In my eighth grade public...
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In my eighth grade public speaking class, our teacher was Mr. Evans. He had given us several days of general instruction about speech making. On the big day, Bob Ducator was the first one called upon. He spoke clearly about his home-made scooter made out of various materials scrounged from here and there. Mr. Evans said Bob had shown ingenuity as a craftsman and that he had done well in telling us about it. Then Dolly Merrill was called upon. She had planned to talk about her family's summer trip. At the front of the classroom, she looked at all our faces gazing back at her, and opened her mouth to speak. But nothing came out. No sound, not even a groan. After a few embarrassing moments, Mr. Evans said, "Dolly, did you take a trip this summer?" "Yes," said Dolly, still standing in front of the class. "Did you jot out some notes for us today?" "Yes," she said. "Do you think your trip would be of interest to us?" "Yes," she replied almost weeping. "Then, come on, Dolly, tell us about it." But nothing came out of her mouth, nothing at all. After class, Mr. Evans and Dolly talked about the problem. I overheard Dolly burst out, "But, but, I looked at all those faces, and I frrrrozze with ffffearrrr." "Dolly," said Mr. Evans, "You have a story to tell us and we want to hear it; please make another try tomorrow." -- Hoornstra
