Page:Memory; how to develop, train, and use it - Atkinson - 1919.djvu/187

Rh 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