MEMORY, HOW TO DEVELOP, TRAIN AND USE IT/PART 18
CHAPTER XVIII.
HOW TO REMEMBER WORDS, ETC.
In a
preceding chapter we gave a number of instances of persons who had highly
developed their memory of words, sentences, etc. History is full of instances
of this kind. The moderns fall far behind the ancients in this respect;
probably because there does not exist the present necessity for the feats of
memory which were once accepted as commonplace and not out of the ordinary.
Among ancient people, when printing was unknown and manuscripts scarce and
valuable, it was the common custom of the people to learn "by heart"
the various sacred teachings of their respective religions. The sacred books of
the Hindus were transmitted in this way, and it was a common thing among the
Hebrews to be able to recite the books of Moses and the Prophets entirely from
memory. Even to this day the faithful Mohammedans are taught to commit the
entire Koran to memory. And investigation reveals, always, that there has
been used the identical process of committing these sacred books to memory, and
recalling them at will—the natural method, instead of an artificial one. And
therefore we shall devote this chapter solely to this method whereby poems or
prose may be committed to memory and recalled readily.
This
natural method of memorizing words, sentences, or verses is no royal road. It
is a system which must be mastered by steady work and faithful review. One must
start at the beginning and work his way up. But the result of such work will
astonish anyone not familiar with it. It is the very same method that the
Hindus, Hebrews, Mohammedans, Norsemen, and the rest of the races, memorized
their thousands of verses and hundreds of chapters of the sacred books of their
people. It is the method of the successful actor, and the popular elocutionist,
not to mention those speakers who carefully commit to memory their
"impromptu" addresses and "extemporaneous" speeches.
This
natural system of memorizing is based upon the principle which has already
been alluded to in this book, and by which every child learns its alphabet and
its multiplication table, as well as the little "piece" that it
recites for the entertainment of its fond parents and the bored friends of the
family. That principle consists of the learning of one line at a time, and
reviewing that line; then learning a second line and reviewing that; and then
reviewing the two lines together; and so on, each addition being reviewed in connection
with those that went before. The child learns the sound of "A;" then
it learns "B;" then it associates the sounds of "A, B" in
its first review; the "C" is added and the review runs: "A, B,
C." And so on until "Z" is reached and the child is able to
review the entire list from "A to Z," inclusive. The multiplication
table begins with its "twice 1 is 2," then "twice 2 is 4,"
and so on, a little at a time until the "twos" are finished and the
"threes" begun. This process is kept up, by constant addition and
constant review, until "12 twelves" finishes up the list, and the
child is able to repeat the "tables" from first to last from memory.
But
there is more to it, in the case of the child, than merely learning to repeat
the alphabet or the multiplication table—there is also the strengthening of the
memory as a result of its exercise and use. Memory, like every faculty of the
mind, or every muscle of the body, improves and develops by intelligent and
reasonable use and exercise. Not only does this exercise and use develop the
memory along the particular line of the faculty used, but also along every line
and faculty. This is so because the exercise develops the power of
concentration, and the use of the voluntary attention.
We
suggest that the student who wishes to acquire a good memory for words,
sentences, etc., begin at once, selecting some favorite poem for the purpose of
the demonstration. Then let him memorize one verse of not over four to six
lines to begin with. Let him learn this verse perfectly, line by line, until he
is able to repeat it without a mistake. Let him be sure to be "letter
perfect" in that verse—so perfect that he will "see" even the
capital letters and the punctuation marks when he recites it. Then let him
stop for the day. The next day let him repeat the verse learned the day
before, and then let him memorize a second verse in the same way, and just as
perfectly. Then let him review the first and second verses together. This
addition of the second verse to the first serves to weld the two together by
association, and each review of them together serves to add a little bit to the
weld, until they become joined in the mind as are "A, B, C." The
third day let him learn a third verse, in the same way and then review the three.
Continue this for say a month, adding a new verse each day and adding it to the
verses preceding it. But constantly review them from beginning to end. He
cannot review them too often. He will be able to have them flow along like the
letters of the alphabet, from "A" to "Z" if he reviews
properly and often enough.
Then,
if he can spare the time, let him begin the second month by learning two
verses each day, and adding to those that precede them, with constant
and faithful reviews. He will find that he can memorize two verses, in the
second month, as easily as he did the one verse in the first month. His
memory has been trained to this extent. And so, he may proceed from month to
month, adding an extra verse to his daily task, until he is unable to spare the
time for all the work, or until he feels satisfied with what he has
accomplished. Let him use moderation and not try to become a phenomenon. Let
him avoid overstraining. After he has memorized the entire poem, let him start
with a new one, but not forget to revive the old one at frequent intervals. If
he finds it impossible to add the necessary number of new verses, by reason of
other occupation, etc., let him not fail to keep up his review work. The
exercise and review is more important than the mere addition of so many new
verses.
Let
him vary the verses, or poems with prose selections. He will find the verses of
the Bible very well adapted for such exercise, as they lend themselves easily
to registration in the memory. Shakespeare may be used to advantage in this
work. The "Rubaiyat" of Omar Khayyam; or the "Lady of the
Lake" by Scott; or the "Song Celestial" or "Light of
Asia" both by Edwin Arnold, will be found to be well adapted to this
system of memorizing, the verses of each being apt to "stick in the
memory," and each poem being sufficiently long to satisfy the requirements
of even the most ambitious student. To look at the complete poem (any of those
mentioned) it would seem almost impossible that one would ever be able to
memorize and recite it from beginning to end, letter perfect. But on the
principle of the continual dripping of water wearing away the stone; or the
snowball increasing at each roll; this practice of a little being associated to
what he already has will soon allow him to accumulate a wonderfully large store
of memorized verses, poems, recitations, etc. It is an actual demonstration of
the catchy words of the popular song which informs one that: "Every little
bit, added to what you've got, makes just a little bit more."
After
he has acquired quite a large assortment of memorized selections, he will find
it impossible to review them all at one time. But he should be sure to review
them all at intervals, no matter how many days may elapse between each review.
The
student who has familiarized himself with the principles upon which memory
depends, as given in the preceding chapters, will at once see that the three
principles of attention, association and repetition are employed in the natural
method herein recommended. Attention must be given in order to memorize each
verse in the first place; association is employed in the relationship created
between the old verses and the new ones; and repetition is employed by the
frequent reviewing, which serves to deepen the memory impression each time the
poem is repeated. Moreover, the principle of interest is invoked, in the
gradual progress made, and the accomplishment of what at first seemed to be an
impossible task—the game element is thus supplied, which serves as an
incentive. These combined principles render this method an ideal one, and it is
not to be wondered that the race has so recognized it from the earliest times.
NEXT CHAPTER
How to Remember Books, Plays, Tales, etc.
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