The art of acting and public reading
This book has been written in response to a demand for some text that will outline a course of instruction leading to professional work. It takes up the work of Acting and Public Reading and presupposes thorough training on the part of the student in common reading and speech mechanics. It is for the advanced student in the normal school, the college, the professional school of oratory, or the private studio.
The purpose of the book is to set forth a comprehensive classification of the different ways of presenting various types of literature, taking into consideration the author's purpose and the class of audience to be entertained. It is my belief that such a classification can be made and that it may become a useful guide in maintaining a standard of consistency among readers, entertainers and actors so that there may be less harsh criticism which the average elocution teacher feels moved to make upon the propriety of this or that feature of an entertainment.
In taking up this classification, let me say that I do not hope to have it accepted as infallible or as the only classification possible, but I do hope that it will give the young platform artist a clearer conception of his field so that he will not encroach upon the actor's art in the name of public reading.
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