a ll produced by good sp e a k e r s and good o ra l r e a d e r s w as sig n ifica n tly g r ea ter than that effected by poor sp e a k e r s and poor o ra l r e a d e r s. 2. Good sp e a k e r s brought about sig n ifica n tly m o re r e c a ll than good o r a l r e a d e r s . 3. Silent reading ach iev ed sig n ifica n tly m o re r e c a ll than ora l read in g, but w a s not su p e rio r to good sp eak ing. 4. Q uality of p erform an ce se e m e d to d e ter m in e the co m p a rative e ffe c tiv e n e s s of speaking and o r a l reading a s m eth ods of p resen tin g m a te r ia l. (13:63) In 19 52 G old stein rep orted the r e s u lts of h is ex p erim en t attem p tin g to d eterm in e A ) w h eth er p oem s w ere b etter understood when they w e re o r a lly in terp reted by 1) th eir authors or 2) by oth er r e a d e r s sk illed in the o r a l in terp retation of litera tu re and B ) w h eth er p o em s w ere b etter understood 1) when they w ere heard w h ile resp ond en ts looked at the tex ts of the p oem s or 2) when they w ere heard in the a b sen ce of the tex ts of the p o em s. (47:434) U sin g th ree r ec o rd in g s o f p oem s read by th eir auth ors plus reco rd in g s of the sam e p oem s by sk ille d o r a l in te r p r e te r s, G old stein concluded that the co m p reh en sio n of the p oem s in the e x p e rim en t w as not d ep en dent upon the o r a l in terp reta tio n s of the p oem s by th e ir auth ors o r by other individuals sk illed in the o r a l in terp retation of lite r a tu r e . The co m p reh en sio n of the p oem s w as g r e a te r when resp on d en ts listen ed to the p oem s w hile they looked at the tex ts of the poem s than w hen resp on d en ts heard them in the a b sen ce of the tex ts of the p o e m s. (47:434) In 1953 A r m str o n g (45) rep orted the r e s u lts of h is ex p erim en t com p arin g the auditory and v isu a l v o c a b u la r ie s of ch ild ren . F indings w e r e that v is u a l v o c a b u la r ie s ranged from 648 w o rd s at s ix y e a r s of age to 7,588 w ord s at tw elve y e a r s of age, w hile auditory v o c a b u la r ie s 23 ran ged fr o m 2,9 0 0 w o r d s at s ix y e a r s of age to 7 ,7 2 0 w o r d s at tw elv e y e a r s o f a g e . T he au d itory v o c a b u la r ie s , th u s, a lw a y s e x c e e d e d the ~ v is u a l, the d iffe r e n c e b ein g g r e a te s t during the m id d le y e a r s of e l e m e n ta r y s c h o o l. In 1953 M ow bray r ep o rted the r e s u lt s of h is e x p e r im e n t on s im u lta n e o u s v isio n and au d ition . A lthough in cid en ta l to the b a sic p u r pose of h is stu d y, M ow bray found that the data fro m th is e x p e r im e n t tend to su p p ort the view that a u r a l p r e se n ta tio n m ay be b e tte r for d ifficu lt m a te r ia l (although the d iffe r e n c e is not sig n ific a n t), and that th e re is v e ry lik e ly no d iffe r e n c e at a ll w ith e a s ie r m a te r ia l. (33:3 70) In 1953 Young (43) r ep o rted the r e s u lts of h is e x p e r im e n t m e a s u r in g v o c a b u la r y grow th r e su ltin g fro m s ile n t r ea d in g , o r a l rea d in g and lis te n in g . F in d in gs w e r e that a ll m eth o d s r e su lte d in sig n ific a n t v o c a b u la r y g a in s, and that o r a l r ea d in g w a s in s ig n ific a n tly m o r e e ffe c tiv e than s ile n t rea d in g , w h ile liste n in g w a s sig n ific a n tly l e s s e ffe c tiv e than e ith e r o f the o th er two. In 1954 H all rep o rted the r e s u lt s o f h is e x p e r im e n t te s tin g the lis te n in g o f g ra d e s c h o o l c h ild re n . In h is r e v ie w o f the lite r a tu r e H all sta ted that the net r e s u lt of stu d ie s c o m p a rin g the e ffic ie n c y of rea d in g and lis te n in g is the g e n e r a l a g r e e m e n t that e a s ie r m a te r ia ls a r e found to be m o r e e ffe c tiv e in au d itory p r e se n ta tio n , m a te r ia ls of a v e r a g e d ifficu lty tend to give e q u iv o c a l r e s u lt s , and m a te r ia l in tr in s ic a lly d ifficu lt w a s b e tte r u n d erstoo d w hen p r e se n te d a s r e a d in g . In g e n e r a l good r e a d e r s fa v o r rea d in g and poor r e a d e r s fa v o r lis te n in g . (48 :31) 24 In 1959 C o llin s (46), in h is e x p e rim en t on the co m p reh en sio n of p rose m a te r ia ls read sile n tly and read aloud, found that, with se v e n s e le c tio n s r e p re sen tin g se v e n le v e ls of d ifficu lty, in e v e r y c a se in sign ifican t to sign ifican t d iffe r e n c e s favored o r a l read in g. When s c o r e s on a ll se v e n ite m s w e re com bined, v e r y sig n ifican t d iffe r e n c e s favored o r a l reading. R eturning to the two authors who w ere cited at the beginning of this se c tio n for th eir th e o r e tic a l co m p a riso n s of v isio n and audition, it w as apparent that n eith er of them could have found the chain of e x p erim en tation p resen ted above unduly im p r e s s iv e . H ennem an pointed out that, in the litera tu re on v isio n and audition a s s e n s o r y c o m m u n i cation ch an n els, e x p e rim en ta l r e su lts have been far from c o n c lu siv e. He went on to say that w hether v isio n or au ral p resen ta tion p roves to be su p e r io r ap p ears to depend la r g e ly upon the sp e c ific e x p e rim en ta l conditions of a p articu lar in v estig a tio n . A pparently at le a s t five fa cto r s influence the r ela tiv e advantage o f p resen tation through the two s e n s e s : (1) the type of m a te r ia l p resen ted (su b ject m a tter, form , length, etc.); (2) the m ethod of p resen ta tio n (se q u en tia l or sim u lta n eo u s, sin g le o r rep eated , long or b r ie f e x p o su re , etc.); (3) the in te lli gib ility or co m p reh en sio n m e a su r e em p loyed (im m ed ia te r e c a ll, delayed r e c a ll, recogn ition , num ber of tr ia ls to learn , etc.); (4) c h a r a c te r is tic s of the p e r c e iv e r (a g e, in te llig e n c e , educational le v e l, etc.); (5) en viron m en ta l conditions of p resen ta tio n (d eg ree of n o is e , d istr a c tin g occupation, e tc .). (27:161) C affrey added that the su p e rio r ity of e ith er v isio n or audition a s se n s o r y chann els for co m m u n ication v a r ie s a s a function of task and le a r n e r , of the channel, m ed iu m , or context d iffe r e n tia ls, or o f acquired s k ills . C o n clu sio n s in this a r ea continue to be am bigu ous. (19:123) 25 H o w ev er, w h eth er a broad c o m p a r iso n of v is io n and audition can e v e r g iv e c o n c lu siv e r e s u lts , it w a s c le a r that no e x p e r im e n ta l c o m p a riso n had b een m ade of the reten tion and c o m p re h e n sio n r e s u lt ing from the o r a l in terp reta tio n and from the s ile n t read in g of p oetry. O ra l in te rp re ta tio n w a s u sed a s a p r e sen ta tio n a l m ethod in s ix of the cited stu d ie s . P o e tr y , not a s defined by the w r ite r , but with the u su a l lite r a r y connotations of the te r m , w as a part o r a ll of the m a te r ia l u sed in tw o o f the cited stu d ie s. None of the stu d ies u sin g o r a l in t e r pretation a s a m ethod u sed p oetry a s m a te r ia l. F u r th e r, none of the stu d ie s attem p ted to m e a s u r e the e ffe c t of train in g in sile n t read in g or o r a l in terp reta tio n upon the reten tion and c o m p re h e n sio n r esu ltin g from sile n t read in g and o r a l in terp reta tio n . T h u s, at the tim e of th is study, the w r ite r found no e x p e r i m en ta l e v id en ce to indicate the r e la tiv e e ffic ie n c y o f sile n t read in g or o r a l in te rp re ta tio n a s m ea n s of p resen tin g p oetry to a u d ie n c e s, nor w a s th ere e v id en ce a s to the e ffe c t o f train in g in e ith e r o f th e se m eth o d s upon reten tio n and /or c o m p r e h e n sio n r e su ltin g from the u se of th e se m eth o d s. P r e v ie w o f the R em ain in g C h ap ters The r em a in d er of th is d is s e r ta tio n w ill follow the con ven tion al o r g a n iza tio n of an e x p e r im e n ta l study. C hapter II w ill be devoted to su b je c ts, m a te r ia ls , and p r o c e d u r e s, C hapter III to p resen ta tio n and 26 in te rp re ta tio n o f the data, and C h apter IV to su m m a r y , c o n c lu sio n s , and im p lic a tio n s o f th is study. C H A P T E R II SU B JE C T S, M ATERIALS, AND PR O C ED U R ES Su b jects The su b je cts in th is e x p e r im e n t w e r e c o lle g e stu d en ts from lo w e r d iv isio n sp e e c h and E n g lish c o u r s e s at the U n iv e r sity of Southern C a lifo rn ia and an o r a l in te r p r e te r . Tw o c la s s s e c tio n s of Speech 130, a c o u r se in o r a l in te r p r e tation, two s e c tio n s of E n g lish 100b, a su r v e y of lite r a tu r e c o u r s e , and four s e c tio n s of Speech 100a, a c o u r se in public sp ea k in g, w ere c h o se n . F ou r s e c tio n s of S p eech 100a w e r e n e c e s s a r y b e c a u se of the u n u su ally s m a ll n u m ber of stu dents in th o se s e c tio n s . The tota l n u m b er of stu d en ts in the above g ro u p s, b efo re v a r io u s e lim in a tio n s w e re m ad e, w a s 141. T he o r a l in te r p r e te r u sed in th is e x p e r im e n t w a s a graduate stu dent, a P h .D . candidate in S p eech , at the U n iv e r sity of Southern C a lifo rn ia . In h is c o u r se w ork he had m a jo red in O ra l In terp retation , and w a s engaged in w ritin g h is d is se r ta tio n in that a r e a at the tim e of th is e x p e r im e n t. He w a s th ir ty -s ix y e a r s of a g e , and had had so m e y e a r s o f e x p e r ie n c e in the le g itim a te th e a ter and the m otion p ictu re in d u stry. 27 28 M aterials The m a te r ia ls u sed in th is ex p erim en t w ere (1) the se le c tio n s “ Shine, P e r is h in g R ep u b lic,” by R obinson J e ffe r s , “ Out, Out — , ” by R ob ert F r o st, “ The F a ir S in g e r ,” by Andrew M arvell, “ To H eav en ,” by B en Jonson, “ M u se u m s,” by L ouis M acN eice, and “ D ir g e ,” by Kenneth F ea r in g , and (2) the lis ts of tr u e -fa ls e and m u ltip le -c h o ic e q u estio n s. The s e le c tio n s used in the study w ere ch osen from a la r g e r group as a r e su lt of the pilot study, a detailed d escrip tio n of which w ill be found in Appendix A . The final form u lation of the q u e s tion s a lso resu lted from the pilot study as d e sc rib ed in Appendix A. L ists of the q u estion s as u sed in the ex p erim en t w ill be found in A ppendix B . C op ies of the s e le c tio n s , m arked for reading by the o ra l in te rp re ter , w ill be found in Appendix C. P r o c e d u r e s The m ajor p ro ced u res involved in th is ex p erim en t w ere (1) ch oo sin g s e le c tio n s , (2) form u latin g q u estio n s, (3) ch oosin g o ra l in te rp re ter , (4) ch oosin g a u d ien ces, (5) c o lle c tin g data, and (6) tr e a t ing data. The fir s t p roced u re, ch o o sin g s e le c tio n s , is la r g e ly d e sc rib ed in Appendix A . The final six s e le c tio n s w ere felt to be accep tab le on the b a s e s of b revity and v a r ie ty . The o r a l in terp reter 29 tim ed h is read in g o f the s ix s e le c tio n s at e le v e n m in u te s and five s e c o n d s , lea v in g a m p le tim e in a sin g le c la s s p eriod fo r the a n sw e r in g of q u e s tio n s. The s e le c tio n s th e m s e lv e s ranged from the six te en th to the tw en tieth c e n tu r ie s in date of a u th orsh ip , from the p iety o f Jo n so n to the c y n ic is m of J e ffe r s in m ood, from the tr e a tm e n t of death by F r o s t to the e n tir e ly d iffe re n t tre a tm en t o f that th em e by F e a r in g , and fro m the c l a s s i c i s m of M a r v e ll to the m o d ern ity of M a cN e ice in s ty le . In the p r e sen ta tio n , title s and a u th o r’s n a m e s w e r e e lim in ated , each s e le c t io n b ein g la b eled only by a R om an n u m er a l. The seco n d p r o c ed u r e, fo rm u la tin g q u e stio n s, is a ls o la r g e ly d e s c r ib e d in Appendix A . T w enty q u estio n s w e r e ask ed on each s e l e c tion, ten o f th e se b ein g tr u e - f a ls e and ten m u ltip le -c h o ic e . Q u e stio n s of both ty p es w e re u sed b e c a u se the tr u e - fa ls e q u e stio n s p erm itted a b r e v ity im p o s s ib le to attain with on ly m u ltip le -c h o ic e q u e s tio n s, w h ile the m u ltip le -c h o ic e q u estio n s p erm itted a d e g r e e o f d is c r im in a tio n im p o s s ib le to attain with the y e s - n o , b la c k -w h ite d e c is io n s req u ired by the t r u e - f a ls e q u e stio n s. O f the tw enty q u e stio n s a sk ed on each s e le c tio n , tr u e - f a ls e q u estio n s one through fiv e and m u ltip le -c h o ic e q u e stio n s e le v e n through fifte en te ste d reten tio n . T he rem a in in g q u e stio n s, tr u e - f a ls e q u e s tio n s s ix through ten, and m u ltip le c h o ic e q u e stio n s s ix te e n through tw enty te s te d c o m p r e h e n sio n . The t r u e - fa ls e q u e stio n s on reten tio n req u ired the id en tifica tio n o f a quote from a given s e le c tio n a s c o r r e c t 30 o r in c o rr ec t, w hile the m u ltip le-c h o ice q u estion s on retention required the identification of the c o r r e c t quote from a given se le c tio n . The tr u e -fa ls e qu estion s on com p reh en sion required the identification of a con clu sion b ased on a given se lec tio n as c o r r e c t or in c o rr ec t, w hile the m u ltip le-c h o ice q u estion s on com p reh en sion required the id en tifi cation of the c o r r e c t con clu sion based on a given se lec tio n . The third procedure, choosing the oral in terp reter, needs little d escrip tio n beyond that given in the fir s t sectio n of this chapter. It w as not felt that the o ral in terp reter ch osen w as another C h arles Laughton in interp retative ab ility, nor w as he felt to be an un sk illed or average in terp reter. He w as con sid ered a m u ch -ex p erien ced and h ig h ly -sk ille d read er w hose equivalent m ight be found in any m ajor u n iv ersity in the country, and this w as p r e c is e ly the so rt of o r a l in terp reter d e sir ed . The fourth proced ure, choosin g the a u d ien ces, w as a c c o m plished in two ste p s. F ir st, as has been stated e a r lie r , two se c tio n s of Speech 130, two of E n glish 100b, and four of Speech 100a w ere chosen, in the b elief that, from the total of 141 students in th ese groups, a m inim um of thirty usable r e sp o n se s would be found in each a r ea . The a r e a s of Speech 130, E n glish 100b, and Speech 100a w ere ch osen in the hope that students in Speech 130, a co u rse in O ral Interpretation, having in te r e sts, m ight a lso have acad em ic exp erien ce in that area, students in E n glish 100b m ight have exp erien ce to 31 p a r a lle l th e ir in te r e s t in sile n t rea d in g , and stu d en ts in S p eech 100a m igh t have n eith er in te r e s t nor e x p e r ie n c e in e ith e r o r a l in te r p r e ta tion nor s ile n t read in g. The seco n d step in c h o o sin g the a u d ien ce s w a s a c c o m p lish e d a fte r the data had b een c o lle c te d . A c co r d in g to the s u b je c ts ’ a n s w e r s to the q u estio n s on the page of in str u c tio n s, a copy of w hich w ill be found in A ppendix B , and to the fir s t q u estio n on each s e le c tio n , r e s p o n s e s of su b jects w e r e e lim in a ted on four b a s e s . F ir s t , the r e s p o n s e s of se v e n su b je cts w e r e elim in a ted b e c a u se th e ir a n s w e r s w e r e not c o m p le te . Second, the r e s p o n s e s o f s ix su b je cts w e r e e lim in a ted b e c a u se they w e re fa m ilia r with o ne or m o re of the s e l e c tion s u sed , and, thus, th e ir reten tio n and /or c o m p re h e n sio n w as not due s o le ly to th is p r e sen ta tio n of the se le c tio n . T h ird , the r e s p o n s e s of se v e n su b je cts w e r e elim in a ted b e c a u se they in d icated that E n g lish w a s not th eir n ative lan gu age, and th is fact m ay have p reven ted c o m p reh en sio n of the s e le c tio n s u sed . F ourth, the r e s p o n s e s of th irteen su b je cts w e r e elim in a ted b e c a u se they indicated a c a d e m ic train in g in both O ral In terpretation and read in g sile n tly , and, thus, did not fit any o f the th ree groups te s te d . A fte r the above e lim in a tio n s, th ere rem a in ed a total of 108 u sa b le r e s p o n s e s , 24 with train in g in o r a l in terp reta tio n , 37 with train in g in s ile n t rea d in g, and 47 w ith train in g in n eith er s ile n t read in g nor o r a l in terp reta tio n . 32 In the fifth p r o c e d u r e , c o lle c tin g the data, a ro ta tio n t e c h nique w a s u s e d . T o s e c tio n one o f the S p eech 130 c l a s s e s the o r a l in te r p r e te r read s e le c t io n s I, III, and IV, h avin g the s e c tio n r ea d s ile n tly s e le c t io n s 11, IV, and VI; to s e c tio n two of the S p eech 130 c l a s s e s the o r a l in te r p r e te r read s e le c t io n s II, IV, and VI, havin g the se c tio n read s ile n tly s e le c t io n s I, III, and V. T o s e c tio n one o f the E n g lish 100b c l a s s e s the o r a l in te r p r e te r read s e le c t io n s I, III, and V , havin g the s e c tio n read s ile n tly s e le c t io n s II, IV, and VI; to s e c t io n tw o o f the E n g lish 100b c l a s s e s the o r a l in te r p r e te r read s e le c t io n s II, IV, and VI, havin g the s e c tio n read s ile n tly s e le c tio n s I, III, and V. T o s e c tio n s one and th r ee o f the S p eech 100a c l a s s e s the o r a l i n t e r p r e te r read s e le c t io n s I, III, and V, havin g the s e c tio n s rea d s ile n tly s e le c t io n s II, IV, and VI; to s e c tio n s two and four of the S p eech 100a c l a s s e s the o r a l in te r p r e te r read s e le c t io n s II, IV, and VI, having the s e c tio n s read s ile n tly s e le c t io n s I, III, and V. T he s ix s e le c t io n s w e r e a lw a y s read in the o r d e r g iv e n b elo w , and e ls e w h e r e , and a ll n u m e r ic a l in d ica tio n s of, o r r e f e r e n c e s to, g iv en s e le c t io n s a r e b a sed on that o r d e r . S e le c tio n I (o r o n e) w a s “ S h in e, P e r is h in g R e p u b lic ,” s e le c t io n II (o r tw o) w a s “ Out, O u t— , ” s e le c t io n III (o r th r e e ) w a s “ T he F a ir S in g e r ,” s e le c t io n IV (o r fo u r) w a s “ T o H e a v e n ,” s e le c tio n V (o r fiv e ) w a s “ M u s e u m s ,” and s e le c t io n VI (o r s ix ) w a s “ D ir g e .” In r ea d in g the s e le c t io n s the o r a l in te r p r e te r m ad e e v e r y 33 attem p t to k eep the v a r ia tio n s a s m in im a l a s p o s s ib le . A fte r m any r e h e a r s a ls the o r a l in te r p r e te r m ark ed c o p ie s of the s e le c t io n s , w hich he u se d in the a ctu a l r e a d in g s, for pau sin g and e m p h a s is . C o p ies of the s e le c tio n s so m ark ed w ill be found in A ppendix C, along with the tim in g of each s e le c tio n in r e h e a r s a l and in actu al rea d in g to the su b j e c t s . Indicative of the slig h t v a r ia tio n b etw een r ea d in g s of a given s e le c tio n is the fact that the tim e d iffe r e n c e w a s n e v e r g r e a te r than th r ee s e c o n d s . A lso in d ica tiv e of e x tr e m e ly m in im a l v a ria tio n is the fact that the o r a l in te r p r e te r u se d g e s tu r e s of the h ead , but none in v o lv in g o th er p arts of the body. The h ou rs at w hich the data w e r e c o lle c te d w e r e 9:00 and 10:00 A .M . for the Sp eech 130 c l a s s e s , 10:00 and 11:00 A . M. for the S p eech 100a c l a s s e s , and 11:00 A .M . and 2:15 P .M . fo r the E n g lish 100b c l a s s e s . S p e c ific a lly , each p r e sen ta tio n w a s handled a s follow s: 1. A fte r m aking ap p rop riate a r r a n g e m e n ts w ith the in s tr u c to r, the o r a l in te r p r e te r e n tered the c la s s r o o m a few m in u tes b e fo re the period began. He w a s equipped with in stru ctio n s h e e ts , c o p ie s of the odd o r the e v en nu m b e r e d s e le c tio n s , and lis t s o f q u e stio n s on each of the s e le c t io n s (the above ite m s b ein g sta p led to g e th e r ), ten p e n c ils , and a sto p -w a tch . 2. A fter the su b je cts and /or the in str u c to r had a r r iv e d , p relim in ary announcem ents had been m ade by the in s tr u c -; tor, and the o ra l in terp reter had been introduced, he (the o ral in terp reter) went to the reading stand which he had placed in front of the group, and said to the su b jects, “ H ello. A s M r. [in stru cto r’s nam e] has told you, I’m one of that strange breed known as P h .D . candid ates, and I’d like you to take a te s t for m e, I hope you ’ll enjoy it, if only b ecau se no grade of any kind is involved for you, but, in a s e n s e , a grade is involved for m e .” “ A s I pass out th ese f o r m s ,” (m oving around the room distributing the stapled fo rm s) “ w ill you p lease make sure you have a pencil or pen. If you don’t, p lea se hold up your hand. When you get these form s p lease don’t look through th e m — don’t even turn the fir s t page. I’d like a ll of you to get an ab solu tely even sta rt on the t e s t .” “ N ow ,” (returning to the reading stand) “ is there anyone who d oes not have a pencil or pen?” (d istrib u tes p en cils if n e c e ss a r y ). “ A ll right, le t’s go through the in stru ction s to g eth er” (rea d s item I of the in stru ctio n s). “ W ill you fill out the next two lin es now, p le a s e ” (w aits thirty se c o n d s, then read s item II). “ Now, by that I don’t m ean so m e co u rse in which you m ay have, in cid en tally, read aloud once or tw ice during the s e m e s t e r , but a c o u r s e in w hich b a sic e m p h a sis w a s put on the study of the p r o c e s s o f read in g aloud. Would you ch eck the n u m ber of s e m e s t e r s y o u ’ve had of such a c o u r s e ” (fo r the Sp eech 130 s e c tio n s the in te r p r e te r added, “ If th is c o u r se is the o n ly one of that kind that y o u ’v e had, p le a se put 1/2 in the o n e - s e m e s t e r blank” ). “ [R eads seco n d part of item II] A gain, by that I don’t m ean so m e c o u r se in w hich you m ay have b een a ss ig n e d so m eth in g to r ea d s ile n tly once in a w h ile, but a c o u r se in w hich b a sic e m p h a sis w a s put on the study of the p r o c e s s of read in g sile n tly . Would you ch eck the nu m ber of s e m e s t e r s y o u ’ve had of su ch a c o u r s e ” (for the E n g lish 100b se c tio n s the in te r p r e te r added, “ If this c o u r se is the o n ly one of that kind that y o u ’ve had, p le a se put 1/2 in the o n e - s e m e s t e r blank” ). “ [R eads item III through “ P L E A SE ANSW ER A L L THE QUESTIONS” ] T h at’s v e r y im p ortan t. In oth er w o r d s, if you have to, g u e s s , but p le a se a n sw e r a ll the q u e s tio n s .” “ [R eads the r e s t of item III and item IV] A re th e r e , now , any q u e s tio n s? ” (th ere n e v e r w e r e ). “ [R eads item V] That, too, is im p ortan t, and y o u ’ll find that in str u c tio n at the bottom of e v e r y page. So p le a se don’t turn e ith e r f o r w ard o r back fr o m any page u n til you a r e ask ed to do so .” E ith e r “ N ow , p le a se do not turn the p age, r e p e a t, do not turn the page, but lis te n , if you w ill, to th is p o e m ” (r e a d s s e le c t io n I), o r “ P le a s e turn, now , to the next page and read to y o u r s e lv e s the poem t h e r e ” (w hen the s e le c t io n w a s read by the o r a l in te r p r e te r , he h eld the sto p -w a tc h in h is left hand, the hand r e s tin g on the r e a d ing stan d , th e fa ce o f the w atch in v isib le a g a in st the palm of the hand, and tim ed the rea d in g fr o m the f ir s t to the la s t w ord of the p o em ). “ [When the f ir s t s e le c t io n w a s s ile n tly read the o r a l in te r p r e te r w a ited the am ount of tim e it w ould have taken to o r a lly in te r p r e t the s e le c tio n ] N ow , p le a s e turn to the n ext page and a n s w e r the q u e stio n s th e r e , b e in g s u r e to in clu d e the fir s t q u estio n at th e top of the p a g e ” (w a its u n til a ll but a handful of the su b je c ts have fin ish ed ). “ How m any h ave not y e t fin ish e d ? ” (w a tc h e s the few thus lo ca te d u n til th ey have fin ish ed ). S a m e a s the fifth ste p , but w ith s e le c t io n II. Sam e a s the six th ste p but w ith q u e stio n s on s e le c t io n II. T he fifth and six th s te p s w e r e r ep e a te d u n til a ll s e le c t io n s had b een read and q u e stio n s a n sw e r e d about th em . “ Thank you v e r y m uch for y o u r h elp . I cou ld n 't have done the te s t w ithout you, and I’m m o s t a p p r e c ia t iv e .” 37 “ [if tim e a llo w s] N ow , if t h e r e ’re any q u e stio n s 1*11 be glad to try to a n sw e r th em a s I c o lle c t y o u r p a p e r s .” The above ste p s w e r e the sa m e fo r e v e r y group. The r e m a r k s m ade by the o r a l in te r p r e te r w e r e rep ea ted w ord for w ord, and, a s far a s p o s s ib le , with the sa m e in fle c tio n s, fa c ia l e x p r e s s io n s , e tc . The sixth p ro ced u re, tre a tin g the data s ta tis t ic a lly , w a s a s fo llo w s. F ir s t , s in c e the s m a lle s t group of u sa b le r e s p o n s e s c o n s is te d of tw en ty -fo u r su ch r e s p o n s e s from S p eech 130 su b je c ts, for r e a s o n s o f s t a t is t ic a l c o n v e n ien ce , tw e n ty -fo u r r e s p o n s e s w e r e s e le c te d fro m each of the o th er m a jo r g r o u p s — the S p eech 100a su b je c ts and the E n g lish 100b su b je c ts . T h e s e s e le c tio n s w e r e m ade on the b a s is of a random num ber table c o n str u c te d from c o lu m n s one, two, and th ree o f page fifty -e ig h t (c h o se n at random ) of the c e n tr a l se c tio n of the L o s A n g e le s telep h on e d ir e c to r y fo r Ju n e, 19 58. N u m b erin g r e s p o n s e s fro m E n g lish 100b su b je c ts fro m one through th ir ty - se v e n , the fin al two d ig its of telep h o n e n u m b e rs, from the above s o u r c e , w e r e u sed to s e le c t tw e n ty -fo u r of th e se r e s p o n s e s ; n u m b erin g r e s p o n s e s fro m the S p eech 100a su b je c ts from one through fo r ty - s e v e n , a lik e p r o c e s s w as fo llo w ed . S econ d , sin c e no a ttem p t had b e e n m ade to rate the s e le c tio n s a s to d ifficu lty , and s in c e ea ch su b -g r o u p h ea rd h alf the s e le c tio n s in te rp re ted o r a lly and rea d the o th er h a lf sile n tly , s c o r e s w e r e c o m bined in the follow in g m anner: (1) s c o r e s on q u e stio n s one through 38 five and e le v e n through fifteen w ere com bined to give one su b je ct’s s c o r e on reten tion for a given se lec tio n ; (2) s c o r e s on q u estio n s six through ten and six te en through tw enty w ere com bined to give one su b ject’s s c o r e on com p reh en sion for a given se lec tio n ; (3) retention s c o r e s on s e le c tio n s I, III, and V, or II, IV, and VI w ere com bined to g ive one su b je ct’s , or individual, s c o r e s on retention; (4) c o m p r e hen sion s c o r e s on s e le c tio n s I, III, V, o r II, IV, and VI w e re c o m bined to give one su b ject’s, or individual, s c o r e s on com p reh en sion . The r esu lt of th ese com binations w as that, within a given group, the final s c o r e s r e p r e se n t com bined s c o r e s on s e le c tio n s I, III, and V, or II, IV, and VI of half the group, and com bined s c o r e s on the rem aining se le c tio n s of the other half of the group. T hird, no attem pt w as m ade to com p are reten tion and c o m p rehension s c o r e s , sin ce th ese s c o r e s are not on a continuum , i . e . , th e se s c o r e s do not r ep re sen t p erform an ce under changed conditions. Fourth, and fin ally, with two s e ts o f s c o r e s , one on retention and one on com p reh en sion , for three groups under two conditions of p resen tation , the s ta tistic a l q u estion b eca m e w hich, if any, o f the above fa cto r s (grou ps, conditions), within a given s e t of s c o r e s , v aried a s a function of which other fa c to r s. The s ta tis tic a l p roced u re adopted to provide th is a n sw er w as a twin tw o -le v e l a n a ly s is of v a r ia n c e , in cluding the standard t - t e s t (two ta iled ) (6). A d etailed d e sc rip tio n of the foregoin g sta tis tic a l p roced ure can be found in m o st standard tex ts 39 in s t a t is t ic s . The w r ite r found G uilford (6:257) m o st s a tis fa c to r y . S u m m ary S u b jects o f th is e x p e r im e n t w e r e 141 c o lle g e stu d en ts from lo w e r d iv isio n sp e e c h and E n g lish c o u r s e s at the U n iv e r sity of Southern C a lifo rn ia , and an o r a l in te r p r e te r from the sa m e u n iv e r sity . M a te r ia ls u sed in th is study w e r e the s ix s e le c tio n s , c o p ie s of w hich w ill be found in Appendix C, and the lis t s of q u e s tio n s, c o p ie s of w hich w ill be found in Appendix B . The m ajor p r o c ed u r es in volved in this e x p e r im e n t w e r e (1) ch o o sin g s e le c tio n s , (2) fo rm u la tin g q u e stio n s, (3) c h o o sin g o r a l in te r p r e te r , (4) c h o o sin g a u d ie n c e s, in itia lly and on the b a s is of th e ir fa m ilia r ity w ith the E n g lish language and the s e l e c tio n s u se d , and of th e ir a c a d e m ic background, (5) c o lle c tin g data, and (6 ) tre a tin g the data by m ea n s of a double or tw in t w o -le v e l a n a ly s is of v a r ia n c e . C H A P T E R III P R E SE N T A T IO N AND IN T E R P R E T A T IO N O F D A TA In th is e x p e r im e n t the data c o n s is te d of t r u e - f a ls e and m u lt ip le - c h o ic e s c o r e s on the od d - o r e v e n -n u m b e r e d of s ix p o e m s r e a d aloud to (o r a lly in te r p r e te d ) o r s ile n t ly by th r e e g r o u p s o f tw e n ty - fo u r s u b j e c ts . T he g r o u p s w e r e e q u a liz e d by s e le c t io n on th e b a s is of a ra n d om n u m b er ta b le . A s e t of s c o r e s w a s ob tain ed fo r r e te n tio n , and a n o th er fo r c o m p r e h e n s io n , c o u n te rb a la n c ed on s e le c t io n s . W ithin e a c h group o n e -h a lf the s u b je c ts h ea rd th r e e of the s e le c t io n s o r a lly in te r p r e te d , w h ile the o th e r h a lf read the r e m a in in g th r e e p o e m s s ile n t ly . T a b le s I and II g iv e the s c o r e s thus ob tain ed . T he n a tu ra l p a rtitio n in g of su ch d ata is into tw o a n a ly s e s of v a r ia n c e . In o n e , reten tio n s c o r e s a r e u s e d to stu d y the th r e e g r o u p s ’ s c o r e s a s a fun ction o f m a n n er o f p r e sen ta tio n ; in the o th e r , c o m p r e h e n sio n s c o r e s a r e u sed to stu d y the th r e e g r o u p s ’ s c o r e s a s a fu n ction o f m a n n er o f p r e se n ta tio n . T h e ab ove d iv is io n b e tw e e n th o se s c o r e s on r e te n tio n and th o se on c o m p r e h e n s io n o c c u r s , not b e c a u s e the s c o r e s w e r e b a s e d on d iffe r e n t it e m s , but b e c a u s e r e te n tio n and c o m p r e h e n s io n a r e not on a c o n tin u u m . R eten tio n and c o m p r e h e n s io n a r e not d iffe r e n t m e a s u r e s 40 41 TABLE 1 RAW SCORES FOR RETENTION O ral In terpretation Group I Group II Group III 17 19 22 20 14 19 15 16 19 12 14 14 11 25 16 19 22 20 15 15 13 12 22 12 8 19 21 24 18 16 21 17 16 18 20 18 22 17 15 16 19 23 22 16 13 25 24 14 21 17 15 18 17 24 13 20 18 21 15 16 20 21 16 25 24 12 17 18n 13 21 13 21 Silent R eading Group I Group II Group III 20 26 20 20 24 19 22 19 24 19 18 23 13 23 15 21 22 16 14 25 13 18 24 16 13 21 • * 21 20 . , X 17 21 17 20 16 17 21 19 15 18 20 25 21 21 13 19 22 21 24 20 19 21 17 24 18 17 17 23 18 18 24 20 17 21 24 9 17 14 16 24 23 23 42 TABLE 2 RAW SCORES FOR COMPREHENSION O ral Interpretation Silent Reading Group I Group II Group III Group I Group II Group III 15 18 13 20 19 14 14 16 18 17 17 9 11 13 15 11 9 12 22 17 18 19 16 15 9 20 16 17 18 9 18 18 16 24 20 15 15 7 11 14 11 14 15 13 11 17 18 13 13 22 14 12 18 16 16 18 13 12 16 20 18 18 18 14 18 14 15 17 18 16 17 13 15 15 14 21 17 22 12 14 14 12 17 17 19 17 13 11 15 12 17 14 19 17 12 11 23 15 16 19 9 11 14 15 17 13 14 14 19 14 12 19 8 10 17 15 10 17 13 10 16 20 10 18 14 15 19 17 14 21 17 10 16 13 16 14 14 22 18 19 22 20 15 21 43 of the sa m e function under changed con d ition s, and, th e r e fo r e , c o m p arison of s c o r e s on reten tion and co m p reh en sio n would give no n e c e s s a r y indication of the rela tiv e am ounts of reten tion and c o m p r e h en sion involved. The r e su lts of the a n a ly sis of va rian ce b ased on the reten tion s c o r e s are su m m a rize d in Table 3. H ow ever, when the in teraction is not sig n ifica n t, as indicated in Table 3, it is cu sto m a ry to u se as a m odified e r r o r ter m the w ith in -grou p s and in teraction pooled. The p referred c o m p a riso n s then a r e those given in Table 4. S im ila r ly , the r e su lts of the a n a ly sis of v arian ce b ased on co m p reh en sio n s c o r e s a re su m m a rize d in Table 5. H ow ever, a s in the c a se of the “ reten tio n ” a n a ly s is , the lack of sig n ifica n ce of in teraction in d ica tes that the p r e fe rr e d c o m p a riso n s a re th ose given in Table 6. In both a n a ly se s, the o v e r -a ll d iffe r e n c e s am ong groups reach the .05 le v e l of con fid en ce. In the “ reten tio n ” a n a ly s is , the standard t - t e s t (tw o -ta ile d ) of d iffe r e n c e s betw een m ean s sh ow s Group II to be sig n ifica n tly different (su p e rio r ) from Group III (t = 2.51, p < .05), other p airs not sig n ifica n tly d ifferen t, w hile in the “ c o m p re h e n sio n ” a n a ly s is , Group I is sig n ifica n tly d ifferen t (su p e r io r ) from Group III (t = 2.51, p < ..0 5 ). A dditionally, in the “ reten tio n ” a n a ly s is , the sile n t reading condition is sig n ifica n tly su p e rio r (t = 2.81, p <. .01). 44 TABLE 3 ANALYSIS O F VARIANCE BASED ON RETENTIO N SCORES S ou rce s s df m s F P G roups 82 2 41 3.05 < . 0 5 C on ditions 107 1 107 7.96 < .0 1 In teraction 4 2 2 W ith in -grou p s 1856 138 13.45 T o ta l 2049 143 T A B L E 4 “ R E T E N T IO N ” ANALYSIS, W ITHIN-GROUPS AND INTERACTION PO O LED S ou rce s s df m s F P G roups 82 2 41 3.0 8 < . 0 5 C on ditions 107 1 107 8.05 < . 0 1 In tera ction + ■ w ith in -g ro u p s 1860 140 13.3 T o ta l 2049 143 45 TABLE 5 ANALYSIS O F VARIANCE BASED ON COM PREHENSION SCORES Sou rce s s df m s F P G roups 75 2 37.5 3.27 ^£..05 C onditions 8 1 8 In teraction 12 2 6 W ith in -grou p s 1582 138 11.46 T otal 1677 143 T A B L E 6 “ CO M PREH ENSIO N” ANALYSIS, W ITH IN-GROUPS AND INTERACTION PO O LED S ou rce s s df m s F P G roups 75 2 37.5 3.29 < . 0 5 C onditions 8 1 8 In teraction + ■ w ith in -g ro u p s 1594 140 11.4 T otal 1677 143 46 The lack o f in te ra c tio n in both a n a ly s e s in d ic a tes that con d ition s do not s e le c t iv e ly in flu en ce a grou p ’s p er fo r m a n c e. R eten tion R e su ltin g from O ra l In terp retation and fro m S ilen t R eading It w ill be s e e n in T able 4 that, a s far a s reten tio n is c o n c er n e d , th ere w a s a sig n ifica n t d iffe re n c e b etw een co n d itio n s, or m eth od s o f p r e sen ta tio n . T h is d iffe re n c e w a s sig n ifica n t at the .01 le v e l o f c o n fid en ce, and favored s ile n t read in g. The co n c lu sio n , th e r e fo r e , w as that the o r a l in terp reta tio n of p oetry d o es not r e su lt in g r e a te r reten tion , on the part of the a u d ien ce, than d o es s ile n t read in g. In fact, o r a l in terp reta tio n r e s u lts in sig n ific a n tly l e s s reten tion than d o e s s ile n t read in g. C o m p re h e n sio n R e su ltin g from O ra l In terp retation and from Silen t R eading It w ill be s e e n in T ab le 6 that, a s far a s c o m p r e h e n sio n is c o n c er n e d , th ere w as no sig n ifica n t d iffe re n c e in the e ffe c tiv e n e s s of the co n d itio n s, o r m eth od s of p resen ta tio n . The c o n c lu sio n , th e r e fo r e , w a s that o r a l in te rp re ta tio n d o es not r e su lt in g r e a te r c o m p re h e n sio n , on the part of the a u d ien ce, than d o e s s ile n t read in g. In fa ct, th e re is no sig n ifica n t d iffe r e n c e b etw een the c o m p re h e n sio n r e su ltin g fro m o r a l in terp reta tio n and that r esu ltin g from s ile n t read in g. E ffe c ts of T ra in in g in O ra l In terp reta tio n and L ack of T ra in in g in E ith e r O ra l In terp retation o r S ilen t R eading on R eten tion R e su ltin g from O ra l In terp retation A s stated ab ove, it w ill be s e e n fro m T able 4 on page 44 that o r a l in terp reta tio n w as l e s s e ffe c tiv e than s ile n t read in g a s far as reten tio n w as c o n c er n e d . H o w ev er, the stan dard t - t e s t (tw o -ta ile d ) show ed that G roup 1, the group with train in g in o r a l in te rp re ta tio n , w as not sig n ific a n tly d ifferen t from G roup III, the group with tra in in g in n e ith e r o r a l in terp reta tio n nor sile n t read in g. The co n c lu sio n , th e r e fo r e , w as that an au d ien ce train ed in o r a l in terp reta tio n d o es not retain m o r e , when p oetry is o r a lly in te r p reted , than an aud ien ce with train in g in n eith er o r a l in terp reta tio n nor sile n t rea d in g . In fact, th ere is no sig n ifica n t d iffe r e n c e in the reten tion of th e se groups w hen poetry is o r a lly in te rp re ted . E ffe c ts of T rain in g in O ra l In terp retation and L ack o f T rain in g in e ith e r O ra l In terp retation o r S ilen t R eading on C o m p reh en sio n R e su ltin g fro m O ra l In terp retation A s stated ab ove, it w ill be s e e n fro m T ab le 6, page 45, that, 48 as far a s com p rehension w as concerned, there w as no significant difference in the e ffe ctiv e n e ss of the conditions, or m ethods of presentation. H ow ever, the standard t-te s t (tw o-tailed) showed that Group I, the group with training in oral interpretation, w as sig n ifi cantly different (su p erior) from Group III, the group with training in neither oral interpretation nor silen t reading. T his difference was significant at the .05 le v e l of confidence. The conclusion, th erefore, was that an audience trained in oral interpretation does com prehend m o re, when poetry is orally interpreted, than an audience with training in neither o ra l in terp reta tion nor silen t reading. E ffects of Training in O ral Interpretation and Training in Silent Reading on Retention R esulting from O ral Interpretation A s stated above, it w ill be seen from Table 4, on page 44, that silen t reading w as significantly su p erior to o ra l interpretation as far as retention w as concerned. H ow ever, the standard t- te s t (tw o- tailed) showed that Group I, the group with training in oral in terp reta tion, was not significantly different from Group II, the group with training in silen t reading. The conclusion, th erefore, w as that an audience trained in o r a l interpretation d oes not retain m ore, when poetry is orally in terp reted , than an audience without such training but with train in g in sile n t reading. E ffe c ts of T rain in g in O ral Interpretation and T rain in g in Silent R eading on C om p reh en sion R esu ltin g from O ral Interpretation A s stated above, it w ill be se e n from T able 6 on page 45 that th ere w as no sig n ifican t d ifferen ce in the e ffe c tiv e n e ss of the con d i tio n s, or m ethods of p resen tation . H ow ever, the standard t-te s t (tw o -ta iled ) show ed that Group I, the group with training in o ra l in te r pretation, w as not sig n ifica n tly d ifferen t from Group II, the group with training in silen t reading. The con clu sion , th e re fo re , w as that an audience trained in o ra l interp retation d oes not com prehend m o r e , when poetry is o r a lly in terp reted , than an audience without such training but with train in g in silen t reading. In fact, there w as no sign ifican t d ifferen ce in the com p reh en sion of th ese groups when poetry w as o r a lly in terp reted . E ffec ts o f T raining in Silent Reading and Lack of T rain in g in eith er O ra l Interpretation or Silent R eading on R etention R esu ltin g from Silen t R eading A s stated above, it w ill be se e n from T able 4 on page 44 that silen t reading w as sig n ifica n tly su p e rio r to o ra l in terp retation a s far 50 as reten tio n w a s c o n c er n e d . A d d ition ally, Group II, the group with train in g in sile n t read in g, w a s sig n ific a n tly su p e r io r to Group III, the group with tra in in g in n eith er sile n t rea d in g nor o r a l in terp reta tio n . T h is d iffe re n c e w as sig n ifica n t at the .05 le v e l of co n fid en ce. The c o n c lu sio n , th e r e fo r e , w as that an aud ien ce with train in g in sile n t read in g d o es retain m o r e , w hen p o etry is s ile n tly read , than an aud ien ce with train in g in n eith er sile n t read in g nor o r a l in te r p r e tation. E ffe c ts of T rain in g in S ilen t R eading and L ack of T rain in g in e ith e r O ra l In terp retation or S ilen t R eading on C o m p reh en sio n R esu ltin g from S ilen t R eading A s stated above, it w ill be s e e n from T ab le 6 on page 45 that th ere w as no sig n ifica n t d iffe re n c e in the e ffe c tiv e n e s s of the m eth od s o f p r e sen ta tio n . H ow ever, the standard t - t e s t (tw o -ta ile d ) show ed that G roup II, the group with train in g in sile n t read in g, w a s not sig n ific a n tly d ifferen t from Group III, the group with tra in in g in n eith er s ile n t read in g n or o r a l in terp reta tio n . The co n c lu sio n , th e r e fo r e , w a s that an aud ien ce train ed in sile n t rea d in g d o es not co m p reh en d m o r e , w hen p oetry is sile n tly rea d , than an au d ien ce with train in g in n eith er o r a l in terp reta tio n nor sile n t rea d in g. In fa ct, th e r e w a s no sig n ific a n t d iffe r e n c e b etw een the 51 c o m p r e h e n sio n o f th e se g ro u p s w hen p o etry w a s s ile n tly rea d . E ffe c ts of T r a in in g in S ilen t R ead in g and T r a in in g in O r a l In terp reta tio n on R eten tio n R e su ltin g fro m S ilen t R eading A s sta ted a b o v e, it w ill be s e e n from T ab le 4 on page 44 that s ile n t rea d in g w a s sig n ific a n tly s u p e r io r to o r a l in te rp re ta tio n a s fa r a s r eten tio n w as c o n c e r n e d . H o w e v er , the stan d ard t - t e s t (tw o -ta ile d ) sh ow ed that G roup II, the group w ith train in g in s ile n t read in g, w a s not s ig n ific a n tly d iffe re n t from G roup I, the group w ith tra in in g in o r a l inte r p r e ta tio n . The c o n c lu sio n , th e r e fo r e , w a s that an a u d ien ce tra in ed in s ile n t r ea d in g d o e s not r e ta in m o r e , w hen p oetry is s ile n tly r ea d , than an a u d ien ce w ith ou t su ch tra in in g but with tra in in g in o r a l in te r p r e ta tion . In fa ct, th e r e w a s no sig n ific a n t d iffe r e n c e b etw een the r eten tio n o f th e se grou p s when p o etry w a s s ile n tly read . E ffe c ts o f T ra in in g in S ilen t R eading and T r a in in g in O r a l In terp reta tio n on C o m p r e h e n sio n R e su ltin g fro m S ilen t R ead in g A s sta ted a b o v e, it w ill be s e e n fr o m T ab le 6 on page 45 that th e r e w a s no sig n ific a n t d iffe r e n c e in the e ff e c t iv e n e s s o f the con d ition s o r m eth o d s o f p r e se n ta tio n . H o w e v er , the stan d ard t - t e s t (tw o -ta ile d ) 52 show ed that Group II, the group with training in s ile n t read in g, w a s not sig n ifica n tly d ifferen t from Group I, the group with train in g in o r a l in terp retation . The co n c lu sio n , th e r e fo r e , w as that an aud ien ce train ed in sile n t read in g d o es not com p rehend m o r e , w hen p oetry is sile n tly read , than an audience without such train in g but w ith train in g in o r a l in terp reta tion . In fact, there w a s no sig n ifica n t d iffe re n c e betw een the co m p reh en sio n s c o r e s o f th e se groups when poetry w as sile n tly r e a d . S u m m ary B a se d on twin a n a ly s e s of v a r ia n c e , including the standard t - t e s t (tw o -ta ile d ) of d iffe r e n c e s b etw een m e a n s, the ev id en ce p r e sen ted by th is e x p e rim en t indicated that the r e su lts of o r a l in te r p r e ta tion a r e in no in stan ce su p e r io r to s ile n t read in g, but that sile n t read in g r e s u lts in g r e a te r reten tion than d o es o r a l in terp reta tio n , that train in g in e ith e r o r a l in terp retatio n o r sile n t read in g is in no in stan ce su p e r io r to train in g in the oth er m ethod in te r m s of the r esu ltin g reten tion or co m p reh en sio n , and that train in g in s ile n t read in g m ay r e su lt in sig n ifica n tly g r e a te r reten tion than d o e s lack of a ll training, w h ile train in g in o r a l in terp retation m ay r e s u lt in sig n ifica n tly g r e a te r c o m p re h e n sio n than d o es lack of a ll train in g. CHAPTER IV SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS Summary A uthorities in the field of speech have assum ed that oral interpretation is the m ost effective method of presenting poetry to an audience, this superior effectiven ess apparently being based on greater retention and com prehension resulting from oral interpretation. No experim ental evidence, how ever, has been presented to support this assum ption. The purpose of this study w as (1) to d isco v er the d ifferen ces, if any, in the retention and com prehension of poetry resulting from oral interpretation and from silen t reading, and (2) to d iscover the d ifferen ces, if any, resulting from training in oral interpretation, in silent reading, and in neither, in term s of the retention or co m p re hension of poetry. This study was felt to be significant (1) within the area of O ral Interpretation for reason s of academ ic accu racy, understanding the values of oral interpretation, understanding the resu lts of teaching o ral interpretation, and increasing, if possib le, the effectiv en ess of teaching techniques and m ethods within the area, and (2) beyond the area of O ral Interpretation for reason s of basic teaching effectiven ess 53 54 resu ltin g from the u se of the b e tter te a c h in g -to o l. The follow ing d efin ition s of te r m s w ere u sed in this e x p e r i m ent: “ p o etry ” w as defined as the s ix s e le c tio n s u sed in th is study; “ o r a l in te rp re ta tio n ,” when ca p ita lized (O ral In terpretation), w as defined as the reco g n ized a rea w ithin the field of sp ee ch known by that n am e, and when w ritten with s m a ll le tte r s (o ra l in terp retation ) w as defined as the p r o c e s s of reading aloud to an aud ien ce in a f a c e -to -fa c e situation; “ reten tio n ” w as defined a s the ab ility to a n sw er certa in q u estion s req u irin g a d eterm in ation of the c o r r e c tn e s s or in c o r r e c t n e s s of quotations from a given sou rce; “ c o m p re h e n sio n ” w as defined as the ab ility to a n sw er c er ta in q u estio n s req u irin g that in fe r e n c e s be draw n from the e x p lic it sta te m en ts in a given se lec tio n ; “ tra in in g ” w as defined as study in a c o lle g e - le v e l c o u rse for a period of eight w eek s or longer; “ training in sile n t rea d in g ” w as defined a s study in an E n g lish litera tu re su rv e y c o u r se em p h a sizin g sile n t read in g. Throughout, the study w as a u d ie n c e -c e n te r e d , i.e., o r a l in terp retation w as studied only from the a u d ien ce's point of v iew . In r ev iew in g the lite ra tu re pertinent w ork s w ere cited , rev e a lin g the fact that few stu d ies had u sed o r a l in terp retation a s a m ethod of p resen tation , or m a te r ia ls that could be c o n sid e r e d , by any definition, p oetic. No study had em p loyed both o f th e se ite m s , and no study had attem pted to m e a su r e the r e s u lts of train in g in o r a l in te r p r e tation and in silen t read in g. 55 S u b jects u s e d in th is e x p e r im e n t w e r e s e v e n ty -fo u r (a fte r v a r io u s e lim in a tio n s ) stu d en ts fro m lo w e r d iv isio n sp e e c h and E n g lish c o u r s e s at the U n iv e r s ity of Sou th ern C a lifo r n ia . T h e s e su b je c ts w e r e divid ed into th r ee e q u a l g ro u p s of tw e n ty -fo u r , one w ith tra in in g in o r a l in te r p r e ta tio n , one w ith tra in in g in s ile n t rea d in g , and one with tra in in g in n e ith e r . In add ition to the above s u b je c ts , one o r a l in te r p r e te r , a Ph.D . can d id ate in S p eech at the U n iv e r sity o f Sou thern C a lifo r n ia , w a s em p lo y e d in th is stu d y. M a te r ia ls u sed in the study w e r e the s e le c t io n s , and the q u e stio n s a sk ed on each s e le c t io n . M ajor p r o c e d u r e s in v o lv ed in the stu dy w e r e (1) c h o o sin g s e le c t io n s , (2) fo rm u la tin g q u e s tio n s, (3) c h o o sin g the o r a l in t e r p r e te r , (4) c h o o sin g a u d ie n c e s, (5) c o lle c tin g the data, and (6) tr e a tin g the data. S ta tis tic a l p r o c e d u r e s u se d in the stu dy w e r e (1) a tw in a n a ly s is of v a r ia n c e , and (2) the stan d ard t - t e s t (tw o -ta ile d ) of the d iffe r e n c e b e tw e en m e a n s . A ll q u e stio n s a sk ed in the sta te m e n t o f the p ro b lem w e r e a n sw e r e d by th e se s t a t is t ic a l p r o c e d u r e s . C o n c lu sio n s T he e v id e n c e r e v e a le d by th is e x p e r im e n t w a s fe lt to su p p ort the fo llo w in g c o n c lu sio n s : 56 1. The oral Interpretation of poetry does not resu lt in greater retention, on the part of the audience, than does silent reading. 2. The oral interpretation of poetry does not resu lt in greater com prehension, on the part of the audience, than does silent reading. 3. An audience trained in oral interpretation does not retain m ore, when poetry is orally interpreted, than an audience with training in neither oral interpretation nor silent reading. 4. An audience trained in oral interpretation does c o m p r e hend m ore, when poetry is orally interpreted, than an audience with training in neither o ral interpretation nor silent reading. 5. An audience trained in ora l interpretation does not retain m ore, when poetry is orally interpreted, than an audience without such training but with training in silent reading. 6. An audience trained in oral interpretation does not c o m prehend m ore, when poetry is orally interpreted, than an audience without such training but with training in silent reading. 7. An audience trained in silent reading does retain m ore, when poetry is silently read, than an audience with 57 training in neither silen t reading nor oral interpretation. 8. An audience trained in silen t reading does not com prehend m o re, when poetry is silen tly read, than an audience with training in neither silen t reading nor oral interpretation. 9. An audience trained in silen t reading does not retain m o re , when poetry is silen tly read, than an audience without such training but with training in ora l in terp reta tion. 10. An audience trained in silent reading does not com prehend m o re, when poetry is silen tly read, than an audience without such training but with training in oral in terp reta tion. Im plications Since, according to the evidence presented in this experim en t, the com prehension resulting from oral interpretation is not sig n ifi cantly g reater than that resulting from silen t reading, while the retention resu ltin g from oral interpretation is significantly l e s s than that resulting from silent reading, it would se e m that those persons interested in this particular area of the field of sp eech should look elsew h er e than the phenomena of retention and/or com p reh en sion for the values of O ral Interpretation. A contradiction betw een the above broad conclusion and the 58 r e su lts of a study such as C o llin s ’ (46), who found r e su lts c o n siste n tly favoring o r a l interpretation, can be avoided only by e m p h a sizin g the fact that the p r esen t study approached the problem from the a u d ien ce’s point of view , w hile C o llin s ’ study w a s based en tirely on the o r a l in te r p r e te r s, t h e m s e lv e s . The p resen t study, then, lim ited itse lf to the co m p a riso n of the a u d ie n c e s’ retention and co m p reh en sio n resu ltin g from oral in te r pretation and from silen t reading. E vidence presen ted in this study, h ow ever, su g g e s ts that, had C ollin s m e a su r e d both com p reh en sio n and retention, as defined in this study, his findings m ight have favored o ral interpretation even m o re heavily. In review in g the literatu re r e fe r e n c e s w ere m ade to stu d ies by Hawkins (26), E rik so n and King (23), R u s s e ll (38), L u m ley (30), C o rey (20), L a r se n and F e d e r (29), C a r v er (2), Rulon and o th ers (37), Burton (17), Harwood (49), Young (43), and H all (48), each of whom found that listen in g, at le a st in the c a se of m ature p e r so n s, w a s to som e d e g r ee in ferior to reading. The p resen t study m ade no attem pt to equate the p r o c e s s of watching and listen in g to a “ liv e ” o ra l in terp reter with the sin gle p r o c e s s of listen in g. N e v e r th e le s s , to the extent that listen in g w as a part of the twofold p r o c e s s studied, the r e su lts of this e x p erim en t strengthen e a r lie r findings to the effect that listen in g is a rela tiv ely poor learn in g-m eth od . In connection with the above statem en t regarding the 59 inefficiency of learning by listening, it should be pointed out that, of the major methods of communication, writing, silent reading, reading aloud, speaking, and listening, listening was the only one in which, at the tim e of this study, little or no training w as available at any level, but esp ecially in high school or college. While no sim ple or direct causal relationship is implied between the mean of teaching oral interpretation and the end of greater com prehension, this end may, according to the evidence presented in this study, legitim ately be hoped for as a result, partial or possible, of teaching oral interpretation. There is no apparent reason to hope for a sim ilar increase as a result of teaching silent reading. The above statem ents are based on conclusions numbered 4 and 8 on pages 56 and 57, with their clear implication that training in silent reading is inferior to training in oral interpretation in that the form er does not result in greater com prehension, while the latter definitely does. As a teaching-tool, applicable in many educational fields, silent reading is, according to the evidence presented in this study, superior to oral interpretation when the desired result is sim ple retention. This would se em to indicate that the average student reads silently for retention, while in watching and listening to an oral in ter preter com prehension is str esse d . The fact that superior co m p re hension, rather than retention, results from oral interpretation is not surprising when one rem em b ers that any effective interpretation 60 n e c e s s a r ily e m p h a s iz e s the whole of the se le c tio n , w hile sile n t reading m ay do no m o re than e m p h a siz e individual ite m s o r parts of the w hole. Su ggestion s for F u rth er R e se a r c h A pparently, the advantages of o r a l interp retation , as a m ethod of p resen tin g poetry to an audience, do not include in c r e a se d retention o r com p reh en sio n . Since O ral Interpretation is one of the “ a r t” a r e a s of the field of sp eech , and sin ce such a r e a s a re u su a lly p resu m ed to include em otion al reaction s on the part of the audience, the w r ite r would su g g e st exp erim en ta tio n design ed to d eterm in e the rela tiv e amount of em otion al reaction from an audience reading poetry silen tly a s opposed to an audience hearin g poetry ora lly in terp reted . It m ight be that such an e x p e rim en ta l d esig n could be based on, or include, the ad m in istration of G .S .R . t e s t s to the two au d ien ces d e sc r ib e d above. A s a different direction for future r e s e a r c h , the w r ite r would su g g est an attem pt to m e a s u r e the d iffe r e n c e s, if any, in the au d ien ce’s retention and co m p reh en sio n when good, fair, and poor ora l in te r p r e te r s are used. A ls o , the w r ite r would su g g est that ex p e rim en ta l attem p ts be m ade to d e ter m in e the relative le v e ls of difficulty of v a rio u s poem s and typ es of poetry. F in ally, the w r ite r would su g g e st exp erim en ta tio n d irectly com paring retention, com prehension, lev el of difficulty of m aterial, and em otional resp onse of the audience. W ere it possible, as a result of such experim entation, to esta b lish tests or form ulae that reliably predicted the kind of poetic m aterial to which audiences would em otionally respond to the m axim um degree, and which they would b est retain or comprehend, the field of speech, and the a rea of O ral Interpretation would be, indeed, the richer. B I B L I O G R A P H Y BIBLIOGRAPHY Books 1. B assett, Lee E m erson . A Handbook of Oral Reading. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1917. 2. C arver, Merton E. “ Listening V ersus Reading.” In Cantrel, Hadlet, and Allport, Gordon W. The Psychology of Radio. New York: P eter Smith, 1941. 3. Cooper, Charles W. P reface to P o e tr y . New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1946. 4. Crocker, Lionel, and Louis M. Eich. Oral Reading. New York: Prentice Hall, Incorporated, 1955. 5. Dolman, John. The Art of Reading Aloud. New York: Harper and B rothers, 1956. 6. Guilford, J. P. Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Edu cation. New York: M cGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1956. 7. Johnson, Gertrude E. (ed.). Studies in the Art of Interpretation. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1940. 8. Lee, Charlotte I. Oral Interpretation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1952. 9. Shurter, Edwin DuBois, and Watkins, Dwight Everett. School P oetry for Oral E xpression. New York: Noble and Noble, 1925. 10. T a ss is, Algernon. The O ral Study of L iterature. New York: F. S. Crofts and Company, 1941, P eriod ical Literature 11. Ainsworth, Stanley, and High, C harles. “ Auditory Functions and A bilities in Good and P oor L iste n e r s ,” Journal of Communication, IV (Autumn, 1954), 84-86. 63 64 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21 . 22. Anderson, Irving H., and Fairbanks, Grant. “ Com m on and D ifferential F actors in Reading Vocabulary and Hearing V ocabulary,” Journal of Educational R e s e a r c h , XXX (January, 1937), 317-24. B eighley, K. D. “ A Sum m ary of E xp erim ental Studies Dealing with the Effect of Organization and of Skill of Speaker on C om prehension,” Journal of C om m unication, II (N ovem ber, 1952), 58-65. Blew ett, Thom as T. “ E xperim ents in the M easurem ent of Listening at the C ollege L e v e l,” Journal of Educational R e se a r c h , XLIV (April, 1951), 575-85. Brown, Don. “ And Having E a r s, They Hear N o t,” Journal of the National Education A sso c ia tio n , XXIX (N ovem ber, 1950), 586-87. Brown, Jam es I. “ A C om parison of Listening and Reading A b ility,” College E n glish , X (N ovem ber, 1948), 105-107. Burton, Mary. “ The Hearing and Reading C om prehension of Vocabulary among High School S e n io r s,” School R e v iew , LII (January, 1944), 47-50. Caffrey, John. “ An Introduction to the Auding C oncept,” Education, LXX (D ecem ber, 1949), 234-39. ___________ . “ Auding,” Review of Educational R e s e a r c h , XXV (April, 1955), 121-38. C orey, Stephen M. “ Learning from L ectu res v s. Learning from R eadings,” Journal of Educational P sy c h o lo g y , XXV (Septem ber, 1934), 459-70. DeWick, Henry N. “ The Relative R ecall E ffectiv en ess of Visual and Auditory P resentation of A dvertising M aterial,” Journal of Applied P sy c h o lo g y , XIX (1935), 245-64. Elliott, Frank R. “ M em ory for V isual, Auditory and V isual- Auditory M aterial,” A rch ives o f P sy c h o lo g y , XXIX (May, 1936), 5-54. 65 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. E rik son , C. I., and King, I. “ A C om parison of V isu al and O ral P resen tation of L e sso n s in the C ase of P u p ils from the Third to the Ninth G r a d e s ,” School and S o c iety , VI (August 4, 1917), 146-68. G reene, Edward B a rro w s. “ The R elative E ffe c tiv e n e ss of Lecture and Individual Reading as M ethods of C ollege T ea ch in g ,” Genetic P sych o lo g y M onographs, IV (D ecem b er, 1928), 457 -6 3. G oldstein, H arry. “ Reading and Listening C om p rehension at V arious Controlled R a te s ,” Colum bia U n iversity C on tri butions to Education, 821, 1940. Cited by Brown, J a m e s I. “ A C om parison of Listening and Reading A b ility ,” C ollege E n g lish , X (N ovem ber, 1948), 105-107. Hawkins, Chauncey J. “ E xp erim en ts on M em ory T y p e s ,” P sy c h o lo g ic a l R e v iew , IV (1897), 289-94. Henneman, Richard H. “ V ision and Audition as Sensory Channels for C om m u nication,” Q uarterly Journal of S p eech , XXXVIII (April, 1952), 161-66. Jon es, Effie B. “ A C om parison of C om p rehension R esu lts in O ral and Silent R eading,” Peabody Journal of E ducation, IX (M arch, 1932), 292-96. L arsen , Robert P ., and F ed er, D. D. “ C om m on and D iffe r ential F a cto rs in Reading and H earing C o m p reh en sio n ,” Journal of Educational P sy c h o lo g y , XXXI (A pril, 1940), 241-52. L um ley, F. H. “ R e se a r c h in Radio Education at Ohio State U n iv e r sity ,” Education on the A ir , IV (1933), 364-66. M cCoard, W illiam B ., and LeCount, Sam uel N. “ An O ral Reading Evaluation of Good and P o o r Silent R e a d e r s ,” Speech M onographs, XVIII (N ovem ber, 1951), 288-92. 32. Mead, Cyrus D. “ R esu lts in Silent v s . O ral R eading,” Journal of Educational P sy c h o lo g y , VIII (June, 1917), 367-68. 66 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. Mowbray, G eorge H. 4‘Sim ultaneous V ision and Audition: The C om p rehension of P r o s e P a s s a g e s with Varying L e v e ls of D iffic u lty /' Journal of E x p erim en tal P s y c h o lo g y , XLVI (N ovem ber, 1953), 365-72. N ich o ls, Ralph G. “ F a cto rs in Listening C o m p r e h e n s io n /' Speech M onographs, XV (N ovem ber, 1948), 154-63. P inter, Rudolph, and Gilliland, A . R. “ O ral and Silent Reading," Journal of Educational P sy c h o lo g y , VII (A pril, 1916), 2 0 1 - 1 2 . Rankin, P aul T. “ Listening Ability, II: Its Im portance, M easu rem en t and D e v e lo p m e n t /’ Chicago School J o u rn a l, XII (June, 1930), 417-20. Rulon, P h illip J., and oth ers. “ A C om p arison of Phonographic R ecordin gs with Printed M aterial in T e r m s of Knowledge Gained through their U se A lon e,” Harvard Educational R e v ie w , XIII (January, 1943), 63-67. R u ss e ll, R. D. “ A C om parison of Two Methods of L ea rn in g ,” Journal of Educational R e s e a r c h , XVIII (O ctober, 1928), 235-38. Stanton, Frank N. “ M em ory for A dvertising Copy P r e se n te d V isu ally v s. O r a lly ,” Journal of Applied P sy c h o lo g y , XVIII (F ebruary, 1934), 4 5-64. Swanson, Donald E . “ C om m on E lem en ts in Silent and O ral R eading,” P sy c h o lo g ic a l M onographs, XLVIII (July, 1934) 36-60 . W hitehead, Louis Grant. “ A Study of V isu al and A ural M em ory P r o c e s s e s , ” P sy c h o lo g ic a l R e v ie w , 111 (1896), 259-69. W o r c e ste r , D. A. “ M em ory by V isu al and by Auditory P r e s e n tation,” Journal of Educational P sy c h o lo g y , XVI (January, 1925), 18-27. Young, J a m e s D. “ An E xp erim en ta l C om p arison of Vocabulary Growth by M eans of O ral Reading, Silent Reading, and L isten in g ,” Speech M onographs, XX (N ovem ber, 1953), 9 4 -9 7 . 67 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. Young, W illiam E . “ The R elation of Reading C om p rehension and Retention to H earing C om prehension and R eten tion ,” Journal of E xp erim en tal E ducation, V (Septem ber, 1936), 30-39. Unpublished M aterials A rm stro n g , H. C. “ The Relationship of the Auditory and V isual V ocabularies of C h ild ren.” Unpublished P h .D . d issertation , Stanford U n iversity, P alo Alto, 1953. C ollin s, Raymond E. “ An E xp erim ental Investigation of the C om prehension of P r o s e M aterials when Read Silently and when Read A loud.” P h .D . d issertation in p r o c e ss , U n iv e r sity of Southern C alifornia, Los A n g eles, 1959. Goldstein, B ernard J. “ The C om prehension of P oetry from R e c o r d in g s.” Unpublished Ph. D. d issertatio n , Colum bia U niversity, New York, 1952. Hall, Robert O. “ An E xploratory Study of L istening of Fifth Grade P u p ils .” Unpublished Ph. D. d issertation , U n iv e r sity of Southern C alifornia, Los A n geles, 1954. Harwood, Kenneth A. “ An E xp erim en tal C om parison of Listening C om p rehensib ility with Reading C o m p re h e n si b ility .” Unpublished Ph. D. d issertatio n , U n iversity of Southern California, Los A ngeles, 1950. O ral D isco u rse B axter, Frank C. L ectu res given in E nglish 430a, U n iversity of Southern California, F a ll s e m e s t e r , 1957. McCoard, W illiam B. L ectu res given in Speech 430 and Speech 530, U n iversity of Southern California, Su m m er, 1957, and Spring s e m e s te r , 1958. A P P E N D I X E S APPEN D IX A THE PILOT STUDY A PPENDIX A THE PILOT STUDY O riginally, ten se lec tio n s w ere chosen for u se in this e x p e r i m ent. One of th ese, “ When I Buy P ic t u r e s ,” by M arianne M oore, w as discarded beca u se one of a group of five E nglish D epartm ent faculty m e m b e r s indicated that, in his opinion, the work did not m e r it the label “ p o e try .” The rem aining nine se le c tio n s w ere felt to be brief enough to m ee t tim e lim itations and varied enough in date of authorship, m ood, style, and them e to be rep resen tative of the field of poetry. C op ies of these poem s follow. I “ Shine, P er ish in g R epublic” by Robinson J e ffe rs While this A m e rica se ttle s in the mould of its vulgarity, heavily thickening to e m p ire, And protest, only a bubble in the m olten m a s s , pops and sig h s out, and the m a s s hardens, I sad ly r e m e m b e r that the flow er fades to m ake fruit, the fruit rots to make earth. Out of the m other; and through the spring exu ltan ces, rip en ess and decadence; and hom e to the m other. 70 You making haste haste on decay: not blameworthy; life is good, be it stubbornly long or suddenly A m ortal splendor: m eteo rs are not needed l e s s than mountains: shine, perishing republic. But for m y children, I would rather have them keep their distance from the thickening center; corruption N ever has been com pulsory; when the cities lie at the m o n ster ’s feet there are left the m ountains. And boys, be in nothing so m oderate as in love of man, a c le v e r servant, insufferable m a ste r. T here is the trap that catches noblest sp irits, that caught — they say — God, when he walked on earth. II “ Sonnet 55” by W illiam Shakespeare Not m arb le, nor the gilded m onum ents Of princes, sh all outlive this powerful rhyme; But you shall shine m ore bright in th ese contents Than unswept stone, b esm eared with sluttish tim e. When wasteful war shall statues overturn, And broils root out the work of m asonry, Nor M ars his sword nor w a r’s quick fire sh all burn The living record of your m em ory. ’G ainst death and all oblivious enm ity Shall you pace forth; your praise sh all still find room Even in the ey es of all posterity That w ear this world out to the ending doom. So, till the judgment that y o u rself a r is e , You live in this, and dwell in lo v e r s ’ e y e s. Ill “ Out, O u t— ” by Robert F ro st The b u zz-sa w snarled and rattled in the yard And made dust and dropped stove-length stick s of wood, Sw eet-scen ted stuff when the b reeze drew a c r o ss it. And from there those that lifted ey es could count Five mountain ranges one behind the other Under the sunset far into Verm ont. And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled, A s it ran light, or had to bear a load. And nothing happened: day was all but done. C all it a day, I wish they might have said To please the boy by giving him the half hour That a boy counts so much when saved from work. His s is t e r stood beside them in her apron To tell them “ Supper.” At the word, the saw, A s if to prove saw s knew what supper meant, Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seem ed to leap — He m ust have given the hand. However it w as, N either refused the m eeting. But the hand! The boy’s first outcry w as a rueful laugh, As he swung toward them holding up the hand Half in appeal, but half as if to keep The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all — Since he was old enough to know, big boy Doing a m an’s work, though a child at heart — He saw all spoiled. “ Don’t let him cut m y hand off — The doctor, when he c o m e s. Don’t let him, s i s t e r ! ” So. But the hand w as gone already. The doctor put him in the dark of ether. He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath. And then — the watcher at his pulse took fright. No one believed. They listened at his heart. Little — le s s — nothing! — and that ended it. No m o re to build on there. And they, since they W ere not the one dead, turned to their affairs. IV “ The F air Sin ger” by Andrew M arvell To m ake a final conquest of all m e, Love did com pose so sw eet an enem y, In whom both beauties to my death agree, Joining th e m se lv e s in fatal harmony; That while she with her e y e s m y heart doth bind. She with her voice m ight captivate m y mind. I could have fled from one but sin g ly fair; My d isen tan gled sou l it s e lf m ight sa v e, B r ea k in g the cu rled tr a m m e ls of h e r hair; But how could I avoid to be her sla v e , W hose su btile art in visib ly can w reath e My fe tte r s of the v e r y air I breathe? It had been e a s y fighting in so m e plain W here v icto r y m ight hand in equal choice; But all r e s is ta n c e against h e r is vain Who has th’advantage of both e y e s and voice; And a ll m y fo r c e s n eeds m u st be undone, She having gained both the wind and sun. V “ To H eaven” by B en Jonson Good and g r ea t God! can I not think of T h ee, But it m u st straigh t m y m elan ch oly be? Is it in terp reted in m e d is e a s e , That, laden with m y sin s, I se e k for e a se? O, be Thou w itn e s s , that the r e in s dost know And h ea rts of all, if I be sad for show; And judge m e a fter if I dare pretend To aught but g r a c e , dr aim at other end. A s Thou art all, so be Thou all to m e , F ir s t , m id st, and last, con verted One and T h ree My faith, m y hope, m y love; and in this state, My judge, m y w itn e ss , and m y advocate ! W here have I been this w hile ex iled from T h ee, And w hither rapt, now Thou but stoop^st to m e? D w ell, d w ell h ere still! O, being e v e r y w h e r e , How can I doubt to find T hee e v e r here? I know m y sta te , both full of sh am e and sc o r n , C on ceived in sin , and unto labor born, Standing with fear, and m u st with h o r r o r fall, And d estin ed unto judgm ent after all. I fe e l m y g r ie fs too, and there s c a r c e is ground Upon m y fle sh t’inflict another wound; Y et dare I not com p lain o r w ish for death With holy P au l, le s t it be thought the breath Of discontent; o r that th ese p r a y e r s be F o r w e a r in e s s of life, not love of T h ee. 74 VI “ Boy with His Hair Cut Short** by M uriel R ukeyser Sunday shuts down on this tw entieth-century evening. The L p a s s e s . Twilight and bulb define the brown room , the overstuffed plum sofa, the boy, and the g ir l’s thin hands above his head. A neighbor’s radio sin gs stock s, new s, seren ad e. He sits at the table, head down, the young cle a r neck exposed, watching the drugstore sign from the tail of his eye; tatoo, neon, until the eye b lea rs, while his so licitou s tall s is te r , sim ple in blue, bending behind him , cuts his hair with her cheap sh ea r s. The a r r o w ’s e le ctr ic red alw ays reach es it m ark, su c c e s sfu l neon! He coughs, im p ressed by that precision . H is ch ild ’s forehead, forever protected by h is cap, is bleached against the lamplight as he turns his head and stead ies to let the snippets drop. E ra sin g the failure of weeks with lev el fingers, she sle e k s the fine hair, combing; “ You’ll look fine tom orrow ! You’ll su rely find som ething, they can’t keep turning you down; the finest gentlem an’s not so trim as y o u !” Smiling, he r a is e s the adolescen t forehead, wrinkling ironic now. He s e e s his decent suit laid out, n e w -p r e sse d , his carfare on the shelf. He lets his head fall, m e e t ing her ea rn est h op eless look, seein g the sharp blades splitting the darkened room , the im p erson al sign, her m otion, the blue vein, bright on h er tem ple, pitifully beating. 75 VII “ M useum s” by Louis M acNeice M useum s offer us, running from among the ’buses, A centrally heated refuge, parquet floors and sarcop h agu ses, Into whose tall fake porches we hurry without a sound Like a beetle under a brick that lie s, u s e le ss on the ground. Warmed and cajoled by the silen ce, the cowed cipher revives, M irrors h im self in the ca ses of pots, paces h im self by m arble lives, Makes believe it was he that was the glory that was Rome, Soft on his cheek the nimbus of other people’s m artyrdom , And then returns to the street, his mind an arena where sprawls Any number of consumptive K eatses and dying Gauls. VIII “ D irg e” by Kenneth Fearing 1-2-3 was the number he played but today the number cam e 3-2-1; bought his Carbide at 30 and it went to 29; had the favorite at Bowie, but the track was slow — O, executive type, would you like to drive a floating power, knee-action, silk-upholstered six? Wed a Hollywood star? Shoot the course in 58? Draw to the ace, king, jack? O, fellow with a will who won’t take no, watch out for three cigarettes on the sam e, single match; O, dem ocratic voter born in August under M ars, beware of liquidated r a i l s----- D enouem ent to denouem ent, he took a person al pride in the certain , certa in way he lived his own private life, but n e v e r th e le s s , they shut off his gas; n e v e r th e le s s , the bank f o r e closed ; n e v e r th e le s s, the landlord called; n e v e r th e le s s the radio broke, And tw elve o ’clock a r riv ed just once too often; just the sa m e he w ore one g rey tweed suit, bought one straw hat, drank one straig h t scotch , walked one short step, took one long look, drew one deep breath, just one too m any, And wow he died as wow he lived, going whop to the office and blooie hom e to sle e p and biff got m a rr ied and bam had c h i l d r e n and oof got fired, zow ie did he live and zowie did he die, With who the h e ll are you at the corn er of his ca sk et, and w here the h ell are we going on the right hand s ilv e r knob, and who the h ell c a r e s walking secon d from the end, with an A m e rica n Beauty w reath from why the h ell not; V ery much m is s e d by the circu lation staff of the New York E vening P ost; deeply, deeply m ourned by the B. M. T., W ham, Mr. R oosevelt; pow, S ea rs Roebuck; awk, big dipper; bop, su m m e r rain; bong, M r., bong, Mr., bong, M r., bong. IX “ B e c a u se I Could Not Stop for D eath ” by E m ily D ickinson B e c a u se I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for m e; The c a rr ia g e held but just o u r s e lv e s and Im m ortality. We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and m y leisure too, F or his civility. We passed the school where children played At w restling in a ring; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun. We paused before a house that seem ed A sw elling of the ground; The roof was sca rcely visible, The cornice but a mound. Since then *tis centuries; but each F e e ls shorter than the day I first surm ised the h o rses heads W ere toward eternity. The w riter then com piled the following lists of tru e-false and m ultiple-choice questions based on the above selection s. The Roman num erals heading the lists correspond to the selection s to which they refer. The correct answ ers are given in the right-hand column. 78 T R U E -F A L SE 1. In the opening line the poem sp ec ific a lly r e fe r s to “ A m e r ic a . ” 2. Specific r eferen ce is m ade to the “ im p e r ia lism of e m p ir e .” 3. P o litica l turm oil is sp ec ific a lly d escrib ed a s “ protest, the constant, seething, hardening m a s s . ” 4. A s a descrip tion of change, the poem sp ec ific a lly sta tes that “ the flow er fades to m ake fru it.” 5. The poem , sp ec ific a lly r e fe r s to the earth as the “ m o th e r .” 6. The poem im p lies an enorm ous r esista n ce to the describ ed change. 7. The poem c le a rly im p lie s that the describ ed change is a natural o n e . 8. The poem im p lie s no fault or blam e for the d escrib ed ch a n g e. 9. The definite im plication is that basic values have been lost in the describ ed change. 10. The poem im p lies that a sh ort-liv ed culture or so ciety is of s e v e r e ly lim ited worth. M ULTIPLE-CHOICE 11. The poem sp ec ific a lly states that (a) “ m ountains are m onum ents of w orth ,” (b) “ m e te o r s are not needed l e s s than m oun tain s,” (c) “ mountains m ay blaze with fire like m e t e o r s ,” (d) “ m ete o rs are heeded l e s s than m ou n tain s,” (e) “ m e te o r s are brighter m onum ents than m o u n tain s.” 12. The title, “ Shine, P er ish in g R epu blic,” o c cu rs in the poem in the form (a) “ writhe, dim inishing rep u b lic,” (b) “ r is e , enriching republic,” (c) “ shine, flourishing r ep u b lic,” (d) “ die, perishing country,” (e) “ shine, perishing rep ublic.” 13. F or his “ ch ild ren ” the author would (a) “ w ish them le s s controlled by trou b le,” (b) “ rather have them live in d ista n ce s, f r e e ,” (c) “ rather have them keep their distance from the thickening c e n te r ,” (d) “ want them far from the thickening poison of corruption,” (e) “ rather have them walk long d ista n ces from the sick ly c e n t e r s .” 14. A s a “ way o u t / ' — an avenue of e s c a p e — the poem states that (a) “ com pulsion o v e r lie s all things/'* (b) “ the com pulsion of corruption is perm anent,” ANS. T F F T T F T T F F b e (c) “ corruption has alw ays been c o m p u l s o r y / ’ (d) “ corruption n ev er has been c o m p u l s o r y / ’ (e) “ c o r ruption is e v e r the b a sis of c o m p u lsio n .” 15. The poem a d v ise s that “ b o y s ” should (a) “ be in nothing so m oderate as in love of m a n / ’ (b) “ be m od erate in things having to do with m a n ,” (c) “ love m o d era tely all things, ev en m o d e ra tio n ,” (d) “ be in nothing m ore m oderate than in lo v e ,” (e) “ be m en, but even this in m o d era tio n .” 16. The author r e c o g n iz e s the inevitable, but (a) r e b e ls p erso n ally , (b) w is h e s to save h is loved o n es, (c) hopes for a la st minute “ r e p r ie v e ,” (d) hopes the pattern m ay change, (e) fe a r s his loved ones w ill not s e e the inevitability. 17. The poem d e s c r ib e s m an as (a) worthy of s e r v ic e and devotion, (b) incapable of s e r v ic e , (c) a poor servan t, but good m a ste r , (d) a good servan t, dangerous m a ste r , (e) a good servan t, good m a ste r . 18. The poem sta te s that im m o d erate love of m an m ay be a dangerous thing for (a) the weak, (b) the strong, (c) the ev il, (d) even the fin est and noblest, (e) those who fear God. 19. P h ilo so p h ica lly , the basic plea of the poem is for (a) free dom of sp irit, (b) peace, (c) crea tu re c o m fo r ts, (d) broth erhood, (e) resign ation . 20. The r efer e n c e to corruption is (a) an obvious co n tra diction, (b) in harm ony with e a r lie r id ea s, (c) a r esu lt of e a r lie r id ea s, (d) an effect of an e a r lie r ca u se , (e) a p ossib le contradiction. II T R U E -F A L S E 1. The opening line of the poem sp e c ific a lly r e fe r s to “ gilded m o n u m en ts.” 2. The poet sp e c ific a lly r e fe r s to this poem as a “ p o w e r ful r h y m e .” 3. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta tes that tim e w ill “ finally c o v e r a l l.” 4. The subject of the poem is sp e c ific a lly stated as “ contenting y o u .” 5. The poem sp e c ific a lly r e fe r s to “ sw eep in g w a lls of s to n e .” 6. The poem d e s c r ib e s w ar as obliterating a ll r e c o r d s. 80 7. The poem d e sc r ib e s m arble statues as being the m ost nearly perm anent of a ll m an-m ad e objects. 8. T his is, c lea rly , a lo v e-p o em . 9. The poem adm its the im perm an en ce of love. 10. The poem d e sc r ib e s a kind of im m o r ta lity % M ULTIPLE-CHOICE 11. The poem sp ecifically r e fe r s to stone as (a) “ eternal in its n a t u r e / ’ (b) b esm irch ed but solid s t i l l / ’ (c) “ out living war and c h a o s ,” (d) “ b esm eared with sluttish t im e ,” (e) “ outlasting man and a r t.” 12. The poet sp ec ific a lly r e fe r s to this poem as (a) “ a record of e v e r -liv in g lo v e ,” (b) “ a m em o ry that sh all e ’e r be found,” (c) “ the living record of your m e m o r y ,” (d) “ a m ean s of fighting t im e ,” (e) “ a u s e le s s g estu re ’gainst d is a s t e r .” 13. F or his loved one, the poet sp ec ific a lly r e fe r s to this poem as a guarantee (a) “ that poets ever love the young,” (b) “ for lasting m e m o r y ,” (c) “ ’gainst slow -en cro a ch in g y e a r s ,” (d) “ ’gainst all obvious e n e m ie s ,” (e) “ ’gainst death and a ll oblivious en m ity .” 14. The poet sp ec ific a lly sta tes that his loved one w ill be praised by (a) “ all p o ster ity ,” (b) “ those to c o m e ,” (c) “ poets yet unborn,” (d) “ all our ch ild ren ,” (e) “ g e n erations yet unborn.” 15. The poet sp ecifica lly r efer s to his poem and his loved o n e ’s m em o r y lasting (a) “ for uncounted y e a r s ,” (b) “ till the judgm ent,” (c) “ fo r e v e r ,” (d) “ as long as m en sh all read ,” (e) “ throughout those c e n tu r ie s.” 16. On the b asis of this poem, the poet might be consid ered (a) tim id, (b) foolish, (c) insane, (d) conceited, (e) a man of little or no self-co n fid en ce. 17. F rom the poem, (a) it is obvious that the loved one is v ery young, (b) it is probable that the loved one is dead, (c) it is im p o ssib le to sa y anything of the loved one, (d) it is possible that the love w as not returned, (e) it is obvious that the loved one w as the poet’s wife. 18. P a rticu la rly susceptible to and interested in this poetic record , according to the poet, w ill be (a) future poets, (b) future m en, (c) future wom en, (d) future fathers, (e) future lo v er s. 19. The poem r e fe r s, at lea st once, to (a) a relig iou s belief, (b) to an atheistic attitude, (c) to a paganistic belief, (d) to a personal God, (e) to none of these. 81 20. In this poem , the poet (a) d en ies the future, (b) c o n fer s im m o rta lity on his loved one, (c) dem ands recogn ition , (d) s e e k s im m ed iate rew ard s, (e) w orsh ip s God. Ill T R U E -F A L S E AN S. 1. The poem sp ec ific a lly sta tes that “ the ch a in -d riv en saw dropped logs of m a p le .” F 2. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta te s that the fir s t sound the boy m ade “ w as a rueful laugh.” T 3. The poem sp ec ific a lly sta te s that the boy “ held the hand betw een h is knees a s if to hide it from the o t h e r s ’ g a z e .” F 4. The poem sp ec ific a lly sta tes that the accident happened in the evening when “ day w as a ll but d o n e.” T 5. The poem sp ec ific a lly d e s c r ib e s the doctor as a “ lanky man of stren g th .” F 6. The poem d e s c r ib e s the saw a s m aking an even, buzzing sound. _ 7. The poem im p lies that the boy had wanted to quit work.________ 8. The poem d e s c r ib e s the b oy ’s action of in stin ctiv ely hiding h is hand for a second. 9. The saw m angled, but did not s e v e r the boy’s hand. _ 10. The boy died under anaesthetic from lo s s of blood. _____ MU LT IP LE - C HOIC E 11. The poem sp e c ific a lly d e s c r ib e s the sc e n ic background as (a) “ a line of long blue-hulking h i l l s ,” (b) “ the s u n s e t-c o v e r e d mountain r a n g e s ,” (c) “ five m ountain ranges one behind the o th e r ,” (d) “ the ranging h ills far into V e rm o n t,” (e) “ the distant h i l l s .” c 12. The boy in the poem is s p e c ific a lly d e sc rib ed a s (a) “ old enough to want e sca p e from w o r k ,” (b) “ ch ild ish -h ea r ted still and young at s o u l,” (c) “ a s m a ll boy w orking like a m a n ,” (d) “ o ld -h e a r te d ,” (e) “ big boy, doing a m an ’s w o r k .” e 13. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta tes that the b o y’s s i s t e r (a) “ c a m e out of the k itc h e n -sm e llin g w a r m th ,” (b) “ stood b e sid e them in her a p ro n ,” (c) “ called them in to supper and to r e s t , ” (d) “ h e r apron flying, watched the m en at w o r k ,” (e) “ wore h er gra ce with quiet p r id e .” b 14. At the end of the poem it is s p e c ific a lly stated that the w a tc h e rs (a) “ took up their old a ffa irs a n e w ,” (b) “ wept their silent t e a r s ,” (c) “ went back to their a ffa ir s,” (d) “ turned to their affa irs,” (e) “ w ere called away from pain.” 15. The poem specifically states that, at the moment of the accident, the saw seem ed to leap out as if (a) “ it, too, was w eary of the w ork,” (b) “ to prove saw s knew what supper m eant,” (c) “ to holler boo,” (d) “ to show saws know when evening c o m e s ,” (e) “ to prove saws tell the time of day.” 16. An instant after the accident, the boy (a) was stupefied by shock, (b) thought it was a relatively minor wound, (c) realized what the consequences of losing a hand would be, (d) saw that he was going to die, (e) felt nothing at all. 17. There is reason to assu m e that the scene of the poem is a (a) sm all saw m ill, (b) farm, (c) city suburb, (d) New England seasid e village, (e) southern town. 18. The boy’s s iste r is (a) probably the boy’s age or older, (b) certainly far younger than the boy, (c) a “ kid” c o m pared to the boy, (d) clearly a woman with children of her own, (e) certainly a mature woman. 19. The last two lines of the poem are a statem ent of the (a) basic cruelty of men, (b) the terrible callousness of men, (c) the deep love of humans for each other, (d) the fundamental aloneness of human beings, (e) the emotional shallow ness of man. 20. Philosophically, the poem treats the old theme that (a) life is insupportably hard, (b) life goes on, (c) life is good to the good, (d) suffering is n e c essa ry , (e) life is a thoroughly m ean ingless m e s s . IV TRUE-FALSE 1. The poem specifically d escrib es the loved one as “ so sw eet an en em y .” 2. The poem specifically refers to the “ low-pitched voice of lo v e .” 3. The poem sp ecifically d escrib es the woman as “ beauteous in all a s p e c ts .” 4. The poet specifically states that the wom an’s voice “ might captivate m y m ind.” 5. The poet specifically states that the wom an’s ey es “ bring beauty to the blind.” 83 6. T h is poem is r e a lly in p ra ise of a loved o n e ’s beauty. 7. C le a rly , the w om an d o es not return the m a n 's love. 8. The poet im p lie s that he would have loved the wom an even if she had been ugly. 9. The poet is deeply glad that love has co m e h is way. 10. The d escrip tio n of love im p lie s that it is som ething to b ew are of. T M ULTIPLE-CH O ICE 11. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta te s that the lo ver m ight have (a) “ lived out h is life in p e a c e," (b) “ loved another l e s s d a n g er o u s," (c) “ fled from one but sin gly fa ir ," (d) “ r e s is te d beauty l e s s stron gly b a se d ," (e) “ saved h im s e lf had lo v e lin e s s b een l e s s . " 12. The poem s p e c ific a lly sta te s that the lo v er is trapped by the loved o n e's (a) “ m agic m akin g," (b) “ subtile a r t," (c) “ soft c a r e s s , " (d) “ sk illful s ile n c e ," (e) “ curled te n d r ils ." 13. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta te s that the lo v e r ’s bonds w e r e wrought of (a) “ the v e ry air I b rea th e," (b) “ the sunny so ftn e s s of her h a ir ," (c) “ the silen t hours to g e th e r ," (d) “ the w ords she spake so s tilly ," (e) “ the fo rce of those m o s t eloquent e y e s ." 14. The poet s p e c ific a lly s a y s , (a) “ I m ust continue to r e s i s t ," (b) “ refu sa l to rew ard her is m ine h op e," (c) “ su r r e n d e r is the only c o u r s e ," (d) “ r e sis ta n c e m ay yet bring m e p e a c e ," (e) “ r e s is ta n c e against her is v ain ." 15. The poem s p e c ific a lly sta tes that the loved o n e's beauties com bine (a) “ to w reak lo v e 's w rath ," (b) “ to work m y ruin," (c) “ to m y end d e c r e e ," (d) “ to m y death a g r e e ," (e) “ to w rithe and torture m e ." 16. The poem d e s c r ib e s the poet's fight against love as (a) a w orthy one, (b) a n e c e s s a r y one, (c) an unequal one, (d) a beautiful one, (e) a terrib le one. 17. In e s s e n c e , the poem is (a) s a r c a s tic , (b) se r io u s, (c) h ila rio u s, (d) a light treatm en t of this them e, (e) a p s e u d o -w h im sic a l treatm en t that is fundam entally t r a g i c . 18. T his poem is (a) b a s ic a lly m odern , (b) ob viou sly c la s s ic a l in sty le and th em e, (c) of no particular period, (d) m od ern in style but c la s s ic a l in them e, (e) m odern in them e but c la s s i c a l in style. 19. The word “ v o ic e " in the poem (a) sy m b o liz e s b r a in s, or in te llig en ce , (b) m ea n s speaking v o ice , (c) m e a n s m a n n ers, 84 (d ) m e a n s d ain tin ess and fem in in ity, (e) m ea n s sin gin g v o i c e . 20. The w ord s ‘ ‘ wind and su n ” in the final line (a) m ea n sigh t and sound, (b) m ean the u n iv er sa lity of beauty, ( c) m ea n the a ll-c o n q u e rin g pow er of beauty, (d) m ea n tim e and sp a c e , (e) m ean, sim p ly , beauty. V T R U E -F A L S E 1. The poem opens with the sp e c ific p h ra se, “ Good and g r e a t G od .” 2. The poem then s p e c ific a lly a sk s for “ r e le a s e from m e la n c h o ly .” 3. The supplicant sp e c ific a lly ad m its to being “ laden with m y s i n s . ” 4. The poem s p e c ific a lly r e fe r s to “ the d is e a s e of p l e a s u r e .” 5. The poem sp e c ific a lly begs for “ r e m o v a l of the h o r r o r of h o p e .” 6. The poem d e s c r ib e s a con firm ed sk ep tic. 7. The supplicant adm its to doubt about G od's e x is te n c e . 8. The supplicant s w e a r s his s in c e r ity . 9. The supplicant is afraid he w ill be thought unw illing to a c ce p t the tr ia ls that God has ordained. 10. The supplicant s w e a r s his only d e s ir e is for salvation . M U L T IPL E -CHOICE 11. A d d r essin g God, the supplicant sp e c ific a lly b e g s, (a) “ be Thou a ll to m e , ” (b) “ guide Thou m y f e e t ,” (c) “ be Thou m y lastin g p e a c e ,” (d) “ heal Thou th e se w o u n d s,” (e) “ find Thou a needed h a v e n .” 12. The supplicant sp e c ific a lly ad m its to being (a) “ lo st to H oly g r a c e ,” (b) “ a w a n d erer in r e a lm s of s i n ,” (c) “ a fo r e ig n e r to T h e e ,” (d) “ e x ile d from T h e e ,” (e) “ e v e r far fro m T h e e .” 13. The supplicant s p e c ific a lly d e s c r ib e s his state a s (a) “ one of final p r o m i s e ,” (b) “ full of sh am e and s c o r n ,” (c) “ sa d ly sh orn of v ir t u e ,” (d) “ one of r eg a l s i n ,” (e) “ full of sic k ly w e a k n e s s .” 14. The supplicant b e lie v e s that he is (a) “ Bound toward black d am n ation ,” (b) “ heading toward the lig h t,” (c) d estin ed unto judgm ent, (d) “ w alking without God/'* a ANS T F T F F F F T T T a d 85 (e) “ r e c e iv in g Holy c o u n s e l.” 15. The supplicant r e g a r d s h im s e lf a s having b een (a) “ brought into the lig h t,” (b) “ c o n ceiv ed in s i n ,” (c) “ born to Godly p u r p o s e / ' (d) “ born for Thy u s e , ” (e) “ born to r e a s o n le s s s t r i f e . ” 16. C le a r ly , the supplicant b e lie v e s in the d octrin e of (a) the s c ie n c e of m ind, (b) the unity of God with the u n iv e r se , (c) the c o n fe s sio n a l, (d) the Holy T rin ity , (e) the c o m m union. 17. The supplicant both d e s i r e s and fe a r s (a) p h y sica l p le a s u r e s , (b) death, (c) the c o m fo r ts of p ra y er, (d) the future, (e) fr e e d o m . 18. The poem is an e x a m p le of the b e lie f in (a) the im p ortan ce of d e e d s, (b) the un im portan ce of thought, (c ) the equal im p orta n ce of thought and deed, (d) the g reat im p ortan ce of thought, (e) the u n im portan ce of d e e d s. 19. F r o m the poem , (a) it is safe to s a y that the supplicant is a C h ristia n , (b) it is probable that the supplicant is a R om an C ath olic, (c) it is p o ssib le that the supplicant is a b e lie v e r in an o r ie n ta l relig ion , (d) it is c le a r that the supplicant is a P r o te sta n t, (e) w e don’t know what the supplicant i s . 20. The poem im p lie s that one m u st (a) n ev e r su ffer, (b) su ffer o c c a sio n a lly , (c) su ffer u n com p lain in gly, (d) su ffer con stan tly, (e) su ffer in o r d e r to enjoy G ra c e. VI T R U E -F A L S E 1. The poem s p e c ific a lly sta te s that in the background there is the sound o f “ a n eigh b o r’s r a d io .” 2. The poem s p e c ific a lly sta te s that the boy “ s its at the ta b le .” 3. The poem s p e c ific a lly sta te s that the tim e is “ an e a r ly Sunday a ftern o o n .” 4. The poem in d icates the place by the ph rase “ the L p a s s e s . ” 5. The poem s p e c ific a lly d e s c r ib e s the g ir l a s the b o y ’s “ younger, quiet s i s t e r . ” 6. The location i s c le a r ly a fa irly w e ll- t o - d o a r e a . 7. The s i s t e r is v e ry probably you n ger than the boy. 8. The s i s t e r ’s attitude tow ard the boy is one of faint contem p t. Id cl _ c _ d cl c ANS. T T F T 9. The poem r efer s to persons other than the boy and the girl. 10. The boy is preparing to go job-hunting. MULTIPLE-CHOICE 11. The poem sp ecifically states that the boy w atches on the drugstore sign the (a) “ arrow ’s e le ctr ic r ed ,” (b) “ blue and yellow fig u r e s,” (c) “ circling yellow lig h ts,” (a) “ a r ro w ’s green and yellow d a r ts,” (e) “ changing colors b lu r.” 12. The poem sp ecifica lly states that the s is t e r (a) “ hums a m elody, com b ing,” (b) “ snips the dark brown lo c k s,” (c) “ pats the co a rse dark h a ir ,” (d) “ sle ek s the fine hair, com b ing,” (e) “ snips and com bs the curling fin e n ess .” 13. The poem sp ecifica lly states that the s is te r tells the boy, (a) “ you’ll do better so o n ,” (b) “ you’ll look fine to m o r row ,” (c) “ you’ll have to be patient,” (d) “ you’ll just have to w a it,” (e) “ you’ll never get ahead.” 14. The poem sp ecifica lly sta te s that the boy looks over and s e e s (a) “ the books, shabby and w orn,” (b) “ the s i s t e r ’s sewing box,” (c) “ his carfare on the sh e lf,” (d) “ his sh oes still unshined,” (e) “ the pitiful geran iu m .” 15. The poem sp ecifically states that the siste r is (a) “ d r e sse d in too-w orn b lu e,” (b) “ w earing a threadbare rob e,” (c) “ sim ple in b lu e,” (d) “ a black-robed fig u re,” (e) “ quietly d ressed in brown.” 16. The poem c lea rly im p lies that the boy (a) has been u n su c cessfu lly job-hunting for w eek s, (b) w ill begin to se ek his first job, (c) is a h igh -sch ool student, (d) has just been fired from his job, (e) m ust resign from his job. 17. This poem w as probably written (a) before World War I, (b) in 1958, (c) during World War II, (d) in the d ep ression ye a rs, (e) in the nineteenth century. 18. The poem ends on a note of (a) anger, (b) h o p e le ssn e ss, (c) disgust, (d) b ittern ess, (e) hope. 19. The poem is, philosophically, (a) a song of triumph, (b) a plea for freedom , (c) a protest against poverty, (d) a statem ent of m an’s basic worth, (e) a demand for war. 20. The boy and his s is te r probably feel that they are (a) the equals of any and all others, (b) inferior only to the g reatest, (c) as good as m ost, (d) from a distinctly upper c la s s, (e) from a lower c la s s. 87 VII T R U E -F A L S E 1. The poem sp ec ific a lly d e s c r ib e s m u s e u m s as “ offering parquet flo o rs and s a r c o p h a g u s e s .” 2. The m u s e u m s are sp e c ific a lly d e sc rib ed as “ poorly heated c e n t e r s .” 3. The m u s e u m - g o e r s are sp e c ific a lly said to “ w ander slow ly through the p o r ta ls.” 4. The people are sp e c ific a lly d e sc rib ed as entering the m u seu m “ like a b eetle under a b r ic k .” 5. The m u s e u m s ’ en tran ces are s p e c ific a lly d e sc rib ed as “ tall, fake p o r c h e s .” 6. Initially, the people are d e scrib ed as having physical, rather than intellectual, r e a so n s for entering the m u seu m . 7. The first co m fo r ts that the m u seu m offers are ph ysical. 8. The people n ev er rea lly respond to the n o n -p h y sica l a sp e c ts of the m u seu m . 9. E ventually, the people, stim ulated by r e lic s of the past, begin to m a k e -b e lie v e . 10. The poem im p lie s that the people have no rea l in te r e st in the past. M U LTIPLE -CHOICE 11. The m u s e u m -g o e r is sp e c ific a lly said to be (a) “ w a rm ed and dulled by the c l o s e n e s s ,” (b) “ cajoled into peace by the s i l e n c e ,” (c) “ lulled at once into d r o w s in e s s ,” (d) “ w arm ed and cajoled by the s il e n c e ,” (e) “ bored into grow ing r e v o lt.” 12. The m u s e u m - g o e r then (a) “ p aces h im s e lf by m arb le l i v e s ,” (b) “ paces languidly through the r o o m s ,” (c) “ t r a c e s the liv es of peoples p a st,” (d) “ c lo s e ly e y e s the m arb le p a st,” (e) “ finds the liv e s of th ese a m arb le m a r v e l .” 13. Soon the m u s e u m -g o e r im a g in es that his w as (a) “ the g r e a tn e ss of the g la d ia to r s’ m ig h t,” (b) “ the sp len dor of the art of A th en s,” (c) “ the glory that w a s R o m e ,” (d) “ the fam e of ancient m a r ty r d o m ,” (e) “ the renown of the ru ler of R o m e .” 14. C arryin g h is im a g e s , the m u s e u m -g o e r (a) “ d r o w s e s a i m le s s ly through the d a y ,” (b) “ e m e r g e s r e fr e sh e d to the r ea l w o r ld ,” (c) “ g o es back to fa c t,” (d) “ returns to the s t r e e t ,” (e) “ returns to the pain of snow and s l e e t . ” ANS. T F F T T d a c 15. E m erging from the m useum , the visitor brings with him im ages of (a) “ Napoleon and C a e s a r / ’ (b) “ the sprawling h o r d e s / ’ (c) “ the c o n q u er e rs,” (d) “ the bloody a r e n a / ’ (e) “ dying G au ls.” 16. The poem d esc rib es the v isit to the m useum as a period of (a) physical and intellectual change, (b) physical change only, (c) intellectual change only, (d) no real change, (e) a change that cannot really be labelled. 17. The m useum d escrib ed is probably (a) a scien ce m useum , (b) a m useum of modern art, (c) a m useum of natural history, (d) a m useum of A m erican history, (e) a sm all, privately owned m useum . 18. The general mood of the poem is one of (a) reveren ce for the great m useum , (b) adoration of the past, (c) ridicule of m odern man, (d) gentle humor, (e) savage irony. 19. It is m ost probable that the m useum described is in (a) a v e ry large northern city, (b) a sm a ll town, (c) a southern city, (d) the m id -w est, (e) a foreign city. 20. A fairly accurate philosophical vulgarization of the poem ’s theme would be (a) eventually, why not now, (b) better things for better living, (c) togeth ern ess, (d) the skin you love to touch, (e) the pause that r e fr e sh e s. VIII T R U E-FA LSE 1. In the opening lines the poem sp ecifica lly states that “ today the number cam e 3 - 2 - 1 .” 2. The poem sp ecifically states that “ he played a long- shot at B o w ie .” 3. The poem sp ecifically asks if the executive type would “ like to drive a floating power, knee-action, silk - upholstered s i x .” 4. The poem sp ecifically ask s if the executive type would like “ to bowl a perfect 300.” 5. Gambling is mentioned for the second tim e with the sp ecific phrase, “ draw to the ace, king, jack .” 6. The opening stanza is a statem ent that the h e r o ’s luck has run out. 7. The person described apparently lived by im pulse rather than by established routine. 8. According to the poem, despite the h e r o ’s attem pts to avoid them, se v e r a l unexpected and unpleasant events occurred. 9. Facing c r is e s , the hero behaved in his usual way. 10. Not until he faced death did the hero depart from his past patterns of behavior. MULTIPLE-CHOICE 11. The poem sp ecifically asks if the hero would like to (a) “ live like a Hollywood s t a r / ’ (b) “ be rich and f a m o u s / ’ (c) “ live a life of e a s e ,” (d) “ wed a Hollywood sta r ,” (e) “ be as w ell known as a Hollywood s t a r .” 12. The poem sp ecifically a d d r e sse s the hero as (a) “ fellow with a w ill who won’t take n o ,” (b) “ strong-m inded man who finds the tim e ,” (c) “ fellow whose will will find a way, (d) “ man who can if he only w ill,” (e) “ fellow who will and m ust find y e a .” 13. The poem sp ecifica lly states that, among other troubles, (a) “ n ev erth eless, the law yers c a m e ,” (b) “ n ev e rth e less, the rent was due,” (c) “ n e v e rth eless, the furnace fa ile d ,” (d) “ n e v e rth eless, the lights w ere shut o ff,” (e) “ n e v e rth eless, the bank fo r e c lo se d .” 14. The poem sp ecifica lly states that the hero was very much m isse d by (a) “ the publishers of TIM E,” (b) “ the circulation staff of the New York Evening P o s t ,” (c) “ the editors and m anagers of the Saturday Evening P o s t ,” (d) “ the R e a d e r s’ D ig e s t,” (e) “ the staff of the New York T i m e s .” 15. The last stanza of the poem sp ecifically m entions (a) “ M ontgom ery-W ard,” (b) “ the m oon,” (c) “ su m m er s t o r m s ,” (d) “ Mr. R o o sev e lt,” (e) “ the planet Ju p iter.” 16. The poem indicates that the hero w as b asically alone (a) because of his preoccupation with his work, (b) despite a job, wife, and children, (c) because he lived alone, (d) because he lived in a large city, (e) despite his im p ort ant position. 17. The poem im plies that the hero was b a sically a tragic figure because he was (a) only a sta tistica l unit in our society, (b) tortured by his own fea rs, (c) unimportant to his fellow man, (d) known but unloved, (e) trapped by the com p lexities of our society. 18. The final stanza im plies (a) the power of the individual, (b) the interdependence of m en, (c) the insignificance of the individual, (d) the basic worth of the individual, (e) the great difference between men. 19. Even the h ero ’s pallbearers w ere (a) en e m ie s, (b) afraid of him , (c) uncaring, (d) superficial friends, (e) vicious. 90 20. B a sic a lly , the poem condem ns (a) wealth, (b) city life, (c) inequality, (d) big b u sin e ss, (e) our so ciety. e IX T R U E -FA L SE ANS. 1. The poem sp ecifica lly states that death “ kindly stopped for m e . ” T 2. Death is sp ecifically d escrib ed as a figure of “ dark sp len d o r.” F 3. The poem sp ecifica lly states that death rode in “ a b u r nished, golden c a r r ia g e .” F 4. The occupants of the carriage are sp ec ific a lly referred to as “ we th r e e .” F 5. The poem sp ecifica lly states that one of the occupants of the ca rriage is “ Im m ortality.” T 6. The poem im p lies that dying is a sudden, frantic affair. F 7. T h ere is no indication of pain in dying. T 8. The person in the poem w as c le a rly resign ed to death. F 9. In the poem the person dying is con sciou s of nothing. F 10. The person in the poem apparently died v ery young. F MU LTIP LE - C HOIC E 11. The poem sp ecifica lly states that the carriag e passed (a) “ field s of golden w h eat,” (b) “ fields w here children played ,” (c) “ fields of gazing g r a in ,” (d) “ fields w here w orkers w aved ,” (e) “ fields like darkened m a in s .” . c 12. The poem sp ecifica lly states that the carriage p assed a school where children (a) “ looked out at us in v a in ,” (b) “ played at w r e stlin g ,” (c) “ ran and s c r e a m e d ,” (d) “ had their happy g a m e s ,” (e) “ watched the t im e .” b 13. The poem sp ecifica lly states that the carriage paused before a house (a) “ that se em e d a darkened h a ll,” (b) “ that rose in blackn ess th e r e ,” (c) “ that sw elled in d im n ess before u s ,” (d) “ that se em e d a sw ellin g of the ground,” (e) “ that leapt at us in fu ry .” d 14. A . quality of death’s that the poem sp ecifica lly r e fe r s to is (a) “ a r ro g a n ce ,” (b) “ his quiet h u m or,” (c) “ his silen t stren gth ,” (d) “ his h u m b le n e ss,” (e) “ his c iv ility .” e 15. The poem sp ecifica lly states that the tim e lapse sin ce this p e r so n ’s death has been (a) “ c e n tu r ie s ,” (b) “ d a y s ,” (c) “ y e a r s , ” (d) “ so long,” (e) “ fo r e v e r .” a 91 16. The word “ h o u se ” in the poem rea lly m ea n s (a) tim e, (b) the earth, (c) a grave, (d) life, (e) y e ste r d a y . c 17. The b a sic m ood of the poem is one of (a) fear, (b) un concern, (c) sco rn , (d) joy, (e) m elan ch oly. e 18. F o r the person in the poem , the w o rst thing about dying w as (a) the su fferin g involved, (b) its m e a n in g le s s n e s s , (c) leaving o n e ’s loved ones behind, (d) its finality, (e) facing the unknown. d 19. In this poem God (a) is synonom ous with Death, (b) is rep resen ted as an im p e rso n a l force, (c) is not r e p r e sented, (d) is sy m b olized by the word “ e te r n ity ,” (e) is sy m b o liz ed by the word “ su n .” c 20. R e lig io u sly speaking, the poem (a) im p lie s a C hristian background, (b) im p lies a pagan context, (c) is c le a r ly anti-G od, (d) im p lie s a m yth ological background, (e) has no relig io u s connotations. e Equipped with the above lis ts of q u estion s, and the se le c tio n s on which they w ere based , the w r ite r felt that the next step w as to decide so m e of the p ractical is s u e s . F or ex am p le, although it w as felt that a n sw erin g the above qu estion s would m e a su r e retention and/or com p reh en sio n , the question rem ained as to w hether or not an attem pt w as being m ade to te s t a degree of r eten tio n -co m p reh en sio n that w as unattainable by those tested . In other w ord s, if the q u estion s w e re too difficult or too e a s y the entire test would be invalid. S ta tistica lly, e x c e s s iv e e a se or difficulty of the q u estion s would v e ry p o ssib ly resu lt in such skew ed distributions of s c o r e s that m ea n s would be sp u riou s. F urther, sin ce it w as n e c e s s a r y that the ex p e rim en t take no m o re than one fifty-m inute c la s s period, it w as im portant to know as p r e c is e ly as p ossib le the tim e needed to a n sw er the q u estion s. It w as felt that the foregoing qu estion s could only be answ ered by a “ dry run,” or pilot study. A ccordin gly, the w r ite r se t up a pilot study u sin g a group of seven teen graduate students in a c la s s in E x p erim en ta l Method. Since no attem pt w as to be m ade to com p are the r e su lts of 92 oral interpretation versu s silent reading, the w riter read aloud selection s I, III, V, VJ.I, and IX, and had the test group read the remaining selection s silently. Table 7 su m m arizes the sc o r e s obtained in the pilot study, together with the mean and range for each selection. Table 8 gives the total numbers of right and wrong answ ers, represented by R and W at the heads of colum ns, to each question of each selection, plus the time used in reading each selection, answering the questions thereon, and the combination of both, or total time used per selection. On the basis of Table 8 it was seen that, in order to suit the time limitation of the regular fifty-minute c la ss period, three s e l e c tions would have to be discarded. On the basis of Table 7 it was felt that selection s II, V, and VI should be eliminated since it was in those c a se s that the range was sm allest, resulting, of course, in the sm a llest amount of d iscrim in a tion. However, noting in Table 8 that som e of the questions were answered, correctly or incorrectly, in a very nearly unanimous fashion, it was felt that the m eans and ranges given in Table 7 might have been distorted by a relatively few questions that w ere too easy, too difficult, or, for som e other reason, unsuitable. Logically, then, the next step was to r esc o re the test results elim inating these possibly troublesom e questions. Table 9 shows the results of rescorin g the test after discarding from each selection the five questions answered, correctly or incorrectly, in the m ost nearly unanimous manner, or, in a few c a se s , in a unanimous manner. Immediately apparent from Table 9 is the fact that the only change has occurred in the case of selection s V and IX. W hereas in Table 7 selection V showed a very slight range, here the elimination 93 TABLE 7 SCORES OBTAINED IN THE PILOT STUDY I II III P IV O E V M S VI VII VIII IX 15 16 18 17 14 18 18 19 17 14 15 18 16 13 18 17 17 16 14 15 18 15 13 18 17 16 16 13 15 18 14 12 18 16 16 16 13 14 17 14 12 18 16 16 15 13 14 16 13 12 17 15 15 15 11 13 16 13 12 16 15 15 14 10 13 16 12 12 16 15 15 14 10 13 15 11 12 16 13 15 13 10 13 14 11 11 16 13 15 13 9 12 14 11 11 16 12 14 13 9 11 13 11 10 16 12 14 12 8 11 11 11 10 16 12 14 11 8 11 10 9 9 15 11 14 11 8 10 8 8 9 14 11 13 11 6 ' 8 8 13 10 10 1 0 8 12 9 9 9 M eans 10.6 13 14.8 11.8 11.2 16 13.6 14.5 13.2 Ranges 9 6 10 9 6 6 9 10 8 Note: The sc o r e colum ns above are unequal in length b eca u se, in a few c a s e s , p erso n s tested w ere fa m iliar with the test s e le c tio n s and their r e sp o n s e s w e re , th erefore, ignored. - w - 4 - 4 - 4 - 7 - 4 - 1 - 2 -12 - 2 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 6 - 5 - 5 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 9 - 7 10 00 10 TABLE 8 RIGHT AND WRONG ANSWERS TO EACH Ql CH SELECTION, OBTAINED IN THE PILOT P O E M S I R - W II R - W III R - W IV R - W V R - W VI R - W VII R - W 10- 7 11- 4 14- 1 15- 2 14- 2 16- 1 17- 0 8- 9 11- 4 11- 4 14- 3 5-11 13- 4 15- 2 5-12 14- 1 13- 2 13- 4 14- 2 16- 1 11- 6 13- 4 15- 0 13- 2 12- 5 10- 6 15- 2 15- 2 12- 5 10- 5 15- 0 13- 4 16- 0 15- 2 8- 9 13- 4 6- 9 13- 2 10- 7 13- 3 17- 0 15- 2 16- 1 9- 6 13- 2 8- 9 9- 7 14- 3 14- 3 12- 5 11- 4 11- 4 10- 7 12- 4 15- 2 13- 4 7 -1 0 13- 2 13- 2 13- 4 14- 2 10- 7 16- 1 11- 6 14- 1 10- 5 13- 4 8- 8 16- 1 8- 9 8- 9 13- 2 10- 5 10- 7 10- 6 16- 1 12- 5 15- 2 7- 8 8- 7 12- 5 4-12 11- 6 12- 5 10- 7 7- 8 9- 6 12- 5 10- 6 15- 2 9- 8 6-11 8- 7 8- 7 14- 3 10- 6 14- 3 8- 9 6-11 3-12 12- 3 6- 9 10- 6 12- 5 14- 3 4-13 7- 8 5-10 12- 5 5-11 12- 5 4-13 5-12 8- 7 12- 3 4-13 3-13 14- 3 11- 6 11- 6 11- 4 8- 7 6-11 4-12 7 -1 0 8- 9 8- 9 4-11 9- 6 2-15 5-11 12- 5 12- 5 2-15 14- 1 14- 1 3-14 6-10 11- 6 11- 6 1:45 1:15 2:45 1:25 2:20 2:20 1:00 6:30 5:00 6:30 5:3 0 5:30 4:30 5:30 8:15 6:15 9:15 6:55 7:50 6:50 6:30 95 TABLE 9 RESULTS OF THE PILOT STUDY RESCORED AFTER ELIMINATING THE FIVE POOREST QUESTIONS FROM EACH SELECTION I II P III O IV E M V S VI VII VIII IX 11 11 14 14 10 13 13 14 12 11 11 13 13 9 13 12 13 11 11 10 13 12 9 13 12 12 11 10 10 13 11 8 13 12 11 11 9 10 12 10 8 13 12 11 10 8 10 12 10 8 12 10 11 10 8 8 11 10 8 12 10 10 10 7 8 11 10 8 11 10 10 10 6 8 11 9 7 11 9 10 9 6 8 9 9 6 11 9 10 9 6 6 8 9 6 11 9 9 8 6 6 7 8 6 11 8 9 8 5 6 6 6 6 11 6 9 8 4 6 4 5 5 10 6 9 7 4 5 4 9 5 8 7 3 5 9 4 5 6 Means 7.3 8.4 10.3 9.1 7.2 11.4 9.2 10 9.2 Ranges 8 5 1 0 9 9 4 9 9 6 96 of the five questions has resulted in a relatively high range. On the other hand, selection IX has now indicated a relatively slight range. On the basis of this table it was decided to elim inate se lec tio n s II, VI, and IX. The remaining selection s. I, III, IV, V, VII, and VIII becam e, of cou rse, selectio n s I through VI used in the experim ent. Finally, it was decided on the b asis of the resu lts of the pilot study that a certain number of questions, including, of cou rse, those elim inated for rescorin g purposes, needed further work. The third quartile, in the divisions of right and wrong an sw ers, was arbitrarily selected as the point beyond which questions would be considered unsatisfactory. In other words, if m ore than th ree-q u arters of the test population agreed on an answer, co rrect or incorrect, that question would be considered too ea sy or too difficult. The questions, th e r e fore, to be reworked w ere seen from Table 8 to be, in selection I, 4, 6, 7, 12, 16, and 20; in selection III, questions 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 15, 17, and 20; in selection IV, questions 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 14, 17, 19, and 20; in selection V, questions 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, and 17; in s e l e c tion VII, questions 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, and 16; in selection VIII, questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 15, 17, 18, and 20. The resu lts of the reworking of these questions, the final lists of questions used in the experim ent, w ill be found in Appendix B. Further, it was concluded from the resu lts of the pilot study that the selection s th em selv es w ere not too fam iliar to college students. The w riter had been aware that if too many students indicated a fam iliarity with the selection s used, the experim ent would becom e diffi cult or im p ossib le. Since, however, only two of a group of seventeen graduate students w ere fam iliar with two of the selection s, there se em e d to be no probable danger on this point. APPENDIX B INSTRUCTION SHEET AND LISTS OF QUESTIONS A PPEN D IX B INSTRUCTION SHEET AND LISTS O F QUESTIONS PL E A SE READ THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS C A R E F U L L Y I. P le a s e fill in the follow ing form , being carefu l to check all appropriate blanks, and to supply all required inform ation. AGE SEX ACADEMIC STATUS (FRESH SOPH JR SR GRAD ) IS ENGLISH YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE? YES NO II. HOW MANY SEM ESTERS O F COLLEGE WORK HAVE YOU HAD IN ORAL IN T E R PR E T A T IO N , OR IN ANY COURSE IN WHICH THE PRIM ARY EMPHASIS WAS ON READING ALOUD? (Check one) No s e m e s t e r s one s e m . two s e m .__ three s e m . four se m . III. During this c la s s period you w ill hear s e v e r a l p o e m s read aloud, and w ill read silen tly s e v e r a l other p o em s. A fter each reading you w ill be ask ed to a n sw er a group of tr u e -fa ls e and m u ltip le - ch oice q u estion s. PL E A SE ANSWER A L L THE QUESTIONS! P le a s e a n sw e r the q u estion s as rapidly a s you com fortab ly can. T im e is a factor in this te st. Do not ra ce through the q u estion s, but go as fast a s care p e r m it s . IV. P le a s e do not ask qu estion s after the readings have begun. If you find it n e c e s s a r y to a sk about som ething, p lea se do so n ow . V. P L E A SE DO NOT TURN TO THE NEXT PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE ASKED TO DO S O ! 98 99 I HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OR READ THIS POEM BEFORE? Y e s No T R U E -F A L SE (P le a se a n sw er the following qu estion s by entering T or F in the designated sp ace after each question.) 1. In the opening line the poem sp ec ific a lly r e fe r s to ANS. “ A m e r ic a .” T 2. Specific r eferen ce is m ade to the “ im p e r ia lism of e m p ir e .” F 3. P o litic a l turm oil is sp ec ific a lly d escrib ed as “ p rotest, the constant, seething, hardening m a s s . ” F 4. A.s a d escrip tion of change, the poem sp ec ific a lly states that “ the flow er fades into the ea rth .” F 5. The poem sp ecifica lly r e fe r s to the earth as “ the m o th e r.” T 6. The poem im p lie s at le a st a slight r e sista n c e to the describ ed change. F 7. The poem im p lie s that the describ ed change is , in so m e r e s p e c ts , unnatural. F 8. The poem im p lies no fault or blam e for the d escrib ed ch a n g e. T 9. The definite im plication is that basic values have been lost in the d escrib ed change. F 10. The poem im p lies that a sh o rt-liv ed culture or so c ie ty is of s e v e r e ly lim ited worth. F M U L T IP L E - CHOICE (P le a se an sw er the following questions by entering the appropriate letter in the designated sp ace after each question.) 11. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta tes that (a) “ m ountains are m onu m ents of w orth ,” (b) “ m e te o r s are not needed l e s s than m ou n tain s,” (c) “ m ountains m ay blaze with fire like m e t e o r s ,” (d) “ m e te o r s are heeded le s s than m ou n tain s,” (e) “ m e te o r s are brighter m onum ents than m ou n tain s.” b 12. The poem a d m on ish es the describ ed so c iety to (a) “ writhe, dim inishing rep u b lic,” (b) “ r is e , enriching rep u b lic,” (c) “ shine, flourishing rep u b lic,” (d) “ die, perishing cou n try,” (e) “ shine, perishing rep u b lic.” e 13. F or his “ child ren” the author would (a) “ w ish them l e s s controlled by tro u b le ,” (b) “ rather have them live in d ista n ce s, f r e e ,” (c) “ rather have them keep their distance from the thickening c e n te r ,” (d) “ want them far from the 100 thickening poison of c o r r u p tio n /’ (e) “ rather have them walk long distances from the sickly c e n te r s.” 14. As a “ way out,” — an avenue of e s c a p e — the poem states that (a) “ compulsion ov erlies all things,” (b) “ the com pulsion of corruption is perm anent,” (c) “ corruption has ever been com pulsory,” (d) “ corruption never has been com p ulsory,” (e) “ corruption is ev er the b asis of com pulsion.” 15. The poem advises that “ b o ys” should (a) “ be in nothing so m oderate as in love of m a n ,” (b) “ be m oderate in things having to do with m an,” (c) “ love m oderately all things, even m oderation,” (d) “ be in nothing m ore m oderate than in lo v e,” (e) “ be men, but even this in m oderation.” 16. The author recognizes the inevitable, but (a) rebels personally, (b) w ishes to save his loved ones, (c) works toward a last minute “ r ep riev e ,” (d) hopes the pattern m ay change, (d) w elcom es it. 17. The poem describ es man as (a) worthy of service and devotion, (b) incapable of serv ice, (c) a poor servant, but good m aster, (d) a good servant, dangerous m aster, (e) a good servant, and a good m aster. 18. The poem states that im m oderate love of man may be a dangerous thing for (a) the weak, (b) the strong, (c) the evil, (d) even the finest and noblest, (e) those who fear God. 19. Philosophically, the basic plea of the poem is for (a) f r e e dom of spirit, (b) peace, (c) creature com forts, (d) brotherhood, (e) resignation. 20. The reference to God is (a) a quote from Catholic ritual, (b) actually a reference to the gods of mythology, (c) a reference to the stern, old-testam ent Jehovah, (d) in keeping with the cynicism of today, (e) a reference to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. PLEASE DO NOT TURN TO THE NEXT PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE ASKED TO DO SO. II HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OR READ THIS POEM BEFORE? Yes No TRU E-FA LSE (P lease answer the following questions by entering T or F in the designated space after each question.) 101 ANS. 1. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta tes that “ the saw dropped s to v e - length stick s of m a p le .” F 2. The poem sp ec ific a lly sta te s that the first sound the boy m ade w a s “ a rueful laugh.” T 3. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta te s that, for a secon d , the boy held the hand “ as if to hide it from the o th e r s ’ g a z e .” F 4. The poem d e sc r ib e s the tim e with the sp e c ific statem en t that day w as “ a ll but d o n e.” T 5. The poem d e sc r ib e s the d o cto r’s action of e a sin g the boy into the “ s ile n c e of e th e r .” F 6. The poem d e sc r ib e s the sound of the saw as half way betw een a sn a r l and a rattle. _ 7. The poem im p lie s that the boy had enjoyed his work. _ 8. The poem d e s c r ib e s the b o y’s action of instin ctively hiding his hand for a secon d. _ 9. The poem d e s c r ib e s the cause of the m o m en ta ry d is t r a c tion that c o st the boy his hand. _ 10. The boy died under anaesthetic from lo s s of blood. _____ M ULTIPLE-CH O ICE (P le a s e an sw er the follow ing qu estion s by entering the appropriate letter in the designated space after each question.) 11. The poem sp ec ific a lly d e s c r ib e s the sc en ic background as (a) “ a line of long blue-hulking h ills, (b) “ the su n se t- co v ered mountain r a n g e s ,” (c) “ five mountain ran g es one behind the o th e r ,” (d) “ the ranging hills far into V e r m o n t,” (e) “ the distant h i l l s .” c 12. The boy in the poem is sp e c ific a lly d e sc rib ed as (a) “ old enough to want e sca p e from w o r k ,” (b) “ c h ild ish -h ea rted s till and young at so u l,” (c) “ a s m a ll boy w orking like a m a n ,” (d) “ old h e a r te d ,” (e) “ big boy, doing a m a n ’s w o r k .” e 13. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta te s that the boy’s s i s t e r (a) “ cam e out of the k itc h e n -sm e llin g w a r m th ,” (b) “ stood b e sid e them in h er ap ron ,” (c) “ called them in to supper and to r e s t , ” (d) “ her apron flying, watched the m en at w o r k ,” (e) “ w ore h er grace with quiet p r id e .” b 14. At the end of the poem it is sp e c ific a lly stated that the w a tch ers (a) “ took up their old affairs a n e w ,” (b) “ wept their silen t t e a r s ,” (c) “ went back to their a ffa ir s ,” (d) “ turned to their a f f a ir s ,” (e) “ w ere called away from pain.” d 15. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta tes that, at the m om en t of the accident, the saw se e m e d to leap out as if (a) “ it, too, w as 102 w eary of the w o rk ,” (b) “ to prove saw s knew what supper m ean t,” (c) “ to prove saw s need their supper too,” (d) “ to show saw s know when evening c o m e s ,” <e) “ to prove saw s tire at su p p ertim e.” 16. An instant after the accident, the boy (a) was stupefied by shock, (b) thought it was a relatively m inor wound, (c) realized what the consequences of losing a hand would be, (d) saw that he w as going to die, (e) felt nothing at all. 17. There is reason to a ssu m e that the scen e of the poem is a (a) sm a ll saw m ill, (b) farm , (c) Vermont town, (d) New England se a sid e village, (e) tiny ham let. 18. The boy's s is te r is (a) probably the boy’s age or older, (b) certainly far younger than the boy, (c) a m ere “ kid” com pared to the boy, (d) clea rly a wom an with children of her own, (e) certainly a m ature woman. 19. The last two lines of the poem are a statem ent of the (a) basic cruelty of m en, (b) the terrible callou sn ess of m en, (c) the deep love of humans for each other, (d) the fundamental aloneness of human beings, (e) the em otional sh allow ness of man. 20. P hilosophically, the poem treats the old theme that (a) life is insupportably hard, (b) life goes on, (c) there is little justice in this world, (d) suffering c o m e s to the good and evil alike, (e) one is not rewarded on the b a sis of m erit. PLEASE DO NOT TURN TO THE NEXT PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE ASKED TO DO SO. Ill HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OR READ THIS POEM BEFORE? Y es No TR U E-FA LSE (P le a se answ er the following questions by entering T or F in the designated space after each question.) 1 . The poem sp ecifically states that love “ did c o m p o se ” the ANS. described enem y. T 2. The poem sp ecifica lly r e fer s to the “ captivating c h a rm ” of the loved one’s voice. F 3. The poem sp ecifically d e sc r ib e s the w om an’s beauty as weaving “ subtile fetters of the a ir .” F 103 4. The poet sp e c ific a lly sta te s that the w o m a n 's voice “ m ight captivate m y m in d .” T 5. The poet sp e c ific a lly sta tes that the w om an 's e y e s “ m y heart doth bind.” _ 6. T his poem is rea lly in p ra ise of a loved o n e ’s beauty.________ _ 7. C learly, the w om an d oes not return the m a n ’s love.___________ ____ 8. The poet im p lie s that he would have loved the w om an even if she had been ugly. F 9. The poet finally ad m its, by im plication, that he is glad love has c o m e h is way. F 10. The poet g iv es ab solu tely no indication of his r e a so n s for fearin g and trying to avoid love. T M ULTIPLE-CH O ICE (P le a s e a n sw er the follow ing q u estion s by entering the appropriate letter in the designated sp ace after each question.) 11. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta te s that the lover m ight have (a) “ lived out his life in p e a c e ,” (b) “ loved another le s s d a n g e r o u s,” (c) “ fled from one but sin g ly fair, (d) “ r e s is te d beauty l e s s stro n g ly b a s e d ,” (e) “ saved h im s e lf had lo v e lin e ss been l e s s . ” c 12. The poem sp ec ific a lly sta te s that the lo v er is trapped by the loved o n e ’s (a) “ m a gic m a k in g ,” (b) “ subtile a r t ,” (c) “ soft c a r e s s , ” (d) “ sk illful s i l e n c e ,” (e) “ curled te n d r ils .” b 13. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta te s that the lo v e r ’s bonds w ere wrought of (a) “ the v e r y air I b r e a th e ,” (b) “ the sunny so ftn ess of h er h a ir ,” (c) “ the silen t hours to g e th e r ,” (d) “ the w ords she spake so s t illy ,” (e) “ the force of those m o st eloquent e y e s . ” a 14. The poet s p e c ific a lly sta te s that (a) “ ’tis vanity to r e s i s t , ” (b) “ r e sis ta n c e is a vain a ttem p t,” (c) “ r e s i s tance m ak es su rren d er v a in ,” (d) “ r e sis ta n c e m ay yet bring m e p e a c e ,” (e) “ r e sis ta n c e against h er is v a in .” e 15. The poem sp e c ific a lly sta te s that the loved o n e ’s beauties com bine (a) “ to w reak lo v e ’s w r a th ,” (b) “ to work m y ruin,” (c) “ to m y end d e c r e e ,” (d) “ to m y death a g r e e ,” (e) “ to writhe and torture m e .” d 16. The poem d e s c r ib e s the poet’s fight against love as (a) a worthy one, (b/ a n e c e s s a r y one, (c) an unequal one, (d) a beautiful one, (e) a terrib le one. c 17. In e s s e n c e the poem is (a) s a r c a s tic , (b) so lem n , (c) h ila rio u s, (d) a light treatm en t of this them e, (e) a fundam entally tragic treatm en t of this th em e. d 104 18. The poem is (a) basically modern, (b) obviously c la ssica l, both in style and them e, (c) of no particular period, (d) modern in style but c la s sic a l in them e, (e) modern in theme but c la s sic a l in style. b 19. The word “ v o ic e ” in the poem (a) sym b olizes brains, or intelligence, (b) m eans, sim ply, voice, (c) m eans m anners, (d) m eans daintiness and femininity, (e) m eans artistic talent. b 20. The words “ wind and sun” in the final line mean (a) sight and sound, (b) a strange cosm ic power, (c) sim ply, wind and sun, (d) tim e and space, <e) beauty. a PLEASE DO NOT TURN TO THE NEXT PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE ASKED TO DO SO. IV HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OR READ THIS POEM BEFORE? Y e s _ N o _ TRUE-FALSE (P lease answer the following questions by entering T or F in the designated space after each question.) ANS. 1. In the opening line, the poet specifically indicates his desire to “ think of T h e e .” T 2. The poem then specifically asks for “ relea se from m elancholy.” F 3. The poet specifically asks if he is wrong to “ seek for e a s e .” T 4. The poem specifically refers to “ the d isea se of p leasu re.” F 5. The poet specifically begs for rem oval of his “ o ’er- whelming m elancholy.” F 6. Despite his religious fervor, the person described is, in som e ways, faintly skeptical. F 7. The supplicant admits to doubt about God’s existen ce. F 8. The supplicant sw ears his sin cerity. T 9. The supplicant apparently feels that the devout believer should be com pletely willing to accept any trials that God may ordain. T 10. The supplicant sw ea rs that his only d esire is for salvation. T 105 M ULTIPLE-CH O ICE (P le a s e a n sw e r the follow ing q u estion s by entering the appropriate lette r in the designated sp ace after each question.) 11. A d d r essin g God, the supplicant sp e c ific a lly b e g s, (a) “ be Thou a ll to m e , ” (b) “ guide Thou nay fe e t ,” (c) “ be Thou m y lastin g p e a c e ,” (d) “ h eal Thou th ese w ou n d s,” (e) “ find Thou a needed h a v e n .” a 12. The supplicant sp e c ific a lly a d m its to being (a) “ lost to Holy G r a c e / ’ (b) “ a w a n d erer in r e a lm s of s i n ,” (c) “ a fo re ig n e r to T h e e ,” (d) “ exiled from T h e e ,” (e) “ e v e r far from T h e e .” d 13. The supplicant sp e c ific a lly d e s c r ib e s h is state a s (a) “ one of final p r o m is e ,” (b) “ full of sh am e and s c o r n ,” (c) “ sad ly shorn of v ir tu e ,” (d) “ one of r eg a l s in ,” (e) “ full of sic k ly w e a k n e s s .” b 14. The supplicant sp e c ific a lly sta te s that he is (a) “ bound toward black d am n ation ,” (b) “ heading toward the lig h t,” (c) “ destined unto jud gm en t,” (d) “ walking without G od,” (e) “ r ec eiv in g Holy c o u n s e l.” c 15. The supplicant regard s h im s e lf a s having been (a) “ brought into the ligh t,” (b) “ co n ceived in s in ,” (c) “ born t.o Godly p u rp o se,” (d) “ born for Thy u s e , ” (e) “ born to r e a s o n le s s s t r if e .” b 16. C le a rly , the supplicant b e lie v e s in the doctrine of (a) the s c ie n c e of m ind, (b) the unity of God with the u n iv er se , (c) the co n fessio n a l, (d) the Holy T rinity, (e) the c o m m union. d 17. The supplicant both d e s ir e s and fea r s (a) eventual s a lv a tion, (b) death, ( c ) t h e co m fo r ts of p rayer, (d) G od’s protection, (e) freed om from tem ptation. c 18. The poem is an exam p le of the b e lie f in (a) the im portance of d e e d s, (b) the unim portance of thought, (c) the equal im portance of thought and deed, (d) the great im portance of thought, (e) the unim portance of d e e d s. d 19. F ro m the poem it is (a) sa fe to sa y that the supplicant is a C h ristian , (b) probable that the supplicant is a Rom an C atholic, (c) p o ssib le that the supplicant is a b e lie v e r in an o rie n ta l relig io n , (d) c le a r that the supplicant is a P ro te sta n t, (e) obvious that we don’t know what the supplicant is . a 20. The poem im p lie s that one m u st (a) n ev e r su ffer, (b) su ffer o c c a sio n a lly , (c) su ffer uncom plainingly, (d) su ffer constantly, (e) suffer in o r d e r to enjoy G race. c 106 PLEASE DO NOT TURN TO THE NEXT PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE ASKED TO DO SO. V 3 HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OR READ THIS POEM BEFORE? Y es No TR U E-FA LSE (P le a se answ er the following questions by entering T or F in the designated space after each question.) 1. The poem sp ecifically d e sc r ib e s m u seu m s as offering ANS. “ refuge, parquet flo o r s ,” and se v e r a l other com forts. T 2. The m u seu m s are sp ecifically described as “ centrally h eated .” T 3. The m u s e u m -g o e r s are sp ecifically said to “ wander slowly through the p o rtals.” F 4. The people are sp ecifically d escrib ed as “ hurrying from the ’b u s e s .” F 5. The m u s e u m s ’ entrances are sp ecifically described as “ tall, fake p o r c h e s.” T 6. Initially, the people are describ ed as having physical, as w ell as intellectual reason s for entering the m useum . F 7. The first com forts that the m useum offers are both physical and intellectual. F 8, Only after being com forted physically do the people respond to the non-physical asp ects of the m useum . T 9. The people m ak e-b elieve in a way that shows no real connection with the m useum . F 10. The poem im plies that the people have no interest in the past. F MULTIPLE-CHOICE (P le a se answ er the following questions by entering the appropriate letter in the designated space after each question.) 11. The m u se u m -g o e r is sp ecifically said to be (a) “ warm ed and dulled by the c l o s e n e s s / ’ (b) “ cajoled into peace by the s ile n c e ,” (c) “ lulled at once into d r o w s in e s s,” (d) “ w arm ed and cajoled by the s ile n c e ,” (e) “ bored into growing r ev o lt.” d 12. The m u se u m -g o e r then (a) “ paces h im self by marble liv e s ,” (b) “ paces languidly through the r o o m s ,” (c) “ tra c es the liv es of peoples p a st,” (d) “ c lo sely eyes 107 the m arble p a st,” (e) “ finds the liv e s of these a m arb le m a r v e l.” 13. Soon the m u s e u m -g o e r im a gin es that his w as (a) “ the g r e a tn e ss of the gla d ia to rs’ m ig h t,” (b) “ the splendor of the art of A th en s,” (c) “ the glory that w as R o m e ,” (d) “ the fam e of ancient m a rty r d o m ,” (e) “ the renown of the ruler of R o m e .” 14. C arryin g his im a g es, the m u s e u m -g o e r (a) “ d r o w ses a im le s s ly through the d a y,” (b) “ e m e r g e s refresh ed to the rea l w orld ,” (c) “ g oes back to fact,” (d) “ returns to the s t r e e t ,” (e) “ returns to the pain of snow and s l e e t .” 15. E m e rg in g from the m useu m , the v isito r brings with him im a g e s of (a) “ the R om ans and G a u ls,” (b) “ G reece and R o m e ,” (c) “ the dying G o d s,” (d) “ dying G a u ls,” (e) ‘‘invading G a u ls.” 16. The poem d e sc r ib e s the v isit to the m u seu m a s a period of (a) ph ysical and intellectual change, (b) physical change only, (c) intellectual change only, (d) no rea l change, (e) sp iritual change. 17. The m u seu m describ ed is probably (a) a sc ie n c e m u seu m , (b) a m useu m of m odern art, (c) a m useu m of natural h istory, (d) a m u seu m of A m erican history, (e) a sm a ll, privately owned m useu m . 18. The gen eral mood of the poem is one of (a) r e v e re n c e for the great m u seu m , (b) adoration of the past, (c) ridicule of m odern man, (d) gentle hum or, (e) savage irony. 19. It is m o st probable that the m u seu m describ ed is in (a) a v e ry large northern city, (b) a sm a ll town, (c) a southern city, (d) the m id -w e st, (e) a foreign city. 20. A fairly accurate philosophical vulgarization of the p oem ’s theme would be (a) eventually, why not now, (b) b etter things for better living, (c) to g eth er n e ss, (d) the skin you love to touch, (e) the pause that r e fr e s h e s . PLEA SE DO NOT TURN TO THE NEXT PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE ASKED TO DO SO. VI HAVE YOU EV ER HEARD OR READ THIS POEM BEFO R E? Y e s No T R U E -F A L SE (P le a se an sw er the follow ing questions by entering T or F in the designated space after each question.) 108 ANS. 1. In the opening lin es the poem s p e c ific a lly sta te s that “ 3 -2 -1 w a s the nu m ber he p lay ed .” F 2. The poem s p e c ific a lly sta te s that he “ lost on the favorite at B o w ie .” F 3. The poem s p e c ific a lly a sk s if the e x ec u tiv e type would like a “ k n e e -a c tio n , silk -u p h o ls te r e d s i x . ” T 4. The poem s p e c ific a lly a sk s if the ex ec u tiv e type would like to “ round the c o u r se in 6 8 .” F 5. G am bling is m entioned for the secon d tim e with the sp e c ific p h ra se, “ fill the A c e , Q ueen, J a c k .” F 6. The opening stan za is a sta tem en t that the h e r o ’s luck has run out. T 7. The p erso n d e sc r ib e d apparently lived by im p u lse rath er than by e sta b lish ed routine. F 8. The poem r e f e r s , in d irectly, to the h e r o ’s fr u itle ss e ffo r ts to avoid the s e v e r a l unpleasant ev en ts that b e fe ll him . F 9. F a cin g c r i s e s , the h ero departed, in cer ta in s m a ll w a y s, from h is u su a l b eh a v io r. F 10. Not until he faced death did the h ero depart, in sign ifican t w a y s, from his past patterns of b eh avio r. F M U L T IP L E -C H O IC E ( P le a s e a n sw e r the follow ing q u estion s by en terin g the app rop riate le tte r in the design ated sp ace after each q u estion .) 11. The poem s p e c ific a lly a sk s if the h e r o would like to (a) “ live like a H ollywood s t a r ,” (b) “ m a r r y a H ollywood s t a r ,” (c) “ be a s rich as a H ollywood s t a r , ” (d) “ w ed a H ollyw ood s t a r ,” (e) “ be as fam ous as a H ollyw ood s t a r .” d 12. The poem s p e c ific a lly a d d r e s s e s the hero as (a) “ fellow with a w ill who w o n ’t take n o ,” (b) “ stron g m inded m an who finds the t i m e ,” (c) “ fello w w h ose w ill w ill find a w a y ,” (d) “ m an who can if he only w i l l ,” (e) “ fellow who w ill and m u st find y e a .” a 13. The poem s p e c ific a lly sta te s that, am ong other tro u b les, (a) “ n e v e r th e le s s , the la w y e rs c a m e , ” (b) “ n e v e r t h e le s s , the rent w as d u e ,” (c) “ n e v e r t h e le s s , the furnace fa ile d ,” (d) “ n e v e r t h e le s s , the lights w e r e shut o ff,” (e )“n e v e r - t h e le s s , the bank f o r e c lo s e d .” e 14. The poem s p e c ific a lly sta te s that the h ero w a s v e r y m uch m is s e d by (a) “ the p u b lish er s of T i m e ,” (b) “ the c ir cu la tio n sta ff of the N ew Y ork E ven in g P o s t , ” (c) “ the e d ito r s and m a n a g e rs of the Saturday E ven in g P o s t , ” 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20 . 109 (d) “ the R e a d e rs’ D ig e st,” (e) “ the staff of the New York T i m e s .” The last stanza of the poem sp ecifically m entions (a) “ M ontgom ery-W ard,” (b) “ the m ood,” (c) “ su m m er s t o r m s ,” (d) “ su m m er rain ,” (e) “ the planet Ju p iter.” The poem indicates that the hero w as basically alone (a) because of his preoccupation with his work, (b) despite a job, wife, and children, (c) because he lived alone, (d) because he lived in a large city, (e) despite his important position. The poem im plies that the hero was basically a tragic figure because he w as (a) only a statistica l unit in our so ciety, (b) tortured by his own fea r s, (c) unimportant to his fellow man, (d) known but unloved, (e) unknown, unloved, and unmourned. The final stanza treats, by im plication, (a) the in s ig nificance of all individuals, (b) the power of the individual, (c) the insignificance of the “ a v e ra g e ” man, (d) the interdependence of m en, (e) the insignificance of the so p h istica te. Even the h ero ’s pallbearers w ere (a) en em ies, (b) afraid of him , (c) uncaring, (d) superficial friends, (e) vicious. B a sica lly , the poem condem ns (a) socia l stratification, (b) city life, (c) so cia l p r e ssu r e s, (d) big b u sin ess, (e) our society. A P P E N D IX C SELECTIONS MARKED FOR READING WITH READING TIMES APPENDIX C SELECTIONS MARKED FOR READING WITH READING TIMES I While this/A m erica settles in the mould of its vulgarity, //heavily thickening to e m p ire , // And p rotest, // only a bubble in the molten m a s s , / pops/ and sighs out, / and the m a ss hardens, // I sadly rem em ber/that the flower fades to make fruit, // the fruit/rots/to make earth. /'J Out of the m other; //and through the spring exultances, / rip en ess/and decadence; II and home / to the mother. I'I You I making haste / haste on / decay: 11 not blameworthy; // life is good, / be it stubbornly long / or suddenly A m ortal splendor: // m eteo rs / are not needed le s s / than m ountains: II sh ine, / perishing republic. I'I But for my children, / 1 would rather have them / keep their distance / / from the thickening center; / / corruption/ N ever has been com pulsory; // when the cities lie at the m on ster's feet / there are left / the m ountains. I'I And boys, I be in nothing / so m oderate / as in love of m an, // a c le v er servant, // insufferable m a ste r . / ' / There is the trap /that catches noblest s p ir it s ,/ / that caught // — they say / / — God, // when he walked on earth. / ' / 111 r e h e a r s e d tim e — 1 m in ., 45 s e c . actual tim e s — 1:43, 1:42, 1:43, 1:45. II The b u z z - saw sn a rle d and rattled in the yard / And m ade dust / and dropped s t o v e - length stic k s of w o o d , S w e e t- scen ted stuff when the b r e e z e drew a c r o s s it. / ' / And from th ere / th ose that lifted e y e s / could count F iv e / m ountain r a n g e s /o n e behind the o t h e r // U nder the su n se t // far into V e r m o n t ./' / And the saw sn a rled and r a ttle d , / sn a rled and r a ttle d , / As it ran lig h t, / or had to bear a lo a d . / ' / And nothing happened: // day w a s a ll but d o n e . / ' / C all it a d ay, / 1 w ish they m ight have sa id / To p le a se the boy / by giving him the h alf hour That a boy counts so much / when sav ed / fro m w ork. / ' / H is s i s t e r / stood b e sid e them in h e r apron / To t e ll them / “ S u p p er.” / '/ At the w o r d , / the s a w , // A s if to prove sa w s knew what supper m e a n t, // Leaped out at the b oy's hand, // or s e e m e d to leap — // He m u st have given the hand. / ' / H o w ever it w a s, // N eith er refu sed the m e e tin g . / ' / But the hand ! / '/ The b o y 's first ou tcry w as a rueful laugh, // A s he sw ung tow ard them / holding up the hand / H alf in a p p ea l, // but half / as if to keep the Life / from s p illin g . / ' / Then the boy saw a ll — II Since he w a s old enough to know ,// big b o y // Doing a m a n 's w ork, 11 though a child / at h e a r t — // He saw a l l / sp o iled . I'I “ Don't let h im cut m y hand off — The d o c to r , / when he c o m e s . 11 Don't let him , / s i s t e r !' ’ So. 11 But the hand w a s gone a lr e a d y . I' I The doctor put him in the dark of e th e r . /' j He lay / and puffed his lips out with his breath. I'I And then — // the watcher at his pulse took fright. I' I No one b e lie v e d , t'j They listened at his h ea rt. / ' / Little — // l e s s — // nothing ! — //and that ended i t . /" / No m ore to build on there. / ' / And they, // since they w ere not the one dead, // turned / to their affairs. / '/ reh earsed time — 2 m in., 45 se c. actual tim es — 2:43, 2:45, 2:46, 2:43 III To m ake a final conquest / of ajl m e , II Love / did com pose so sw eet / an e n em y , // In whom both beauties / to my death / a g r e e , // Joining th em selv es / in fatal harm ony; // That while she / with her ey es / my heart doth bind, // She / with her voice / might captivate my m in d . / ' / I could have fled from one but singly fa ir ; II My disentangled soul itself might s a v e , 11 Breaking the curled tra m m e ls of her hair; / ' / But how could I avoid to be her s la v e , / Whose subtile art / invisibly can wreathe My fetters / of the very air I breathe?/'/ It had been easy / fighting in som e plain Where victory / might hang in equal ch o ice ; // But all resistan ce against her is vain / Who has th^advantage / of both ey es and v o ic e ; // all m y forces needs m ust be undone, // She having gained / both the wind / and su n . / ' / reh earsed t im e — 1 m in .f 25 sec. actual tim es — 1:22, 1:22, 1:24, 1:23. IV Good and great God ! / can I not think of T h ee , / But it m ust straight my m elancholy b e ? /'/ Is it interpreted in m e / d is e a s e , // That, / laden with m y s i n s , / 1 seek for e a s e ? / ' / O , / be Thou w itn e s s , / that the reins dost know / And hearts of a ll, / if I be sad / for show ; If And judge me after / if I dare pretend To aught but g r a c e , / /o r aim at other end. / ' / A s Thou art a ll, / so be Thou all to m e , // F ir s t , / m id st, / and la st, // converted One and Three My faith, / my hope, / my lo v e ; // and in this sta te , / My judge, // my w itn e s s , // and m y advocate ! /'/ Where have I been / this while exiled from T h ee , // And whither rapt, / now Thou but stoop’st to m e ? / '/ D w ell, / dwell here s t i l l !// O, being ev ery w h ere,/ / How can I doubt / to find Thee ever h e r e ? /'/ I know m y sta te , / both full of shame / and scorn, // Conceived in sin , // and unto labor born, // Standing with fe a r , // and m ust with horror fa ll, // And destined unto judgment / after a l l . / ' / I feel my griefs / too, // and there sca rc e is ground Upon m y flesh / Uinflict another wound: // Yet dare I not co m p la in / or wish for death / With holy P a u l, // lest it be thought the breath Of discontent; // or that these prayers be F or w e a rin ess of life , / not^ love of T h e e . / ' / 115 reh earsed tim e — 2 m in., 20 se c . actual tim e s — 2:21, 2:23, 2:20, 2:23. V M useum s offer us, If running from among the ’b u s e s , 11 A centrally heated refu ge, / parquet floors / and sa r co p h a g u se s, II Into w hose tall / fake porches / we hurry I without a sound II Like a beetle under a b r ic k / that l i e s , / u s e le s s / on the ground. I'I W armed / and cajoled by the s ile n c e , II the cowed cipher r e v iv e s , 11 M irrors h im se lf in the c a s e s of p ots, // paces h im se lf by m arble l iv e s , // Makes believe it w as Jie / that was the glory / that w as R o m e , II Soft on his cheek / the nimbus of other people’s m a rty rd o m , 11 And then returns to the s t r e e t , 11 his mind an arena / where spraw ls Any number of consum ptive K eatses 11 and dying / G a u ls. / '/ reh earsed t i m e — 1 min. actual tim e s — 0:58, 0:58, 0:59, 0:58. VI 1 -2 -3 w as the number he played // but today / the number cam e / 3 - 2 - 1 ; // bought his Carbide at 30 // and it went to 29; // had the favorite at Bowie // but the track was slow — / ' / O, / executive type, // would you like to drive a floating pow er, / k n ee- action, / s ilk - upholstered six ? // Wed a Hollywood sta r ?// Shoot the cou rse in J38?// Draw to the a c e , / king,/ jack? / '/ O, fellow with a w i l l / who won’t take no, // watch out / for three ciga rettes on the s a m e , / s in g le , m atch ; //O , dem ocratic 116 voter / born in August under M a r s, // bew are / of liquidated r a i l s — / ' / Denouem ent to denouem ent, //h e took a p erson al / pride / in the cer ta in , // certain way / he lived his own private lif e , // but n e v e r th e le s s , // they shut off his g a s ; // n e v e r t h e le s s , / the bank fo r e c lo s e d ; // n e v e r th e le s s , / the landlord c a lled ; // n e v e r t h e le s s , / the radio b ro k e, And tw elve o ’clock arriv ed / just once / too often; /' / just the sam e / he w ore one grey tweed s u it, / bought one straw hat, / drank one straight s c o tc h , / walked one short ste p , / took one long look, / drew one deep b reath , // just II one 11 too m an y, I' I And wow / he died / as wow / he liv e d , / going whop to the office / and blooie hom e to sle e p / and biff got m arried / and bam had childred / and oof got fir e d , // zowie did he live // and zowie did he d i e , / ' / With who the hell are you / at the corn er of his c a s k e t, // and w here the h ell are we going / on the right hand silv e r knob, // and who the h ell c a r e s / walking second from the end, // with an A m e rica n Beauty w reath from / why the h ell not; / ' / V ery much m is s e d / by the circulation staff of the N ew York Evening P o s t ; // d eep ly , // deeply m ourned / by the B .M .T .,// W ham, / Mr. R oosevelt; // gow , / Sears Roebuck; // awk, / big dipper; // bop, / summe r rain; // bong, //M r ., // bong, // M r., //bong, // M r., // bong. / ' / rehearsed tim e — 2 m in., 50 sec. actual tim es — 2:51, 2:53, 2:52, 2:53.

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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

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Asset Metadata

Creator Campbell, Paul Newell (author)

Core Title An Experimental Study Of The Retention And Comprehension Of Poetry Resulting From Silent Reading And From Oral Interpretation

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Speech

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,Theater

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Dickens, Milton (committee chair), McCoard, William B. (committee member), Stahl, Herbert M. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-50171

Unique identifier UC11357966

Identifier 5906394.pdf (filename),usctheses-c18-50171 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 5906394.pdf

Dmrecord 50171

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Campbell, Paul Newell

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA