1. The description of the attack as given by Rebecca to Ivanhoe. (See The Attack on the Castle, Volume IV, pages 324 to 338.) By costumes and good acting this may be made a very effective scene.
2. A few boys will enjoy rendering the conversational parts of The Heart of Bruce (Volume V, page 316) while a girl reads the descriptive lines of the ballad.
3. By making some changes in the text and putting into direct discourse some of that which Dickens has written in indirect discourse, a capital Christmas sketch may be made from the Christmas doings at the Cratchit home. (See A Christmas Carol, Volume VI, pages 303 to 312.)
4. Limestone Broth (Volume VI, page 467) can be made into a neat little humorous dialogue with very little change.
5. Several scenes from The Tempest (Volume VIII, page 364) are suitable for school use.
6. The Death of Caesar (Volume IX, page 143) is a fine dialogue and affords a good opportunity for many speakers.
7. The conversation between Luigi and his mother (Pippa Passes, Volume IX, pages 317-323) is a fine scene for school use, especially if Pippa really passes singing at the right moment.
VI. An Old-fashioned Afternoon. Not so many years ago it was an almost universal custom to give over Friday afternoon to the “speaking of pieces.” Occasionally even now a teacher wants one of the old-fashioned mixed programs, and though she will prefer to make her own for each occasion, the following example will show one of the many that might be made from Journeys Through Bookland:
- 1. Roll Call. (Pupils respond with a memory gem from the hundred given elsewhere in this volume.)
- 2. Song: America, Volume VIII, page 60.
- 3. Wynken, Blynken and Nod, I, 262.
- 4. The Discontented Stonecutter, II, 12.
- 5. Song: Sweet and Low, VI, 122.
- 6. Beowulf and Grendel (retold in brief), III, 350.
- 7. Incident of the French Camp, IV, 174.
- 8. Song: My Old Kentucky Home, VII, 179.
- 9. Echo, III, 286. (Let the answers of Echo be given by someone who is concealed from view of the audience.)
- 10. The First Snowfall, II, 403.
- 11. Song: Home, Sweet Home, VI, 221.