A NEW COURSE IN PUBLIC SPEECH

The disappearance from the curriculum of all courses in Public Speaking is the subject of an article in the current Alumni Bulletin by R. S. Fanning '23 Although the existence of English B destroys the assertion that Harvard undergraduates are altogether without instruction in the art of speaking in public, it is nevertheless plain that the passing of English 10 and kindred courses has left behind a distinct void in the structure of courses which ought not long to go unfilled.

Beyond question, the gradual extinction of what was once a flourishing department is explicable in terms of the modern attitude toward old-fashioned public speaking with its strong savor of Websterian oratory. English 10 was deeply imbued with this tradition. To day the too polished speaker is more apt to be distrusted than admired; the prevailing theory, unfortunate as it often is in its results, is that if a man be sufficiently full of his subject, the words will come. To betray attention to old time rules of inflection and gesture, imperfectly mastered, is far more disastrous to the modern speaker than to indicate the obvious fact that he has never studied his art.

Rightly or wrongly, the sincerity of trained debaters and speakers of the old-fashioned pattern, has come to be questioned. With the decline of the influence of the old style speaker in the courts, in the legislatures, and on the public platform has gone the parallel decline of courses of instruction in the universities.

There nevertheless remains the fact that certain fundamentals of public speech can be taught, and the calibre of the average speech is strong evidence of the need for the teaching. With the old methods and the old ideals discredited, there is great necessity, as Mr. Fanning points out, for the evolution of a new method of instruction. The present disappearance of all the traditional courses in public speaking in the University presents the logical occasion for taking this action.