But, since it has brought me to speak of learning things by heart, I think that a general practical remark about verbal memorizing may now not be out of place.  The excesses of old-fashioned verbal memorizing, and the immense advantages of object-teaching in the earlier stages of culture, have perhaps led those who philosophize about teaching to an unduly strong reaction; and learning things by heart is now probably somewhat too much despised.  For, when all is said and done, the fact remains that verbal material is, on the whole, the handiest and most useful material in which thinking can be carried on.  Abstract conceptions are far and away the most economical instruments of thought, and abstract conceptions are fixed and incarnated for us in words.  Statistical inquiry would seem to show that, as men advance in life, they tend to make less and less use of visual images, and more and more use of words.  One of the first things that Mr. Galton discovered was that this appeared to be the case with the members of the Royal Society whom he questioned as to their mental images.  I should say, therefore, that constant exercise in verbal memorizing must still be an indispensable feature in all sound education.  Nothing is more deplorable than that inarticulate and helpless sort of mind that is reminded by everything of some quotation, case, or anecdote, which it cannot now exactly recollect.  Nothing, on the other hand, is more convenient to its possessor, or more delightful to his comrades, than a mind able, in telling a story, to give the exact words of the dialogue or to furnish a quotation accurate and complete.  In every branch of study there are happily turned, concise, and handy formulas which in an incomparable way sum up results.  The mind that can retain such formulas is in so far a superior mind, and the communication of them to the pupil ought always to be one of the teacher’s favorite tasks.

In learning ‘by heart,’ there are, however, efficient and inefficient methods; and, by making the pupil skilful in the best method, the teacher can both interest him and abridge the task.  The best method is of course not to ‘hammer in’ the sentences, by mere reiteration, but to analyze them, and think.  For example, if the pupil should have to learn this last sentence, let him first strip out its grammatical core, and learn, “The best method is not to hammer in, but to analyze,” and then add the amplificative and restrictive clauses, bit by bit, thus:  “The best method is of course not to hammer in the sentences, but to analyze them and think.”  Then finally insert the words ’by mere reiteration,’ and the sentence is complete, and both better understood and quicker remembered than by a more purely mechanical method.

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