Recitations and Dialogues for Bands of Hope

Dublin Core

Title

Recitations and Dialogues for Bands of Hope

Description

This book is the second volume of selections for young people to recite at Band of Hope meetings. It contains solo recitations and dialogues for children and adolescents of both genders. A “Temperance Debate for Senior Members,” “Abstinence or Drink–which is best?” is included at the end. Published in London, the collection includes selections from contemporary British and American contributors, as well as canonical poets and authors such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathanial Hawthorne, Lord Byron, and Robert Southey. Some pieces were originally written for the collection, while the rest were reprinted from other sources. Many selections promote temperance arguments and political activism, such as “Prohibition Defined,” “When is the Time to sign the pledge?” and “Where there’s drink there’s danger.” Some require props, music, or specific gestures or actions.

Many pieces link sobriety to hard work while promoting the culturally dominant gendered division of labor. The ten “very little boys” performing “When I’m a Man” list different occupations they will one day pursue, including farmer, carpenter, blacksmith, bricklayer, shoemaker, printer, doctor, minister, and teacher. At the end, they all promise: “Whatever we do, this thing we say, / We’ll do our work in the very best way. / And you shall see, if you know us then, / We’ll be good and honest and sober men; When we are men!” While boys’ selections required speakers to articulate arguments in favor of a sober life, girls were considered less at risk of becoming drunkards. Still, all children’s pieces celebrate industriousness. In “Being Useful,” a little girl holds “a piece of needle-work in her hand” and lists all of the tasks she helps with around the house.

Source

Recitations and Dialogues for Bands of Hope vol. II (London: United Kingdom Band of Hope Union, n.d., ca. 1870s-1880s).

Files

fullsizeoutput_dbc.jpeg

Collection

Reference

Recitations and Dialogues for Bands of Hope

Cite As

“Recitations and Dialogues for Bands of Hope,” Performing Temperance, accessed March 28, 2024, https://franceswillardhouseperformingtemperance.omeka.net/items/show/8.