The voice has three pitches:—upper, middle, lower.
The upper register is the medium for the expression of excitement and earnestness. It must be used with care and artistic moderation, otherwise it is unpleasant.
Use it rarely. Be careful of straining the voice.
The middle register is used in familiar speaking, and general conversation. It is the most durable, and is the vehicle for everyday use.
The lower register is suited to grave, solemn, impassioned utterances. It should be used cautiously. Practice will mellow the voice.
WRITTEN ENGLISH.
Written English is the art of putting words together in order to convey our thoughts to others. Good composition conveys our thoughts correctly, clearly, and pleasantly, so as to make them readily understood and easily remembered.
To express ourselves well we must first have something to say. If we have not been able to come to any definite conclusion about a subject, we should be silent.
We must next choose the right names for the things or actions of which we are going to speak. This is not always easy, for we are apt to talk loosely of quantities and qualities; to say there are “thousands” when there are only hundreds, to call an event “marvelous” when it is only unusual, or to refer to “ages” when there are only years.
Again, we must arrange our words in the right way, so that they shall fit one another and combine to make good sense, just as we must put bricks or stones together properly to make a building stand. All language is a construction; it is the building or binding of words.