We learn from this another reason why we must use great care in preparing our reading lesson. You see, if we do not, we shall not stop to consider just what the sentence means, and then in reading we shall not express the author’s meaning. Let us try a few more examples. In each make up your mind just what you want to say, and then say it as if you meant it.
Example 1.—“I like geography better than I do history.” Now, if you have been talking to a friend about the studies you like best, and he has just said, “I like geography as well as I do history,” how would you read the above example? Of course, you see that the main idea in your mind would be to tell him that you liked geography not only as well as, but better than, history. Well then, now you may read the example.
Example 2.—“I should rather be a lawyer than a doctor.” Suppose in this case a friend has said, “My father wants me to be a doctor.” How would you then read the sentence?
Example 3.—“Queen Victoria has reigned longer than any other monarch who ever sat upon the English throne.” Suppose you are telling this to your classmates, and that you have not been talking about Queen Victoria before, but you want only to give them a piece of information.
Let us remember, then, that every sentence has a principal, or, as we sometimes say, a central idea. We need be extremely careful to get that central idea, and if we have been, we notice that certain words will stand out very prominently in our reading. This is true because reading is just like speaking. If some one asks you where you are going, and you are going to school, what do you think of? You don’t think of each word of your answer; you think only one idea—school. So you say, “I am going to school,” and you make the word “school” very prominent, or important. “School” is the central idea.
Until our next step I want you to study every sentence of every reading lesson, bearing in mind this very important fact regarding the central idea. Every sentence has such a central idea, and until you have found it you cannot read the sentence.
Very few directions are necessary except to warn the teacher against speaking about the various kinds of emphasis. No matter what the kind, the thought will find its natural channel if the conditions be right. It is true, that sometimes a word is made prominent by inflection (rising, falling, circumflex), sometimes by slower time, sometimes by force alone. But let us remember, these various forms are the results of various forms of thinking. If those are right, correct reading will follow.
It is further worth noting that the best authorities use “emphasis” as signifying any means of making the thought stand out. Hence, the teacher is urged not to use the term “emphasis” at all. If a pupil err, tell him he has not given you the central, or leading, idea.