It should also be borne in mind that there are different degrees of stress as well as kinds. Professor Raymond truly says, “Never confuse the kind of stress with the degree.” To illustrate: the decided stroke of the voice is heard in,
Come, and trip it as ye go
On the light fantastic toe;
but a strong attack would spoil the daintiness. Let us remember that a grain of gunpowder explodes as well as a ton. This admonition applies as well to other forms of stress.
It has been urged, that if the claim is true that the complete assimilation of the thought and feeling will, through practice, lead to adequate expression, why bother the student with such drills as these? The answer is plain. One’s temperament may be of such a nature that he cannot express a single sentence without, say, the greatest insistency. The insistency is temperamental, and it shows in everything the speaker does. By a careful study of “Stress,” he is introduced to his own consciousness, soon recognizes his weakness, and his delivery is improved through improving his mental action. If this is true for the creative speaker, the orator, how much more is it true of him who reads or recites the words of another.
A few years ago, a well-known minister spoke these words: “You may read the tragedies of Sophocles, and the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle; you may be familiar with the lore of the Hindus and the Brahmins; you may know your Shakespeare, your Milton, and your Dante, your Wordsworth, your Browning, and your Tennyson, but [raising aloft a limp-covered Bible] it’s all here!” And he brought the book down on the palm of his hand with a thwack that was heard throughout the building. He fairly exploded on “all here,” and the congregation laughed. Paraphrased, his stress said, I—I, who know what I am talking about, tell you people—deny it if you can—it’s all here. There was no appeal, no tenderness, no gentle persuasiveness. His purpose ought to have been (to avoid argument, let it be said that the context justifies this remark—he was appealing for a more careful and reverential study of the Bible) to express, Oh, my friends, this holy work, this revelation of God’s goodness, contains all you need. Why not take it up, and study it? You read all literatures; will you not read this too? The trouble was that the preacher, being naturally of an aggressive nature, lost sight of his final purpose, and spoiled what might have been a very effective appeal, by obtruding himself between his illustration and his audience. It may be of interest to state that the speaker’s attention was called to this; and he admitted the justice of the criticism, while disclaiming all knowledge of what he had done, and how he had done it.
This illustrates the contention. He had had no idea that he had become so assertive that he virtually said, I tell you so, on every emphatic word. A study of “Stress” and its psychology would certainly have helped him.
In The Orator’s Manual the author sums up this matter of radical stress thus: “The radical stress is exerted on account of a subjective ... motive; in other words, because a man desires chiefly to express an idea on his own account.... In [this] case the sound bursts forth abruptly, as if the man were conscious of nothing but his own organs to prevent the accomplishment of his object.... It is used whenever one’s main wish is to express himself so as to be distinctly understood. In its mildest form, it serves to render articulation clear and utterance precise; when stronger, it indicates bold and earnest assurance, positiveness, and dictation.... Without [this] stress, gentleness becomes an inarticulate and timid drawl, and vehemence mere brawling bombast. With too frequent use of it, one’s delivery becomes characterized by an appearance of self-assertion, assurance, or preciseness.” In other words, it is the “I” stress.
Of final stress, Professor Raymond says: “It is exerted on account of an objective idea. The sound is pushed forth gradually, as if the man were conscious of outside opposition, and of the necessity of pressing his point. It is used whenever one’s main wish is to impress his thoughts on others. It gives utterance, in its weakest form, to the whine or complaint of mere peevishness demanding consideration; when stronger to a pushing earnestness or determination; in its strongest form, to a desire to cause others to feel one’s own astonishment, scorn, or horror.... Without final stress there can be no representation of childish weakness or obstinacy, or of ... resolution; used too exclusively, or excessively, it causes delivery to be characterized by an appearance of wilfulness, depriving it of the qualities of persuasion that appeal to the sympathies.”