Successful Recitations

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 605K words
Chapters: 61

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Successful Recitations by Alfred H. MilesAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: PN: Language and Literatures: Literature: General, Criticism, Collections, Release Date: Dec 22, 2005

Editor's review

This book is an anthology of recitation pieces compiled by Alfred H. Miles, a practical selection within public-domain literature that gathers poems and prose passages suitable for public recitation. Its value lies not in original theory but in offering a body of texts tested by time, with rhythm and emotional range suited to oral delivery, ready for readers to use directly. The selections balance narrative and lyric, and most are moderate in length, making recitation time easy to control. For today's readers, the book can serve both as a sourcebook for English recitation practice and as a window into English recitation taste from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. It need not be read straight through; it is better used by looking up pieces to suit the occasion and mood, reading silently first to grasp tone and pauses, then reading aloud to adjust rhythm. As the original is in English with period vocabulary, readers with some English reading ability are advised.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who need material for English recitation or public speaking can quickly find suitable pieces by occasion
English majors practicing pronunciation, intonation, and emotional expression
General readers interested in public-domain English literary anthologies, for casual browsing
School or club activity organizers looking for short recitation texts

Not a good fit for

Beginners with weak English, for whom the original vocabulary and sentence patterns may pose reading obstacles
Readers seeking systematic instruction in recitation theory, as the book focuses on selections rather than method
Readers who prefer contemporary works or fresh subjects, as the selections bear clear marks of their era

Reading tips

First browse the table of contents by theme or mood, marking two or three texts suited to the current occasion
Read once silently, marking pauses and stresses, then read aloud, recording yourself to refine rhythm
Use one piece a day for reading practice, focusing on how sentence length relates to shifts in tone
Look up unfamiliar vocabulary before reading to avoid excessive pauses that disrupt the flow

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for preparing for an English recitation contest?

It can serve as a source of material. Most selections are poems and prose passages suited to oral delivery, moderate in length with clear emotional range, making time control and tone design easier. But the selections carry period vocabulary, so before a contest confirm the text fits the theme and check pronunciation and meaning line by line to avoid stumbling over unfamiliar words.

Can someone with no recitation experience read this book?

Yes, but expectations should be adjusted. The book focuses on providing selections rather than teaching method, so beginners may not know how to phrase and distribute emotion. Start with short pieces, read silently for general meaning, then read aloud, consult recordings of others for rhythm if needed, and gradually try longer pieces.

How can I easily find suitable pieces when reading the electronic edition?

Use the e-book's table-of-contents jumps and search function to locate pieces by title or keyword, then skim the opening paragraph to judge tone and length. It helps to keep a short list recording title, theme, and approximate duration for direct use by occasion later, which is more efficient than searching anew each time.

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Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.