#memorization

[thatsbelievable]

[0moon--jelly0]

Second part!

You're welcome XD

[thesobsister]

There was a period in the late-19th through the mid-20th-centuries during which learning poetry by heart and then reciting it in class was part and parcel of the rote memorization that comprised a sizeable chunk of the elementary-school curriculum.

Longfellow's Paul Revere's Ride and The Village Blacksmith, Whittier's Barbara Frietchie, Whitman's O Captain! My Captain!, Kipling's If, Thayer's Casey at the Bat, Tennyson's The Charge of the Light Brigade—these are just a few examples from among the most popular poems taught to generations of U.S. schoolchildren as a way to train their minds, improve their public speaking, and inculcate patriotic and moral teachings.

The existence of a corpus of poems taught from coast to coast served to provide children with a shared cultural background. When one watches cartoons of the '30s and '40s, and references are made that would certainly stump children today and many adults as well, it's useful to recall that these would've been part of the shared storehouse of knowledge imparted, at least in part, by the memorization of poetry.

While not as enduring a poetic legacy as Longfellow's or Whitman's, James Whitcomb Riley's reputation in the late-19th century as the "people's poet" was built on vernacular poetry that was accessible to children and adults alike. Little Orphant Annie was one of his two best-known poems—the later soundalike comic strip by Harold Gray certainly took its name from it—and was, as with many of his other poems, didactic in nature.

Didacticism was a very strong strain of children's literature in the 19th century, with "proper," i.e., Protestant Christian, morals threaded more or less heavy-handedly throughout. This was true on both sides of the Atlantic. And there was little sugarcoating of the fates facing froward children. The didactic nature of the poetry made it a natural for the classroom, where the Duke of Wellington's apocryphal quote "The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton" underscored, in parents' and teachers' minds, the importance of primary education in the moral formation of children into adults.

Little Orphant Annie (1885) James Whitcomb Riley

Little Orphant Annie’s come to our house to stay, An’ wash the cups an’ saucers up, an’ brush the crumbs away, An’ shoo the chickens off the porch, an’ dust the hearth, an’ sweep, An’ make the fire, an’ bake the bread, an’ earn her board-an’-keep; An’ all us other childern, when the supper things is done, We set around the kitchen fire an’ has the mostest fun A-list’nin’ to the witch-tales ‘at Annie tells about, An’ the Gobble-uns ‘at gits you              Ef you                 Don’t                    Watch                       Out!

Onc’t they was a little boy wouldn’t say his prayers,— So when he went to bed at night, away up stairs, His Mammy heerd him holler, an’ his Daddy heerd him bawl, An’ when they turn’t the kivvers down, he wasn’t there at all! An’ they seeked him in the rafter-room, an’ cubby-hole, an’ press, An’ seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an’ ever’wheres, I guess; But all they ever found was thist his pants an' roundabout-- An’ the Gobble-uns’ll git you              Ef you                 Don’t                    Watch                       Out!

An’ one time a little girl ‘ud allus laugh an’ grin, An’ make fun of ever’one, an’ all her blood an’ kin; An’ onc’t, when they was “company,” an’ ole folks was there, She mocked ‘em an’ shocked ‘em, an’ said she didn’t care! An’ thist as she kicked her heels, an’ turn’t to run an’ hide, They was two great big Black Things a-standin’ by her side, An’ they snatched her through the ceilin’ ‘fore she knowed what she’s about! An’ the Gobble-uns’ll git you              Ef you                 Don’t                    Watch                       Out!

An’ little Orphant Annie says when the blaze is blue, An’ the lamp-wick sputters, an’ the wind goes woo-oo! An’ you hear the crickets quit, an’ the moon is gray, An’ the lightnin’-bugs in dew is all squenched away,-- You better mind yer parents, an’ yer teachers fond an’ dear, An’ churish them ‘at loves you, an’ dry the orphant’s tear, An’ he’p the pore an’ needy ones ‘at clusters all about, Er the Gobble-uns’ll git you              Ef you                 Don’t                    Watch                       Out!

Publicity material for the 1918 film version starring Colleen Moore in her first leading role.

[notsosaucystuff]

Here's some memorization tips I gave my class. Hope someone finds them helpful!

1. Become familiar with the script by reading through the entire work.

2. With a highlighter or marker, highlight all your lines and make notes on your entrances and exits or any blocking we have gone over in class. Remember the stage directions: Stage Left (actors left) = SL, Stage Right (actors right) = SR, Upstage (furthest from the audience) = US, Downstage (closest to the audience) = DS and Center Stage = CS

3. Repetition, repetition, repetition. Always repeat your lines out loud. For lengthy lines, split them up in parts. Once you have a sentence memorized move on to the next and repeat both sentences until you are able to repeat both without looking at the paper.

4. Remember your cues. Learn when your scene partner says their line and when you are meant to say yours.

5. Record yourself saying your lines. Listening works a different part of your brain and aids in memorization and character developmental work.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Laura Zalenga.

* * * *

I had broken myself of the habit of thinking in short song cycles and began reading longer and longer poems to see if I could remember anything I read about in the beginning. I trained my mind to do this, had cast off gloomy habits and learned to settle myself down. … I began cramming my brain with all kinds of deep poems. It seemed like I’d been pulling an empty wagon for a long time and now I was beginning to fill it up and would have to pull harder. I felt like I was coming out of the back pasture. I was changing in other ways, too. Things that used to affect me, didn’t affect me anymore. I wasn’t too concerned about people, their motives. I didn’t feel the need to examine every stranger that approached.”​

—Bob Dylan [Follies Of God]

[cynidae]

THEATRE KIDS I REQUIRE HELP!

It is times of great turmoil like these that I must call upon our community and request help from the half I am not associated with, the actors. I trust you will give me the advice I require.

HOW DO I MEMORIZE A SCRIPT 😭

I have a performance on Saturday and like the little procrastinator I am I can struggle through 1082/2002 words I have to memorize in this stupid monologue I wrote. HOW DO I MEMORIZE THIS. I request help. I will forever be in debt to you.

With much grace, a sets and transition person who has immense stage fright and horrid memory

[nekojirou]

Has anyone have a recommended method on remembering faces and patterns? I recently learned about Mnemonics and Memory Palace and it sure is helpful specially when learning language and numbers, but faces and patterns?

Since I was in highschool I realized I have a hard time remembering people's faces. I call it "faceblindness" (and surprised years later to learn there really was such a term), if your face is normal and complete, I'll have a hard time remembering you. I remember mannerisms, scent, sound of voice mostly, fashion, personality and the "feel" a person emits (ex: he's annoying) height and hair/skin color. You can even have the brightest blue eyes and I still won't remember the rest of your face. But strangely, there are people who are striking to me for whatever reasons. They don't have to be beautiful, just, randomly, I think, my brain lets me remember someone's face once in a while even there's nothing special about them. I can also mostly remember a person's face if we spent a lot of time together (mostly years) so I'm afraid I won't be helpful if a police needs a witness statement on a crime scene. And it's embarassing to ask an acquaintance who they are whenever I meet them.

So yeah, a method on remembering faces and patterns will be helpful. The pattern part? It's for learning joseki.

[p4perstars]

Days 12-13

|11/23-24/2024|

🎶 Firework - Katy Perry

+ Reading bits were completed

+ Not enough studying done but it was a bit

+ Halfway through my readings for this week

+Talked to the room mate and made... progress? We'll see

+> Everything still stands just with closer deadlines and I am terrified

!! Practicum and exam next weekkkk- I'm gonna die

:0 The formal was a lot of fun- even if it did take a while to really ramp up

I am making the decision to combine my weekend posts and post them the next morning unless I make significant progress... Anyway- this has been a very disappointing weekend

[actingmasterclassseries]

Memorize Like an Elephant

Want to strengthen your memory and sharpen your focus?

Join @jadeestebanestrada for an engaging workshop that explores how top performers, speakers, and professionals train their brains to retain information with ease and confidence.

You’ll learn a toolkit of memory techniques used by memory champions and cognitive coaches, including:

The Memory Palace (Method of Loci)

Mnemonics and visual hooks

Chunking for better organization

Spaced repetition for long-term retention

Storytelling as a memorization superpower

Whether you're giving a presentation, learning new material, or just tired of forgetting names, this workshop will help you remember more, stress less, and have a lot of fun along the way.

Hope to see you there!

Time: 6-9 p.m. CST

Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Platform: Zoom

Cost: $50 | $25 mid-year special through July 7 | Link in comments

Info/registration: actingmcseries@gmail.com

Photo: Mayra Alexandra

Become a supporter of the Acting Masterclass Series at Buy Me a Coffee.

[chaos-ducks]

Scrolling through tumblr peacefully when

Shoot shoot goddamnit I have to memorize this 5 paragraph monologue by tomorrow or I’ll never get anywhere in my nonexistent acting career

[zeros-on-a-critical-lie]

HWAT THE FUCK HOW DO YOU DO THAT. THST MANY DIGITS????

Recite it over and over again (when you're alone) until you're confident you know that many digits by heart. Then add three more. Repeat as necessary. I initially only intended to reach "169", because it was the first string to contain a humorous number, but I couldn't help myself.

[passingmyged]

Memorizing vs Deep Knowledge

I had an interesting discussion with a colleague yesterday, about what and how much to memorize, especially in preparation for essay and practical tests. Both of us got bad advice as teens in school, to just memorize everything. During college and in our careers, we discovered how absurd and WRONG that advice was. LOL we each nearly got busted out of training by examiners who thought we memorized too much and didn't understand things in depth.

Memorize the things you do not have time to look up in books or online. Such things you need to know and apply promptly. For other things, you should know where to where to find the information. In my career, there are a lot of rules and machine limitations we must know dead cold. Examiners would ask a lot of "scenario" questions, where you must talk at length and juggle a lot of different concepts. They wanted rules and numbers memorized, but "how and why" to be understood.

That said, delivering a 20 minute talk or 4000 word essay requires you to deeply understand the topic. LOL I don't mean at the level of a PhD, but as a competent person who knows the field and won't get lost or try to bullshit out of a question. It is different from having things memorized. To sit or stand before an audience and show mastery requires you to cover multiple concepts, explain how they relate to one another, and apply what you know.

Study, but then practice by writing out brief essays on the smaller topics. Work out the awkward wordings or funky logic. Learn the limits of what you know and have a sense of when you are weak in some area, so you can focus you studies there. It is an iterative, "do then do again" process.

[daulaires]

taking the mnemonics im using to memorize info for this class to the grave

[agmagazinescans]

The Whole You: Brain Power

American Girl Magazine, September/October 2003

[Ko-Fi Donations]

[shakespearenews]

Dr Darren Freebury-Jones, a lecturer in Shakespeare studies at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, has discovered “striking similarities” between phrases recited by Thorello in Every Man in His Humour and those in Shakespeare’s Othello, Hamlet and Twelfth Night – all written between 1600 and 1603.

He told the Guardian: “What I’ve found are some really interesting connections in terms of language, which suggest that Shakespeare was, perhaps unconsciously, remembering his own lines.”