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Test Bank for Developing Person

Through Childhood and Adolescence,


11th Edition Kathleen Stassen Berger
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Name: __________________________ Date: _____________

1. Briefly describe the first three stages of sensorimotor intelligence, including the months
of age that each stage covers. For each stage, give an example of an infant's behavior.

2. Briefly describe stages four through six of sensorimotor intelligence, including the
months of age that each stage covers. For each stage, give an example of an infant's
behavior.

3. Your friend has a 10-month-old infant. She's considering buying an expensive set of
infant learning software to train her baby's cognitive ability. What advice would you
give your friend about the wisdom of buying such a program? Give at least two reasons
for your recommendation.

4. Explain the nature and limitations of memory in infants aged 0 to 9 months.

5. Define object permanence and tell when it begins. Describe how it is measured in
laboratory settings and how it can be revealed in informal settings. Why is this concept
considered a major milestone in cognitive development?

6. Describe the five stages of spoken language development from birth until the first
birthday.

7. Describe the five stages of spoken language development from 12 to 24 months of age.

8. Explain the characteristics of child-directed speech. Why is it used all over the world?

9. How do the views of B. F. Skinner and Noam Chomsky differ in their explanations of
infant language acquisition? Explain each view, and then defend the one that seems
more convincing to you.

10. Explain two ways in which parents can help to ensure that their baby develops good
language skills.

Page 1
11. Explain what the Gibsons meant by an affordance and give an example.

12. Identify the four basic theories of language learning and describe them.

13. According to Piaget, the first period of cognitive development is the _____ period,
which lasts from birth until about age 2.

14. The first two stages of sensorimotor intelligence are _____ circular reactions.

15. Stage four of the sensorimotor period is known as “new adaptation and _____.”

16. A psychologist who hides a toy under a blanket to see if an infant will try to uncover it
wants to see if the child understands _____.

17. If a toddler sees an object hidden first in one place and then in another, he or she will
continue to search in the first place. This error is known as _____.

18. Noting that children between 12 and 18 months of age engage in extensive
experimentation and exploration, Piaget described the toddler of this age as the _____.

19. In the final stage of sensorimotor intelligence, toddlers begin to anticipate and solve
simple problems by using _____ combinations.

20. One way to determine whether an infant recognizes something is to use a(n) _____
study.

21. The perspective of cognition that is modeled on computer functioning is called _____
theory.

22. Infants can recognize that some situations _____ different opportunities than other
situations do.

23. One way to test infants' awareness of height is to use the _____ cliff.

Page 2
24. Research with 3-month-old infants demonstrates that _____ sessions can help a baby to
recollect an idea, thing, or experience without necessarily testing whether he or she
remembers it at the moment.

25. Adults may not remember information that was stored in infancy because adults tend to
rely on _____ memory.

26. Compared to ordinary speech, child-directed speech has a _____ pitch.

27. The distinct form of language used by adults to communicate with babies is called
child-directed speech, or _____.

28. _____ is referred to as child-directed speech by scientists.

29. An infant's repetition of syllables such as “ba-ba” is called _____.

30. A single-word utterance that expresses a complete thought is called a(n) _____.

31. When two-word combinations begin around 21 months, it is apparent that a toddler has
begun to comprehend _____ rules.

32. The fact that variations in a child's vocabulary size correlate with the amount of
language that child has heard underlies the _____ theory of language learning.

33. The _____ theory of language learning stresses that infants are social beings who learn
language in order to communicate with other people.

34. The acronym LAD stands for _____, a mental structure proposed by Chomsky as an
explanation for infants' ability to learn to speak.

Page 3
35. Piaget called an infant's first period of cognitive development _____.
A) sensorimotor intelligence
B) adaptation
C) object awareness
D) imitative learning

36. During the sensorimotor stage, _____ are the raw materials for infant cognition.
A) words and language
B) past and future events
C) senses and motor skills
D) logic and critical thinking

37. Piaget's stages reveal that he believed children begin cognitive development at _____.
A) birth
B) 3 months
C) 1 year
D) 18 months

38. In Piaget's terminology, sensorimotor stage one is described as _____.


A) the stage of reflexes
B) making interesting sights last
C) first acquired adaptations
D) new adaptation and anticipation

39. When 1-week-old Justine feels too warm, she reflexively cries. According to Piaget,
Justine is in stage _____ of the sensorimotor period.
A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four

40. In Piaget's terminology, sensorimotor stage two is described as _____.


A) the stage of reflexes
B) first acquired adaptations
C) making interesting sights last
D) new adaptation and anticipation

Page 4
41. Freddy has been sucking his thumb for a few weeks. His parents would prefer him to
use a pacifier, so they begin to offer one. But Freddy rejects the pacifier and continues
to suck his thumb. Freddy is most clearly in stage _____ of Piaget's theory of
sensorimotor development.
A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four

42. Three-month-old Everett sucks vigorously on a breast when he is eating a meal, pressing
the nipple against the roof of his mouth to maximize the milk in his mouth. He sucks
firmly and rhythmically when sucking on a pacifier to fall asleep, with less pressure
from his tongue. These sucking adaptations imply that Everett is in Piaget's stage _____.
A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four

43. In which of Piaget's sensorimotor stages do infants seek to make interesting events last?
A) stage one
B) stage two
C) stage three
D) stage four

44. “Do you want to play patty-cake?” Sofia asks her infant daughter. The baby responds by
clapping her hands. In which stage of sensorimotor development is Sofia's baby?
A) stage one
B) stage two
C) stage three
D) stage four

45. In which of Piaget's sensorimotor stages do infants adapt, anticipate, and become more
deliberate in responding to people and objects?
A) stage one
B) stage two
C) stage three
D) stage four

Page 5
46. Adriana and her mother have been playing patty-cake, but mother is now trying to
engage Adriana in a picture book. Adriana wants to play patty-cake again, so she grabs
mother's hands and puts them together as if in a clap. Adriana is clearly in which stage
of sensorimotor development?
A) stage one
B) stage two
C) stage three
D) stage four

47. The first of Piaget's sensorimotor stages that involves an infant's interaction with
something else is _____.
A) stage one
B) stage two
C) stage three
D) stage five

48. The behavior of an infant in sensorimotor stage four might best be described as _____.
A) deliberate
B) experimental
C) creative
D) anxious

49. The behavior of an infant in sensorimotor stage four might best be described as _____.
A) goal-oriented
B) redundant
C) stubborn
D) unintentional

50. An example of stage-three sensorimotor behavior is _____.


A) thumb sucking and self-soothing
B) looking for a smile and smiling back
C) searching for a teddy bear hidden under a blanket
D) trying to dress like Mommy or Daddy

51. Sensorimotor stage four is the stage of _____.


A) making interesting sights last
B) new means through active experimentation
C) new means through mental combinations
D) new adaptation and anticipation

Page 6
52. Stage three of sensorimotor development is characterized by trying to continue an
experience, whereas stage _____ is characterized by initiating and anticipating events.
A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five

53. Baby Hugh enjoys playing with his dad's keys, but when his dad takes them away, Hugh
does not search for them. Piaget would say that this is because Hugh does not
understand _____.
A) conservation
B) object permanence
C) egocentrism
D) affordances

54. _____ is the understanding that objects continue to exist when they cannot be seen.
A) Object permanence
B) Acquired adaptation
C) Mental representation
D) Object continuity

55. Object permanence is demonstrated by an infant who _____.


A) laughs when a sibling makes faces
B) grasps a rattle and bangs it on the floor
C) willingly lets go of an object
D) searches for a toy that has fallen from sight

56. In full view of the baby, Piaget would cover an interesting toy with a cloth to test _____.
A) primary circular reactions
B) the stage of making interesting events last
C) object permanence
D) reflexes

Page 7
57. Mary hides Ramy's favorite toy under a blanket while Ramy watches. Ramy removes
the blanket and squeals when he sees the toy. Mary again hides the toy, but this time
under a different blanket. Even though Ramy saw where Mary hid his toy, he still looks
under the first blanket before removing the second blanket and retrieving the toy. Ramy
has displayed _____.
A) lack of centration
B) lack of object permanence
C) habituation
D) the A-not-B error

58. One benefit for parents of their infant's lack of object permanence is that _____.
A) they can put a desirable object out of sight, and their infant will forget about it
B) the infant will not desire any specific objects
C) different objects can serve as security objects
D) parents can permanently delay the onset of materialistic attitudes

59. Annette, a 6-month-old human infant, and Dash, a 4-year-old Border collie, are both
interested in a squeaky toy. When the toy is hidden from view, what will Annette and
Dash do?
A) Annette will forget about it; Dash will search for it.
B) Annette will search for it; Dash will forget about it.
C) Both Annette and Dash will forget about it.
D) Both Annette and Dash will search for it.

60. Piaget referred to toddlers in sensorimotor stage five as _____.


A) little heathens
B) tertiary infants
C) little scientists
D) blank slates

61. According to Piaget, a stage-five sensorimotor baby is like a _____.


A) child in the “terrible twos”
B) neurotic person who cannot take no for an answer
C) mime who imitates behavior of all kinds
D) scientist who experiments to see what will happen

Page 8
62. Tia is fascinated with the toilet. So far, her parents have caught her trying to flush a
stuffed animal, a toy cell phone, and a handful of dog kibble. Which sensorimotor stage
is Tia in?
A) stage three
B) stage four
C) stage five
D) stage six

63. Which research method do toddlers use during stage five of cognitive development?
A) survey
B) case study
C) trial and error
D) correlational

64. Piaget's sixth stage of sensorimotor intelligence is known as the stage of _____.
A) mental combinations
B) interesting observations
C) primary reactions
D) new adaptation and anticipation

65. Dashiel is 20 months old. His mother tells him that he must not touch the candle that she
just lit, and then she turns her back to continue tidying the room. When she turns back
around, she sees Dashiel trying to dip his finger in the melted wax under the flame.
What best explains Dashiel's behavior?
A) Dashiel is demonstrating early evidence of a deviant personality.
B) Dashiel's actions were driven by curiosity.
C) Dashiel may have a hearing problem.
D) Stubbornness is part of Dashiel's personality.

66. Penny, who is in Piaget's sixth stage of cognitive development, observed her older sister
using a curling iron. Later, when she was alone, Penny tried to use the curling iron and
burned her hand. Penny has displayed _____.
A) primary reaction
B) interesting observations
C) deferred imitation
D) new adaptation and anticipation

Page 9
67. During Piaget's sixth stage of sensorimotor intelligence, toddlers begin to enjoy playing
with inanimate objects as if they were real. This is the beginning of _____ play.
A) pretend
B) parallel
C) rough-and-tumble
D) cognitive

68. Research indicates that infants reach the milestones of stage six of Piaget's sensorimotor
intelligence _____ Piaget originally predicted.
A) earlier than
B) later than
C) at the same time as
D) in a different sequence than

69. Mariska is participating in a research study to determine whether she can detect the
difference between two amounts: a circle containing two dots versus a circle with no
dots inside. The researcher shows her the empty circle repeatedly until she looks away
while it is on the screen. Then the researcher shows Mariska the circle with two dots in
it and records how long she stares at it. What research method is being used?
A) observation
B) habituation
C) implementation
D) visualization

70. Callie is 5 months old. She sees her mother's cell phone and reaches for it. Callie's
mother understands the progression of object permanence, so she realizes that the
easiest way to protect her phone and to keep Callie from getting upset is to _____.
A) give the phone to Callie to play with
B) place the phone out of Callie's sight
C) tell Callie “no” in a stern voice
D) give Callie something else to play with

71. Which statement has been demonstrated in experiments?


A) Six-month-old infants can recognize their own image in the mirror.
B) Piaget's assertions about the age at which object permanence develops are correct.
C) Three-month-old infants appear surprised if an object vanishes.
D) Object permanence can be acquired earlier with proper training.

Page 10
72. Johanna watches while her mother hides a toy under a blanket. Her mom asks, “Where
is it?” Then Johanna jerks away the blanket to reveal the toy. About how old is
Johanna?
A) 2 months
B) 4 months
C) 8 months
D) 16 months

73. Which theory compares human cognition to the workings of a computer?


A) behavioral theory
B) information-processing theory
C) adaptive theory
D) Piaget's theory of cognitive development

74. Cooper sees his mother come through the door after work. He squeals, “Mama!”
Information-processing theorists would call his exclamation an example of _____.
A) a linguistic supplier
B) habituation
C) an output
D) a calculation

75. Piaget's theory asserts that development occurs in stages, and information-processing
theory asserts that development _____.
A) occurs in stages
B) occurs in bursts
C) occurs continuously
D) occurs in sudden leaps

76. Timo pays attention to voices, developing expectations of the rhythm of spoken words,
as revealed by a habituation test. Timo is at least how old?
A) 4 months
B) 6 months
C) 8 months
D) 12 months

Page 11
77. Justin is a 6-month-old infant. He focuses intently on new stimuli and quickly becomes
habituated. What can we infer about Justin's cognitive abilities?
A) He habituates quickly because he doesn't understand the stimulus.
B) His tendency to focus intently indicates that he might develop
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
C) He habituates quickly because he has trouble paying attention.
D) His behaviors might indicate greater intelligence.

78. The environment offers many opportunities to interact with whatever is perceived.
These opportunities are known as _____.
A) affordances
B) cognitions
C) habituations
D) clarifications

79. Geraldo loves to climb, and there are many opportunities for him to do so around his
home: on the bookshelf in the living room, the decorative rocks in the front yard, and
the ladder for the slide at the park. Each of these opportunities is _____ for climbing.
A) suitable
B) habituating
C) an affordance
D) a motivator

80. A visual cliff is used to assess infants' _____.


A) visual acuity
B) perception of depth
C) kinesthetic awareness
D) ability to crawl

81. To test an infant's depth perception, mothers attempt to lure their infants to cross a(n)
_____.
A) bridge
B) visual cliff
C) elevated platform
D) crowded room

Page 12
82. Greg is 10 months old, and he refuses to crawl across the visual cliff even though his
mother is encouraging him to do so. When he was 6 months old, he squirmed across it
without hesitation. What has changed for Greg?
A) His experience with crawling has led him to understand that crawling over an edge
affords falling.
B) His visual system has matured sufficiently to detect depth.
C) He has developed an insecure attachment with his mother.
D) He must have fallen from an elevated height since his last test on the visual cliff.

83. Research has shown that 6-month-olds can distinguish whether a person whose face is
covered is happy or angry, based on body movements alone. This accuracy is due to
_____.
A) babies' experiences with television characters
B) emotional affordances
C) tertiary circular reactions
D) habituation

84. Infants pay attention to _____ more than anything else.


A) animals
B) motion
C) vehicles
D) static objects

85. Infants prefer to stare at _____.


A) stuffed animals
B) their pet dog while it sleeps
C) their pet dog while it scampers around the house
D) photographs

86. Babies who were taught “baby signs” by way of their parents reading a book to them, or
by a video lesson presenting the signs, revealed that babies learn language best from
_____.
A) video lessons, because of the eye-catching movement and colors
B) video lessons, because of the baby's innate interest in information coming from a
screen
C) parents, because of the direct interaction
D) both – the lesson plan was the same, so it was equally effective.

Page 13
87. _____ memory is not verbal and begins by 3 months of age.
A) Explicit
B) Implicit
C) Declarative
D) Semantic

88. Janie is a 3-month-old infant participating in an experiment. She's lying in her crib with
one end of a ribbon tied to her foot and the other end tied to a mobile dangling over her
crib. She quickly learns that she controls the movement of the mobile with her kicking.
One week later, the researchers return, tie the ribbon to her foot, and hang the mobile
above her crib. Immediately, Janie starts vigorously kicking her leg. What does this
experiment demonstrate?
A) Three-month-olds can remember things for at least a week.
B) Three-month-olds can relearn the kicking strategy very quickly at the second test.
C) Kicking behavior is very easy to learn.
D) Mobiles are very interesting to 3-month-olds.

89. Research on infants' long-term memory has shown that infants can remember if the
researchers _____.
A) use situations that are different from real life
B) do not let the baby move during the memory event
C) use highly emotional events
D) use special measures to aid memory retrieval, such as reminder sessions

90. The fact that 3-month-olds do not spontaneously remember a kicking strategy that they
learned two weeks earlier suggests that _____.
A) 3 months
B) 5 months
C) 7 months
D) 9 months

91. Implicit memory begins by 3 months; _____ memory takes longer to emerge, because it
depends on language.
A) linguistic
B) immediate
C) explicit
D) recognition

Page 14
92. According to theorists who believe that infants teach themselves language, infants are
primed to learn associations between parts of speech due to the infants' _____.
A) pattern of reinforcements from their parents
B) powerful social motivation to communicate
C) innate base for learning
D) transition from babbling to reflexive language

93. Newborns prefer _____.


A) their mother's language more than any other language
B) animal sounds more than speech
C) normal speech more than baby talk
D) traffic noises more than music

94. Harris is a 3-week-old newborn. A test of habituation reveals that he prefers listening to
his mother's language over any other language. Harris _____.
A) understands the words in his mother's language
B) comprehends his mother's language
C) recognizes the rhythm, sound, and cadence of his mother's language
D) is designed to specifically learn his mother's language

95. What role does an infant's attention to mouth movements play in his or her
understanding of language?
A) Mouth movements are irrelevant to understanding spoken language.
B) Babies do not pay attention to mouth movements of speakers.
C) When there is a mismatch between mouth movements and word meaning, babies
will rely on the word meaning.
D) When there is a mistiming between the mouth movements and the audio, babies
will notice the mistiming.

96. During the newborn period, the primary means of communication is _____.
A) meaningful
B) reflexive
C) babbling
D) cooing

97. The usual order of the development of spoken language in an infant is _____.
A) cooing, babbling, reflexes, and spoken words
B) reflexes, cooing, babbling, and spoken words
C) babbling, cooing, spoken words, and reflexes
D) cooing, reflexes, babbling, and spoken words

Page 15
98. Peyton is a deaf baby whose parents have been communicating with him in American
Sign Language. At about what age will Peyton express his first signs?
A) 6 months
B) 12 months
C) 18 months
D) 24 months

99. Between 13 and 18 months, infants add approximately _____ new words.
A) 25
B) 50
C) 100
D) 200

100. Amy spontaneously says things such as “mamamamamama” and “dadadadadadada,”


without referring to anything specific. About how old is Amy likely to be?
A) 2 months
B) 3–6 months
C) 6–10 months
D) 10–12 months

101. Darius is learning the names of two or three new objects or events every day. This rapid
increase in vocabulary is referred to as the _____ explosion.
A) naming
B) vocabulary
C) object
D) cognitive

102. Becky is a 4-month-old infant whose mother uses a high-pitched voice, simple words or
phrases, and lots of repetition when she speaks. Becky delights in her mother's use of
_____.
A) long, grammatically correct sentences
B) a variety of high and low tones
C) child-directed speech
D) babbling

Page 16
103. Elaine communicates with her new baby using child-directed speech, which is also
referred to as _____.
A) motherese
B) echolalia
C) holophrastic speech
D) telegraphic speech

104. The distinct language form known as child-directed speech is a _____.


A) verbal collection of facts and myths about having and caring for babies
B) teaching technique used to accelerate language acquisition
C) simplified language that adults use when talking to babies
D) preverbal sound (like “gaga” and “goo goo”) that mothers often make

105. Research has found that child-directed speech is _____.


A) confined to females; males do not use it
B) spoken in a high pitch with simple vocabulary and short sentences
C) unique to English-speaking parents
D) spoken in a low pitch with the use of nonsense words

106. Tony is 8 months old, and he settles down quickly and listens raptly while his mom
sings “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” What factor accounts for Tony's interest in this nursery
rhyme?
A) He remembers the story and loves how it ends.
B) He doesn't remember the story, so the end is always exciting.
C) He loves the rhymes and repetition.
D) He loves the simple plot line.

107. Which is a language development that requires the understanding of another person's
perspective?
A) babbling
B) cooing
C) naming
D) pointing

108. Infants' repetition of certain syllables at the age of about 6 or 7 months is called _____.
A) cooing
B) holophrasing
C) gurgling
D) babbling

Page 17
109. Britta has begun repeating syllables such as “da-da-da-da” and “me-me-me-me-me.”
Britta is in the _____ stage of language development.
A) cooing
B) holophrasing
C) gurgling
D) babbling

110. On average, children begin saying recognizable words at around _____ months of age.
A) 3
B) 6
C) 12
D) 24

111. Brodie just started saying single words such as “mama” and “doggie.” About how old is
Brodie likely to be?
A) 3 months
B) 6 months
C) 12 months
D) 24 months

112. Geoff has begun uttering one-word holophrases (e.g., “Dada!”). About how old is Geoff
likely to be?
A) 3 months old
B) 6 months old
C) 1 year old
D) 2 years old

113. The term holophrase is used to denote _____.


A) a word that is empty of meaning
B) the infant's use of one word to express a whole thought
C) the relationship of object permanence to language development
D) the use of two words to take the place of one

114. James says “more” to mean “I want another cookie.” In this case, “more” is a _____.
A) holophrase
B) preverbal communication
C) babble
D) reflexive communication

Page 18
115. After a child's vocabulary has reached about 50 expressed words, spoken vocabulary
will build _____ over the next several months.
A) slowly
B) rapidly
C) sequentially
D) deliberately

116. As infants acquire language, they say more _____ than any other parts of speech.
A) nouns
B) verbs
C) pronouns
D) adjectives

117. Between 18 and 24 months, when toddlers begin to put words together, they reveal their
understanding of _____ rules.
A) social
B) intentional
C) grammar
D) interaction

118. At approximately what age will a child begin to utter his or her first two-word
sentences?
A) 10–11 months
B) 12–14 months
C) 16–18 months
D) 18–24 months

119. Eric just started saying two-word sentences such as “Dada home” and “Doggie go.”
About how old is Eric likely to be?
A) 10–11 months
B) 12–14 months
C) 16–18 months
D) 18–24 months

120. Abed is an average toddler. His parents can expect him to utter his first multiword
sentence at around _____.
A) 12 months
B) 16 months
C) 21 months
D) 27 months

Page 19
121. The use of prefixes, suffixes, intonation, verb forms, pronouns, and other parts of speech
is known as _____.
A) grammar
B) sentence structure
C) speech patterns
D) syntax

122. Javier's mother is a native Spanish speaker, and his father is a native English speaker.
He hears both languages equally often and is addressed in Spanish by his mother and in
English by his father. If Javier is a typical toddler, how will his language skills be
affected by this early experience?
A) He will be able to understand one language but not the other.
B) He will often mix the two languages together and be unable to differentiate them.
C) He will soon speak both languages.
D) His cognitive skills will lag behind those of similar-aged monolingual children.

123. _____ believed that children learn language by receiving adequate parental attention.
A) Jean Piaget
B) B. F. Skinner
C) Noam Chomsky
D) Leo Vygotsky

124. By 10 months of age, Alan has a vocabulary of a dozen words. B. F. Skinner would
have attributed Alan's rapid speech development mainly to _____.
A) his unusually high I.Q.
B) an unusual language-acquisition talent
C) the amount his parents talk to him
D) rapid physical development

125. Andrew uses incorrect word forms such as “ain't” and incorrect grammar such as “I
don't got none.” What would Skinner say was the source of Andrew's poor language
development?
A) lack of intelligence
B) lack of innate language ability
C) parents rewarded incorrect language use
D) parents role modeled incorrect language use

Page 20
126. Which theorist said that children learn language as a result of reinforcements given by
parents and caregivers?
A) Vygotsky
B) Chomsky
C) Skinner
D) Erikson

127. According to the social-pragmatic theory, infants communicate because _____.


A) humans are social beings
B) babies want tangible rewards
C) babies are hard-wired to acquire language
D) all primates are driven to master words and grammar

128. According to the sociocultural perspective, what is the focus of communication?


A) the context surrounding the communication
B) the content of the communication
C) the emotional messages of speech
D) the sound of the words

129. Heidi is a 12-month-old who communicates with a few one-word holophrases. When
she wants a cookie, she gets her mother's attention, looks directly at her face, and says,
“Cuh-cuh!” while pointing at the kitchen. Heidi's seems to be very interested in ensuring
that her mother understands what she is trying to communicate. Which theory would
account for Heidi's motivation to be understood?
A) behaviorism
B) evolutionary
C) social-pragmatic
D) information-processing

130. Which statement supports the sociocultural perspective of language learning? Toddlers
learn new words _____.
A) by hearing an adult say a new word as they play with an unrelated object
B) when they are taught in person
C) in a group setting
D) by watching others talk

Page 21
131. Janice's mother often lets her 6-month-old baby sit in front of the television watching
episodes of Sesame Street. What is Janice likely learning from the episodes she
watches?
A) how to count
B) how to read
C) new vocabulary words
D) very little

132. When does it first become obvious that a person has discerned the rules of his or her
native language?
A) when the person learns a second language
B) when the person is able to read and write
C) when the person starts using two-word sentences
D) once the person's sentences contain a subject, verb, and object

133. According to Chomsky's theory of language acquisition, _____.


A) children learn language through a complex process of imitation and reinforcement
B) children have an inborn ability to learn language
C) the inability to learn language is due to specific brain dysfunctions
D) language learning utilizes one particular structure in the brain

134. Universal grammar is Chomsky's term for his observation that _____.
A) all young children master basic grammar according to a schedule
B) all grammar rules are the same across all languages
C) some rules of grammar are present in all languages
D) all parents reinforce correct use of grammar

135. The language acquisition device (LAD) was proposed by Chomsky to explain _____.
A) children's vocabulary spurts
B) the difference between surface structure and deep structure
C) the systematic differences among languages
D) children's ability to derive the rules of grammar quickly and effectively

136. Which theory of language acquisition would say that some 5-year-olds are far more
verbal than others because they were born to be so?
A) behaviorism
B) evolutionary
C) sociocultural
D) information-processing

Page 22
137. Which theory of language acquisition would say that some 3-year-olds are far more
verbal than others because they have heard more language?
A) behaviorism
B) evolutionary
C) sociocultural
D) information-processing

138. Susan is a 21-month-old who has just begun to make two-word sentences. Her sentences
already reveal the grammar of her native language, as she produces her nouns and verbs
in the order that mature speakers of her language use. Chomsky would attribute Susan's
quick acquisition of grammatical rules to her _____.
A) intelligence
B) parents' correct use of grammar
C) language acquisition device
D) receiving reinforcement for proper language use

139. In English, which part of speech facilitates the learning of nouns?


A) articles
B) prepositions
C) pronouns
D) adjectives

140. Which type of sentence do infants prefer?


A) declarative statements
B) questions
C) commands
D) complex structures

141. The statement “Multiple attentional, social, and linguistic cues contribute to early
language learning” supports the _____ theory of language learning.
A) behavioral
B) epigenetic
C) hybrid
D) social impulse

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142. Infants learn language to accomplish a variety of goals, so some aspects of language
learning are best explained by one theory at one age and other aspects by another theory
at another age. This fact supports the _____ theory of language learning.
A) behavioral
B) epigenetic
C) hybrid
D) social impulse

143. There are five stages of sensorimotor intelligence.


A) True
B) False

144. According to Piaget, the period of sensorimotor intelligence comes to an end shortly
after the first birthday.
A) True
B) False

145. One of the first acquired adaptations is an accommodation of reflexes—for example, the
reflexes involved in sucking a pacifier.
A) True
B) False

146. A baby in Piaget's stage three of the sensorimotor period will attempt to make
interesting events last.
A) True
B) False

147. By 8 months of age, infants have an understanding of object permanence.


A) True
B) False

148. The fourth stage of Piaget's sensorimotor period is often referred to as ends to the mean.
A) True
B) False

149. Babies in the fourth stage of sensorimotor development work to achieve their goals.
A) True
B) False

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150. Eighteen-month-old babies display object permanence, but they also display the
A-not-B error.
A) True
B) False

151. Deferred imitation is a kind of memory that infants begin to exhibit at about 18 to 24
months of age.
A) True
B) False

152. The stage of tertiary circular reactions is when infants begin experimenting with thought
and deed.
A) True
B) False

153. A toddler in stage five of sensorimotor development is a “little scientist.”


A) True
B) False

154. Babies in the stage of tertiary circular reactions explore the world, actively
experimenting on their environment.
A) True
B) False

155. After completing all of Piaget's six stages of sensorimotor development, the main
cognitive development left for babies to achieve is to learn to use their imaginations.
A) True
B) False

156. Piaget's theory has been criticized for being based on too large of a sample.
A) True
B) False

157. Habituation research is a technique that Piaget developed for testing his theories.
A) True
B) False

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158. Habituation research has revealed that babies are more advanced than Piaget believed.
A) True
B) False

159. New methods of measuring infant brain activity have provided excellent support for
Piaget's theories about the timing of infant cognitive skill acquisition.
A) True
B) False

160. Toddlers enjoy squeezing all of the toothpaste from the tube because they are naturally
naughty during Piaget's stage five.
A) True
B) False

161. The visual cliff is used to determine whether infants recognize that height affords
falling.
A) True
B) False

162. Infants prefer to look at stationary objects over moving objects.


A) True
B) False

163. Reminder sessions can prolong a young infant's memory of earlier events.
A) True
B) False

164. Infants tend to have more language-based explicit memories than adults do.
A) True
B) False

165. The sequence in which language development occurs depends upon which language is
spoken.
A) True
B) False

Page 26
166. The sequence of early language development is universal.
A) True
B) False

167. Motherese refers to the sounds made by babies and imitated by parents in the first few
weeks after birth.
A) True
B) False

168. Babies whose caregivers use child-directed speech learn language more slowly than
babies whose caregivers use adult patterns in their speech.
A) True
B) False

169. Preverbal infants show a preference for child-directed over ordinary adult speech.
A) True
B) False

170. Deaf babies do not babble.


A) True
B) False

171. A child's first word combinations—for example, “More cookie,” or “My toy”—are
called holophrases.
A) True
B) False

172. One word plus gestures, facial expressions, and nuances of tone, loudness, and cadence
make up a holophrase.
A) True
B) False

173. The first two-word sentence appears between 18 and 24 months of age.
A) True
B) False

Page 27
174. A child's grammar use becomes obvious when he or she begins to produce holophrases.
A) True
B) False

175. According to Skinner, a grandfather who smiles whenever the baby says “pa-pa” is
providing reinforcement for talking.
A) True
B) False

176. Reading to infants has no effect on their language learning since they do not understand
most words used in children's books.
A) True
B) False

177. According to Skinner, toddlers with smaller vocabularies have parents who do not talk
to them very much.
A) True
B) False

178. Language acquisition device is a term Chomsky used to refer to the infant's inborn
ability to learn language.
A) True
B) False

179. Chomsky argued that babies are born to learn language.


A) True
B) False

180. The social-pragmatic theory says that babies learn language because they are social
beings.
A) True
B) False

181. Piaget's first two stages of sensorimotor intelligence are called _____.
A) object permanence
B) secondary circular reactions
C) primary circular reactions
D) goal-directed behavior

Page 28
182. The difference between primary and secondary circular reactions is that _____.
A) primary circular reactions involve the infant responding to people and objects
B) secondary circular reactions involve the infant's own body
C) secondary circular reactions involve the infant reacting to people and objects
D) primary circular reactions involve the infant anticipating

183. Tertiary circular reactions are characterized by _____.


A) infants responding to their own bodies
B) infants responding to objects or other people
C) infants habituating to stimuli
D) active independent exploration and experimentation

184. Stage four of sensorimotor intelligence is characterized by _____.


A) primary circular reactions
B) new adaptation and anticipation
C) accommodations
D) object permanence

185. Modern research that includes new technology indicates that infants _____.
A) do not respond to child-directed speech
B) have neurons that lack functional electrical activity
C) make some cognitive advances earlier than Piaget proposed
D) have “infantile amnesia”

186. Recent research on early affordances provides evidence that _____.


A) input and cognitive processing become slower with age
B) input becomes quicker with age, but cognitive processing stays the same
C) input and cognitive processing do not show much change until the child is much
older
D) even during the first year of life, age makes a difference in which affordances will
be perceived and then acted on

187. Most developmentalists agree that very young infants can remember if _____.
A) they try hard enough
B) they are rewarded for correct performance
C) they are in the same environment or context as the initial experience
D) researchers establish a supportive environment for study

Page 29
188. When do infants begin learning language?
A) before birth
B) at birth
C) around 2 to 4 months
D) at 12 months

189. The typical order of spoken language development is _____.


A) reflexive, cooing, babbling, simple words
B) cooing, squealing, vowel sounds, simple words
C) squealing, cooing, reflexive, simple words
D) cooing, babbling, reflexive, simple words

190. Most babies speak their first recognizable words by _____.


A) 6 months
B) 8 months
C) 10 months
D) 12 months

191. Cultural differences in communication appear to influence _____.


A) whether new talkers say names
B) whether the baby prefers nouns over other parts of speech
C) which words, accents, and linguistic patterns the infant favors
D) the use of holophrases

192. According to Chomsky, how do infants learn language?


A) They are taught language.
B) They have a natural capacity for language learning.
C) They are socially motivated to communicate.
D) They use a combination of strategies.

193. Behaviorists believe that a mother who _____ will stimulate her child's communication
skills.
A) uses sign language
B) uses reinforcement
C) ignores mistakes
D) points out mistakes

Page 30
194. The social-pragmatic theory of language development highlights the importance of
_____.
A) impulsive teaching
B) brain maturation
C) social interaction
D) innate traits

195. Scientists have attempted to integrate the three main theories of language development
into one theory known as a _____.
A) hybrid theory
B) universal grammar
C) cognitive theory
D) language acquisition device

Page 31
Answer Key
1. Stage One: Reflexes. These include all of the reflex actions apparent at birth (such as
rooting, sucking, and grasping). This stage lasts for the first month of life. The infant
gains information about the world through the repeated use of these reflexes.

Stage Two: First Acquired Adaptations (or First Habits). This stage lasts from ages 1 to
4 months and includes behaviors such as thumb sucking, through which the infant
learns the limits of his or her own body.

Stage Three: Making Interesting Things Last. This stage covers 4 to 8 months of age.
The behaviors include those through which the infant interacts with things in the
environment, such as shaking a rattle, clapping hands, and kicking to make a crib
mobile move.

Good (5 pts) Fair (3 pts) Weak (0-1 pts)


Describe the first Names the first three Describes two of the Does not describe at
three stages of stages, gives the age first three stages and least two stages or
sensorimotor ranges, and describes gives their age ranges name them
intelligence what occurs in each without including the
stage name of each stage
Give an example of Gives an example of Gives an example of Gives an example of
what an infant does what an infant does in what an infant does in what an infant does in
in each stage (shown each stage two stages one or no stages
in boldface above)
2. Stage Four: New Adaptation and Anticipation (Means to an End). This stage lasts from
8 to 12 months of age and includes goal-directed behaviors. This comes from an
enhanced awareness of cause and effect and the emergence of the fine motor skills
needed to achieve these goals, such as pointing, making gestures, and pulling
someone's hands into a clapping motion to encourage patty-cake. Infants keep their
mouths shut if they don't like the food they're offered.

Stage Five: New Means Through Active Experimentation (Little Scientist). This stage
lasts from 12 to 18 months of age. It includes trial-and-error learning behaviors such as
squeezing toothpaste tubes, flushing things in the toilet, and taking something apart
to see what's inside.

Stage Six: New Means Through Mental Combinations. In this stage, lasting from 18 to
24 months of age, toddlers are able to think about the consequences of various
actions mentally without actually having to perform them (such as recalling that
they got in trouble the last time they flushed a teddy bear down the toilet and thus
refrain from flushing something else). At this stage toddlers can pretend and engage in
deferred imitation. This means they copy behavior that they observed hours or even
days earlier.

Good (5 pts) Fair (3 pts) Weak (0-1 pts)

Page 32
Describe stages four Names the three Describes two of the Does not describe at
through six of stages, gives the age three stages and gives least two stages or
sensorimotor ranges, and describes their age ranges name them
intelligence what occurs in each without including the
stage name of each stage
Give an example of Gives an example of Gives an example of Gives an example of
what an infant does what an infant does in what an infant does in what an infant does in
in each stage (shown each stage two stages one or no stages
in boldface above)
3. I would discourage her from making the software purchase. First of all, 1) the
Association of Pediatricians recommends NO screen time for children prior to the age of
2. In addition, I would stress 2) the limitations of infant memory. I'd also emphasize that
3) infants learn the most and the fastest by interacting with a teacher. Plus, 4) time spent
with the software would reduce the time the baby spends using his or her senses and
motor skills to explore the environment. Such behaviors are necessary for normal
developmental milestones to occur on schedule.

Good (5 pts) Fair (3 pts) Weak (0-1 pts)


Offer advice Offers at least two Offers at least one Offers no valid reason
reasons why the reason why the why the software
software shouldn't be software shouldn't be shouldn't be purchased
purchased purchased or recommends that
the software be bought
4. 1) Infants have difficulty storing new memories in their first year. 2) One reason is
linguistic: People use words to store memories, so preverbal children have difficulty
with recall. 3) After about 6 months of age, infants retain information for a longer time
than younger babies do. For example, if a 9-month-old watches someone playing with a
toy he or she has never seen, the next day, the 9-month-old will play with the toy in the
same way as he or she had observed. 4) Infant memory is fairly simple. 5) Repeated
experiences are more likely to be remembered than single experiences. This is seen in
language learning as well as in learning new behaviors. 6) When teaching a new
activity, such as how to play with a new toy, several demonstrations will probably be
necessary before the child remembers the sequence of activities.

Good (5 pts) Fair (3 pts) Weak (0-1 pts)


Explain the nature States at least three of States at least two of States one or none of
and limitations of the six points listed the six points listed the six points listed
infant memory above above above
5. Object permanence is a child's awareness that an object or person continues to exist
even when out of sight. It begins around the age of 8 months. In a laboratory, it is tested
by showing a baby an object and then covering the object with a cloth. Babies who have
achieved object permanence will remove the cloth to reveal the object. In more casual
settings, it is revealed by a baby looking for an object or a person who is not in the
room. This understanding is vital to the future development of language, which allows
one to refer to objects and things that are not necessarily present.

Page 33
Good (5 pts) Fair (3 pts) Weak (0-1 pts)
Define object Defines object Defines object Does not define object
permanence and permanence and when permanence or tells permanence or when
when it starts it starts when it starts it starts
Describe how it is Describes how it is Describes how it is Does not describe how
measured measured in a lab and measured in a lab or it is measured in a lab
seen in an informal seen in an informal or seen in an informal
setting setting setting
Explain its Explains its Is vague about why Does not explain its
importance importance to object permanence is importance to
language learning important language learning
6. Newborn: Reflexive—cries, movements, facial expressions
2 months: Meaningful noises—cooing, fussing, crying, laughing
3–6 months: New sounds—squeals, growls, croons, trills, vowel sounds
6–10 months: Babbling—consonant and vowel sounds in repeated syllables
10–12 months: Comprehension of simple words; speechlike intonations; specific
vocalizations that have meaning to those who know the infant well. (Deaf babies
express their first signs; hearing babies also use specific gestures—e.g., pointing—to
communicate.)

Good (5 pts) Fair (3 pts) Weak (0-1 pts)


Identify the five Identifies the five Identifies four stages Identifies three or
stages of spoken stages fewer stages
language from 0 to
12 months of age
Describe the five Briefly describes each Briefly describes four Briefly describes three
stages of the stages of the stages of the stages
7. 12 months: First spoken words that are recognizably part of the native language
13–18 months: Vocabulary reaches 50 words.
18 months: Naming explosion—three or more words learned per day. Much variation:
Some toddlers do not yet speak.
21 months: Two-word sentences
24 months: Multiword sentences

Good (5 pts) Fair (3 pts) Weak (0-1 pts)


Identify the five Identifies the five Identifies four stages Identifies three or
stages of spoken stages fewer stages
language from 12 to
24 months of age
Describe the five Briefly describes each Briefly describes four Briefly describes three
stages of the stages of the stages of the stages
8. All normal human infants are very similar in their capacity to perceive and respond to
language. Child-directed speech is also known as baby talk or motherese. Its
characteristics are adults speaking in 1) high-pitched sounds 2) using simple words and
3) short sentences. Since babies respond more to these sounds than to normal adult
speech, their language acquisition develops more rapidly when motherese is used.

Page 34
Child-directed speech is used worldwide because it features language adaptations that
are best suited for communication with infants and fostering language acquisition.

Good (5 pts) Fair (3 pts) Weak (0-1 pts)


Explain the Explains at least two Explains at least one Does not give any
characteristics of characteristics of characteristic of characteristics of
child-directed speech motherese motherese motherese
Tell why motherese Tells why motherese Is vague about why Does not express why
is used worldwide is used worldwide motherese is used motherese is used
worldwide worldwide
9. Noticing that an infant's first babbles are reinforced with smiles, repetition of the sound,
and other forms of attention, Skinner believed that parents' responses reinforce the
development of speech in their babies. In Skinner's behavioral theory, parents and other
caregivers are teachers of language. In contrast, Chomsky believed that infants are born
with an innate language acquisition device (LAD) that equips them to learn language on
their own. According to his view, language learning is the result of neurological
maturity.

Good (5 pts) Fair (3 pts) Weak (0-1 pts)


Contrast views of Explains both Explains one Cannot explain either
Skinner and researchers' researcher's viewpoint researcher's viewpoint
Chomsky viewpoints
Defend one of the Defends one of the Defends one of the Does not choose a
viewpoints viewpoints and gives a viewpoints without viewpoint or fails to
reason giving a reason give a reason for
choosing a viewpoint
10. 1) Parents must begin speaking to the baby early—long before the baby can reply. They
must 2) give the baby plenty of exposure to language, through conversation, reading,
and songs. Parents should 3) use proper grammar and vocabulary when speaking to the
child, as babies learn these things from their parents' own language use.

Good (5 pts) Fair (3 pts) Weak (0-1 pts)


Explain two ways in Explains two ways Explains one way Does not explain a
which parents help way
their baby develop
language skills
11. An affordance is an opportunity within a child's environment that allows for perception
and interaction. Many situations afford the opportunity for a toddler to practice a skill,
such as running. Some are more appropriate than others (e.g., an open field versus a
parking lot). Both afford running, but one is a good place to run (the field) and one is
not (the parking lot). How a particular affordance is perceived and acted on depends
upon four factors: sensory awareness, immediate motivation, current level of
development, and past experience.

Good (5 pts) Fair (3 pts) Weak (0-1 pts)

Page 35
Define affordance Defines affordance Defines affordance Does not define
(first sentence above) without giving the affordance
and lists the four four factors
factors (last sentence
above)
Give an example Gives an example Gives a vague Does not give an
such as the running example example
example above
12. 1) Skinner said that infants need to be taught language through association and
reinforcement. Children associate the names of objects and events with their meaning,
and caregivers provide reinforcement for utterances that are close to real language (e.g.,
babbling “ma-ma-ma-ma” is rewarded with smiles). Skinner assumed that children who
use language better are those whose caregivers spoke to them the most.

2) Social-pragmatic learning proposes that social impulses foster infant language.


Children master words and grammar to join the social world of the people around them.
This theory emphasizes that language requires social give-and-take; children cannot
learn language from educational programs alone.

3) Chomsky said that learning language is innate or inborn and that adults do not need to
directly teach it. Children's innate drive to imitate, combined with a predisposition to
derive the patterns in spoken language (thanks to a structure he referred to as a language
acquisition device, or LAD), enable children to acquire the language to which they are
exposed.

4) A hybrid theory proposed by Hollich et al. suggests that there is an emergent


coalition of aspects of several of the theories. This theory contends that each of the three
theories accounts for certain aspects of language acquisition, but all three theories must
be combined to fully understand language acquisition.

Good (5 pts) Fair (3 pts) Weak (0-1 pts)


Identify the four Identifies the four Identifies three of the Identifies two or fewer
basic theories of theories theories theories
language learning
Describe each theory Describes all four Describes three Describes two or
theories theories fewer theories
13. sensorimotor
14. primary
15. anticipation
16. object permanence
17. A-not-B
18. little scientist
19. mental
20. habituation
21. information-processing
22. afford

Page 36
23. visual
24. reminder
25. explicit
26. higher
27. motherese
28. Motherese (motherese)
29. babbling
30. holophrase
31. grammar
32. behavioral
33. sociocultural (social-pragmatic)
34. language acquisition device
35. A
36. C
37. A
38. A
39. A
40. B
41. B
42. B
43. C
44. C
45. D
46. D
47. C
48. A
49. A
50. B
51. D
52. C
53. B
54. A
55. D
56. C
57. D
58. A
59. A
60. C
61. D
62. C
63. C
64. A
65. B
66. C
67. A
68. A

Page 37
69. B
70. B
71. C
72. C
73. B
74. C
75. C
76. A
77. D
78. A
79. C
80. B
81. B
82. A
83. B
84. B
85. C
86. C
87. B
88. A
89. D
90. D
91. C
92. C
93. A
94. C
95. D
96. B
97. B
98. B
99. B
100. C
101. A
102. C
103. A
104. C
105. B
106. C
107. D
108. D
109. D
110. C
111. C
112. C
113. B
114. A

Page 38
115. B
116. A
117. C
118. D
119. D
120. C
121. A
122. C
123. B
124. C
125. C
126. C
127. A
128. C
129. C
130. B
131. D
132. C
133. B
134. A
135. D
136. B
137. A
138. C
139. A
140. B
141. C
142. C
143. B
144. B
145. A
146. A
147. A
148. B
149. A
150. A
151. A
152. A
153. A
154. A
155. B
156. B
157. B
158. A
159. B
160. B

Page 39
Test Bank for Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 11th Edition Kathleen Sta

161. A
162. B
163. A
164. B
165. B
166. A
167. B
168. B
169. A
170. B
171. B
172. A
173. A
174. B
175. A
176. B
177. A
178. A
179. A
180. A
181. C
182. C
183. D
184. B
185. C
186. D
187. C
188. A
189. A
190. D
191. C
192. B
193. B
194. C
195. A

Page 40

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by Alphonse Royer, played over and over again, and Halévy’s La
Magicienne and Félicien David’s Herculanum pass him by, the
Emperor, through the solicitations of the princess Metternich,
opened the doors of the Opéra to Richard Wagner, and decreed that
his Tannhäuser should be given with great pomp and magnificence.
The blow was a cruel one, and Berlioz, beside himself with rage
and disappointment, attacked this unexpected rival and his opera
with a fury that knew no bounds. He did not understand, unhappy
man, that his cause was closely allied to that of Richard Wagner; the
public, influenced by such critics as Scudo, Jouvin, Lasalle, Azevedo
and Chadeuil, was equally hard on both of them and classed them
together as a couple of dangerous madmen; no distinction was made
between the two. The fall of Tannhäuser, towards which Berlioz had
worked with all his energies, resulted in closing to him the stage of
the Opéra, and it also assured in advance the unpopularity of les
Troyens with the public ready to extol or condemn the two
innovators without discrimination. Moreover he saw Gounod,
Gevaert and many others gain access to the Opéra in preference to
himself. At last quite worn out with disappointment, Berlioz decided
to accept the offers of M. Carvalho. This manager had just reopened
the Théâtre-Lyrique and wished to make a great hit in order to
obtain from the government a subsidy of a hundred thousand francs.
But it was no longer a question of playing the whole of les Troyens
at the Théâtre-Lyrique; they would content themselves now with
playing the first three acts, subdivided into five, under the title of les
Troyens à Carthage. The first part of the work Berlioz had published
as la Prise de Troie, but he never heard it performed. Les Troyens à
Carthage was given at the Théâtre-Lyrique Nov. 4, 1863, and scored
a failure, although nothing particularly hostile or unpleasant
occurred on the opening night; the poor author even entertained
faint hopes of future success. It was the cumulative effect of the
scornful articles in nearly all the large newspapers, the ridicule of the
smaller press and of the theatrical parodies, above all the absolute
indifference of the public, leaving his cherished work to drag itself
miserably through a score of performances, that disheartened Berlioz
and killed him. His whole life, indeed, had hung upon this last hope
of success, and with the conviction of genius, at the close of the
general rehearsal he had exclaimed with tears coursing freely down
his cheeks, “It is beautiful, it is sublime!” He retired to his house and
lived there, taciturn, desolate, seeing only a few chosen friends who
tried to console him, and cared for like a child by his mother-in-law;
he had buried his second wife (June, 1862) by the side of the first, in
Montmartre cemetery.
Thanks to the income from his compositions he was able to give up
his post of musical critic of the Débats, which had become
insupportable to him, and was made an officer of the Legion of
Honor. He had been a chevalier for twenty-four years, having been
appointed by M. de Gasparin in 1839, six months before the
performance of Romeo and Juliet. At Paris he found some
consolation in listening to selections from the Childhood of Christ at
the concerts of the Conservatoire, and in seeing people give serious
attention to his compositions and sometimes applaud them heartily,
at the Popular Concerts recently founded by Pasdeloup. Only two or
three times did he consent to go out of France; once to direct the
Damnation of Faust at Vienna, whither he was invited by Herbeck,
court capellmeister; once to conduct the Harold Symphony at
Cologne by the invitation of Ferdinand Hiller; finally to St.
Petersburg at the very urgent solicitations of the grand duchess
Helen, an enthusiastic admirer of his works. But on the eve of his
departure he learned of the death of his son Louis in a distant
country. It was a terrible blow to Berlioz, who was devotedly attached
to this son, a frail, dissipated youth, always discontented with his lot,
and little more than a source of anxiety to his father. He set out for
St. Petersburg with a broken heart, and though overwhelmed with
successes and triumphs, entertained and received like a friend by his
young admirer, the grand duchess, he felt his health failing and his
strength leaving him day by day. On his return he went south,
thinking that the Mediterranean might have a beneficial effect upon
his health and spirits; but twice while walking on the beach, once at
Monaco, afterwards at Nice, he was attacked with vertigo, and fell
fainting to the ground. He returned to Paris, and at the end of two
months believed himself cured of these fainting spells, but the
nervous trouble increased daily. He still had desire and strength
enough left to drag himself to Grenoble in August, 1868, to attend a
musical solemnity at which he was made honorary president by his
colleagues, who were proud of him at last. This was the end; on
Monday morning the 8th of March, 1869, Hector Berlioz quietly and
painlessly breathed his last.
HECTOR BERLIOZ.

Reproduced from a Russian photograph,


selected by von Bulow as being the best
likeness of Berlioz in his later years.

Just a year later the conversion of the public to Berlioz music was
accomplished by means of a grand festival at the Opéra in honor of
the master, organized by his disciple Ernest Reyer. Even up to this
time it was possible to hear Berlioz’s music only at the Popular
Concerts, and then often in the midst of confusion and protestations.
The announcement of this concert gave rise to many pleasantries,
and people agreed, with nods and chuckles, that the best way to pay
honor to such a man was to play music as unlike his as possible.
However, the festival took place on the day appointed, with a
program made up entirely of the master’s works, and some of the
pieces, such as the Waltz of the Sylphs, and the Hungarian March,
caused the liveliest surprise. They had come to laugh and they
listened; they even applauded, and better than with the tips of their
fingers. This was the signal for a reaction, and from that day the
sudden change of opinion was only intensified as the musical public,
who had hitherto tolerated only a few selections, familiarized
themselves with the superb creations of this master and insisted on
hearing successively all his complete works.
His wonderful La Damnation de Faust in particular, so little
appreciated at first, finally had an amazing success and an irresistible
attraction for the crowd, perhaps because the result was assisted by
two or three concert performances. But there is nothing half-way
about a French audience, it has no lukewarm sentiments, and it
praises as immoderately as it condemns. Having once taken the
stand, it accepted and applauded everything from Berlioz’s pen, and
when it had exhausted mere bravos, it easily persuaded itself to erect
a monument to his memory. First it was a question of a simple bust
to be placed upon his tomb in Montmartre Cemetery, then it was
proposed to erect a statue to him in his native city; but Paris did not
wish to do less than Côte-Saint-André, and so it happened that
Alfred Lénoir’s statue of the composer was erected in Vintimille
square near the rue de Calais, the quarter where he spent a long
period of his life and where he died. An exact duplicate of the statue
was erected at Côte-Saint-André in 1890, and surely two statues are
not too many to honor the great artist of whom Auber said with a
little spice of wickedness,—“Yes, this Berlioz is certainly worth
something, but what a pity that his education began so late.”
To-day Berlioz is at the topmost height of fame, and this renown
he has achieved by one work. To the whole musical world he is the
composer of La Damnation de Faust, and neither Romeo et Juliette,
nor L’Enfance du Christ, nor the Requiem, each a masterpiece in its
way, has obtained the widespread success of the first-named work. It
is singular that a purely orchestral composition, La Symphony
Fantastique, should be accorded a second rank in the general
judgment. Strictly speaking, this symphony and La Damnation
present, outside the music written by him for the stage, the
quintessence of Berlioz’s genius. They are the two poles between
which his affluent inspiration oscillates. In the former of these scores
is to be found all the romantic exuberance of youth; the fury of a
latent rebellion against discipline and yet wholly master of itself; a
dazzling wealth of instrumentation; a poetic and delightful coloring.
In the other, of which the style is more varied, burst forth a passion,
an irony, a burning heat, a prodigious intuition of the effects of vast
numbers, a fantastic raillery, a power of dramatic expression without
equal. It is none the less true that genius radiates from many pages of
his other works: the Pilgrim’s March in Harold: the Offertory and
the Tuba Mirum in the Requiem; the Repose of the Holy Family in
L’Enfance du Christ; the Night of the Ball, and the Love Scene from
Roméo et Juliette; the nocturne-duet from Béatrice et Bénédict; the
love-duet, the quintet and the septet in Les Troyens are all bright
inspirations among creations of the highest worth, that met with
great favor, although the works of which they are a part had not the
power to win the masses as they were won by La Symphonie
Fantastique and La Damnation de Faust. These last gratify the
public taste (using the term in its broadest acceptation) because they
are not merely concert music, but have a close affinity with the stage,
in the dramatic stories they illustrate. I believe that the minute
descriptive programme which Berlioz has attached to La Symphonie
Fantastique has been largely instrumental in assuring the success of
this work with a public that mentally follows the imaginary drama,
step by step as the orchestra depicts the various episodes; now
melodramatic, now rustic, now loving, sanguinary and demoniac.
Such is still more the case with La Damnation de Faust. Berlioz’s
work has certainly benefited by the attention drawn to Goethe’s
poem by M. Gounod’s opera; the great mass of the public knew
nothing of the original when La Damnation was first heard by them
in 1846. Nowadays music lovers everywhere are equally well
informed on this point; they understood, from the time that the
opera was given, the meaning of what was recited to them by
Berlioz’s singers, clad in black dress suits and white neckties; they
filled in the gaps in his libretto from what the opera of Faust taught
them; they compared number with number; in fact, by reason of
placing side by side two works so widely unlike each other, they
learned to appreciate the warm, passionate and magnificent power of
Berlioz’s older composition. Thus little by little this product of genius
has forced itself on general admiration as the model on which
Gounod’s Faust was planned.
It is no exaggeration to proclaim La Damnation de Faust a work of
genius, and it excites all the more admiration when we know that
certain numbers, among others, the scene in which Faust is lulled to
sleep by elfins, came from the brain of a composer only twenty-five
years old, and appeared almost perfect in the Huit scènes de Faust
which Berlioz published in 1829, not being able to have it performed,
and which he dedicated to M. de Larochefoucauld. This fine scene,
therefore, dates back to 1828, as does the beautiful song La Fête de
Pâques and also the joyous rondo sung by the peasants. In fact, not
only the grand choruses, but the shorter pieces, the songs of Le Rat
and of La Puce; the ballad, Le Roi de Thule; the romance of
Marguerite, joined arbitrarily to the soldiers’ chorus and La
Sérenade du diable are all fragments of his youthful work that
Berlioz retained in the score of his maturer period and had the skill
to combine anew in several scenes of extraordinary poetic beauty and
richness of effect. How inspired the pretty rustic scene into which he
has inserted, judiciously or otherwise, his admirable Rakoczy March,
written to gain the good will of the Hungarians; the superb
monologue of the doctor, introducing the Easter chorus; the
animated scene at the Auerbach tavern with its bizarre songs and the
ironical fugue on the word Amen; the marvellous scene on the banks
of the Elbe with the fine appeal to the demon; the delightful slumber
chorus of the spirits and the exquisite ballet of the sylphs; the double
chorus of students. Does it not seem that they were all conceived,
composed and written down at a white heat and without a pause
between them? How fascinating and impressive appears the really
devilish serenade of Mephisto, the charming Ménuet des Follets after
the ecstatic air of Faust, the archaic ballad of Marguerite, the
extremely tender love-duet, and the grand final trio with its chorus of
neighbors. The last part is, from beginning to end, absolutely above
criticism. It opens with Marguerite’s sad lament interrupted by the
chorus of students and leads up to the sublime invocation of nature;
to the fantastic path of the abyss; to the lovely song of Seraphim after
the furious suggestions of hell. What a splendid culmination!
Surely La Damnation de Faust is a masterpiece; but Roméo et
Juliette is another and should have enjoyed as great a success. That it
did not is perhaps owing to the fact that in Berlioz’s symphony, vocal
music has only a small place, the instruments alone translating the
sentiments of the characters, the two not being in juxtaposition as
they are in many of the familiar operas of Romeo and Juliet by
Gounod and others which ought to have led to an appreciation of
Berlioz’s score. The seven movements that form this composition are
all of marked worth and are appropriate to the strange plan of the
work. In the first place, the prologue, imitated from Shakespeare,
and of which M. Gounod, later, adopted Berlioz’s idea, presents a
résumé of the work at once complete, grand and delightful, and
comprises the fine verses that Berlioz, strangely enough, caused to be
sung by a Muse in honor of Shakespeare and Poetry. The opening
part includes three incomparable numbers: the poetic and piquantly
agitated revery of Romeo wandering in the garden during the ball;
the love scene between Juliet and Romeo, a masterpiece of
orchestration; the Queen Mab movement, a model of fantastic
airiness; also three numbers in the second part, the funeral of Juliet,
with its penetrating sadness; the death of Romeo, in which Berlioz
has given free rein to his passion for descriptive music, and the oath
of reconciliation, preceded by a stirring recitative and the noble
prayer of the monk. These are so many magnificent fragments,
which, placed side by side according to the composer’s design, form a
creation of a wholly superior order.
HECTOR BERLIOZ.

From an engraving by Auguste Hüssener.

After Faust and Romeo, comes the Requiem,—another triumph; a


romantic composition of the first class, written with feverish
enthusiasm by a master who rather sought to paint a striking picture
to each line of the Requiem than to probe to the literal sense of the
Latin text. The Kyrie is the least eccentric and the most expressive
number. The Tuba Mirum, in particular, produces a tremendous
effect with its four orchestras of brass; an idea that Félicien David
and Verdi borrowed from this. Berlioz has given to the Lacrymosa a
searching pathos. Perhaps the finest movement in the work to which
Schumann rendered such ample justice, is the Offertorium. The
requiem ends with a Sanctus for tenor solo, seraphic in sentiment,
followed by a beautiful Agnus and a lovely, unfugued Amen. It is
fitting to bring together, for comparison, this composition and the Te
Deum written about 1850, of which the finest page is the hymn of the
seraphim, Tibi omnes angeli, that rises to a magnificent crescendo
and dies away at the close on a long and distant chord of the organ.
The prayer for tenor solo, Te ergo quæsumus is equally perfect, and
the final chorus is a majestic number to which Berlioz has attached a
brilliant and thrilling triumphal march for the “presentation of
flags.” It recalls by the vastness of its proportions and its orchestral
massiveness, his Symphonie funèbre et triumphale, so much
admired by Richard Wagner, and of which the peroration, entitled
Apothéose, forced a flattering exclamation of praise from even the
savage Habeneck.
The Symphonie Fantastique, to return to the most applauded
work of Berlioz, after Faust, is one of the most bizarre eccentricities
ever hatched in a composer’s brain; but it is also one of the most
impressive. The first movement, Rêveries-passions, at once so sad
and tender, is, however, excelled by the Scène aux champs, which
soothes and charms us with its peacefulness. It is the most inspired
movement of the symphony. Le Bal and the Marche au supplice are
aflame with the extraordinary verve of the composer, who, taking
motives that are neither very striking nor very original in themselves,
develops them with extraordinary power, and with such fullness that
each movement attains an almost incredible expressiveness. Though
in the Songe d’une nuit de Sabbat, the Dies Iræ is burlesqued and
degraded by the mocking accents of the piccolo, the tinkling of bells,
the bellowing of ophicleides, yet this last part produces an irresistible
effect and drags the hearer along in the train of the hellish turmoil.
In Harold en Italie Berlioz pushes this seeking for extremely varied
tone-colors, and unexpected contrasts, and curious surprises for the
ear so far, that he frequently falls into excess. The fine Marche des
Pélerins has eclipsed the other portions of the symphony, but the
first movement, Harold aux montagnes, is full of poetic melancholy,
and the Serénade d’un montagnard, breathes a tranquil peace with
which the fiery and tumultuous Orgie de brigands forms a powerful,
nay, almost exaggerated contrast.
In the exquisite religious legend L’Enfance du Christ, and the
graceful opera comique, Béatrice et Bénédict we make the
acquaintance of a Berlioz tempered by age and who no longer seeks
to “make a noise in the world.” The second part of his oratorio-
drama La Fuite en Egypte, is universally known through its
delightful chorus of shepherds and its lovely tenor recitative; there is
also much charm in the first duet of Mary and Joseph as they watch
over Jesus. The third part includes a powerfully dramatic scene in
which the fugitives knock in vain at every door, followed by a
patriarchal scene with the beautiful phrase of the father of the family
welcoming Jesus, and the trio, with two flutes and harps, of young
Ishmaelites. This is music that delights the world. It is the same with
the famous duet-nocturne in Béatrice et Bénédict, whose beauty
dwells in the opening strain of Hero’s air, and in the splendid
andante, à la Gluck, sung by Beatrice. What gaiety, perhaps a little
forced now and then, emanates from the mocking duet between
Beatrice and Benedict; from the trio of men and the trio of women.
What exquisite sweetness there is in the Chant d’hyménée heard
from afar; what verve in the piquant rondo sung at the close by the
reconciled lovers!
Benvenuto Cellini, a work that has never been revived, is not one
of the finer achievements of Berlioz; in it we meet too many
concessions to the virtuosity of the conventional opera prima-donna,
but it is pervaded by a spirit wholly youthful, set off by sparkling
instrumentation. The trio of the first act, and the sad air of Teresa;
the grand quartet in the Place Colonne with its different themes
ingeniously blended and strongly marked; the couplets of Ascanio;
the narrative air of Cellini; the scene in which the poltroon
Fieramosca simulates a duel; the charming love-duet between Teresa
and Cellini,—here, indeed, are page after page of limpid melody that
delight their hearers, as did the opening brilliant overture with the
following long carnival scene, which reproduces with extraordinary
effect the mutterings and rumblings of a crowd. This is, in truth, the
climax of the work. To this opera must be joined the overture, Le
Carnaval Romain, written later by Berlioz, and perhaps the most
beautiful of his isolated overtures. In any case, it is that which has
had the greatest success, eclipsing the overture, Les Francs Juges,
even in Germany where it was at first so much applauded, as well as
the overtures, Waverly, The Corsair, and King Lear, the last, though
so expressive, having never enjoyed equal favor with Le Carnaval
Romain.
The tragedy Les Troyens, imitated from Virgil, marked the return
to first principles made by Berlioz when maturity had calmed the
effervescence of youth and the ebulition of middle age. It was taken
up again in a moment of classic aspiration and shows how much the
teachings of Lesueur influenced him. La Prise de Troie and Les
Troyens à Carthage, separate works, but performed together for the
first time at Carlsruhe in December, 1870, are of equal worth and of a
superior order. In La Prise de Troie the despairing appeals of
Cassandra, the tender replies of Corèbe; the fiery choruses, the ballet
music, of which the local color is so appropriate; the epic grandeur of
the benediction of Astyanax by Paris; the excited joy of the Trojan
people welcoming the entrance of the wooden horse; the woe-fraught
prophecies of Cassandra. In Les Troyens à Carthage the peaceful
songs of the Trojans; the sublimely touching melodies of Dido; the
caressing responses of Anna; Æneas’ call to arms, and the stirring
orchestral scene of the royal hunt; the third act, an unmistakable
masterpiece, with its pretty dance tunes, its quintet, its incomparable
septet, and its fine love-duet; the last two acts, with the sweet plaint
of the sailor, Hylas; the pathetic farewell of Æneas and the splendid
death scene of Dido,—all prove that both parts of Les Troyens must
be placed in the same rank as two great works that blend into one
perfect whole.
Berlioz, in addition to his large symphonic and vocal works, wrote
numerous detached songs with orchestral or pianoforte
accompaniment. La Captive, which was greatly extended from the
original sketch written in Italy; Le 5 mai, a magnificent song
glorifying the first Napoleon; Sara la baigneuse, and La Mort
d’Ophélie, lovely works for two female voices; a fine Hymne à la
France; Neuf mélodies Irlandaises, a youthful effort, inspired by the
poems of Thomas Moore; Les nuits d’été, six settings of poems by
Théophile Gautier, are the most notable of this class of compositions.
By adding to these the pieces collected to form Lelio; Rêverie et
Caprice, for violin solo and orchestra; a charming Meditation
religieuse, after Thomas Moore; and a striking Marche Funêbre for
the interment of Hamlet; we have enumerated all the works of
Berlioz, great and small, that are worth remembering.
The true domain of Berlioz, that in which he is really king, is the
orchestra. He gave an extraordinary impetus to the art of
instrumentation,—even after Beethoven and Weber, on whom he
leaned,—by his marvellous instinct for blending the various timbres
of orchestral instruments, by his indefatigable search for new
combinations of tone, by his constant effort to add to the power and
the expressiveness of the orchestra in order to make it translate the
most diverse sentiments, thus giving to his music a stronger relief, a
more animated color. The prodigious result was, that he almost
recreated the art of orchestration, opened a new horizon to it, and
therefore deserves the title of the French Beethoven. Is it not also
astonishing that his genius, audaciously innovating in regard to
instrumentation, exercised an influence not only on all those
musicians who began their career after his success was established,
but on others who were his elders by age and reputation, such as
Meyerbeer, or somewhat younger, such as Richard Wagner? These
two composers, not the least able of their day, having heard the
works of Berlioz at a time when very few took him seriously, had an
intuition of his worth and from the very first felt instinctively even
more than Schumann, that it was necessary to respect this young
man gifted with such extraordinary imagination.
CARICATURE OF BERLIOZ.

By Benjamin—Nov. 1, 1838.

Thenceforward Meyerbeer, one of those rare musicians, be it said


to his honor, who feel a concern for other creations than their own,
took a lively and permanent interest in all that Berlioz produced.
Wagner, on his side, admitted to friends that he no sooner reached
Paris than he made a profound study of Berlioz’s instrumentation;
that he had since reread his scores many times, and that he had often
profited by the works of “that devilishly clever man.” Moreover, from
1841, he regarded Berlioz as a musician filling a place of his own,
mingling with none, while loving, understanding, worshipping
Beethoven; dreaming perhaps to be German in the hours when his
genius urged him to write in imitation of this great master; but
unable to assimilate French love of external effect with Beethoven’s
profound symphonic style; possessing a wonderful fancy, an
imagination of extraordinary energy; torn between his artistic
impulses and the tastes of his fellow countrymen, whom he wished to
win; incapable of asking or of receiving advice; possessed of that
virtue, rare even among Germans, of not wishing to write for money;
turning his back on all musical triviality; eminently fitted by reason
of these qualities and of these faults to create great works, popular or
national as in the Symphonie de Juillet, the best in his eyes, of
Berlioz’s works, and the only one which, to him, seemed destined to
live.
CARICATURE OF BERLIOZ.

By Carjat.

The portrait is pretty, and coming from the pen of Wagner, is


flattering enough, save in its conclusion, which appears somewhat
absurd to-day. But this amazing aptitude for obtaining from an
orchestra more than any other composer had been able to compass,
was exactly the origin of the misunderstanding between Berlioz and
the public. Certainly the so-called learned criticisms of the most
serious journals and the chaffing of the less dignified press,
contributed much to transform Berlioz, in the eye of the masses, into
a species of charlatan hungry for fame and banging his drum
vigorously to attract the mob; denying him genius except for drawing
attention to himself. These slurs, however, would not have taken a
firm hold in the minds of their readers if the adverse criticisms had
been wholly without an appearance of justice. In brief, with what did
they reproach him? of lacking melodic invention and of replacing it
by inextricable orchestral tangles; of rejoicing in diabolical noise and
of entertaining a positive contempt for all music except his own.
Nevertheless, Berlioz was not wanting in melody. His themes, when
separated from their complicated accompaniments, have even a
family likeness to the romanzas of 1840 in the style of Madame
Duchambage or of Blangini; his themes, vocal or instrumental, have
generally a dreamy melancholy, which seem to recall his birthplace,
with its tender and tremulous songs so loved by the peasants of
Dauphiny. These perfectly clear melodies, whenever he was content
to give them simple accompaniments, met with instant recognition
and success from the public. Among them is La Captive in its first
version; also the tenor recitative in La Fuite en Egypte. It seemed
surprising that the composer of these delicate melodies should be the
one who wrote such complicated music, and so the ignorant were
taught that these melodic treasure-troves were wholly exceptional
with this troublesome, demented and blustering composer.
What repelled the public and assisted its misunderstanding on this
point, were the intricacies of his deeply-studied and curiously-
strange method of orchestration. In carrying out the idea that by the
aid of the most varied tone combinations every shade of meaning in a
piece of music can be made clear to the listener, Berlioz, imbued as
he was with the teachings of Lesueur, had a tendency to overcharge
the more novel touches of his musical picture, in order to indicate
the secondary details with that distinctness which seemed
indispensable to him. From this practice arose confusion in the mind
of the inexperienced hearer, and produced cloudiness in the music
from which the dominant idea could not be detached without an
effort. On the other hand he gave utterance to many noble and
touching thoughts with pathetic declamation, poetic and richly-
colored orchestration, and impressive sonority; essential qualities in
Berlioz that are really wonderful and on which his enemies, notably
Fétis, were careful not to throw light. On the contrary, they did their
uttermost to discourage the public from bestowing attention on these
works, and they succeeded only too well and too long.
Here then is one of the causes that made amateurs rebel, on
principle, against the innovations of this great composer; but another
cause, inherent in the soul of Berlioz, repelled timid people. It was
his spirit of intolerance and of exclusive self-admiration. Carried
along by the impulse of the time and the desire to insure victory for
his art theories, Berlioz did not hesitate to attack the reputations of
the most cherished idols of the hour; therefore, whether he wrote, or
whether he spoke, he indulged his natural disposition to exaggerate
everything with virulent indignation, and outbursts of mad
enthusiasm in support of the artistic faith that swayed him. The
public did not and could not understand him, and irritated by his
fierce aggressive tone, held itself instinctively on guard against the
creations of this fighting innovator and stood ready to pay him the
price of his contempt for it. Between a rancorous public offended by
the disdain this iconoclast manifested for its tastes, and an artist who
never exhausted the taunts he had in store for it, there was always an
antagonism, skilfully intensified by the personal foes of the master
and which ceased only at his death.
Antagonism is the true word, for Berlioz in his vocal works at least
never departed from the models so dear to the public. In fact, so far
as opera is concerned, he remained ever the disciple and admirer of
Spontini and of Gluck, without dreaming that he was destined soon
to initiate a revolution in this branch of musical art. Even when, at
the height of his own romantic fervor, he broke down the barriers of
the symphony, there always remained in Berlioz an instinctive
respect for consecrated forms; and as soon as he passed from the
concert-room to the stage he conformed in the most ingenious
manner imaginable to the old methods in all his works written with
an eye to the opera house. He was deliberately revolutionary in the
symphony only, and that chiefly in respect to instrumentation.
With this creator, endowed with a phenomenal genius in a certain
way, the ideas regarding the essential conditions of musical art were
so unsettled, and changed so often from one time and from one style
to another, that he would have been puzzled to formulate them with
any exactness. He emitted fire and flames, he hurled curses and
roared bitter denunciations, but when it came to deciding the ideal
that an artist should follow or the absolute principles he should
adopt, he did nothing.
There exists a radical difference between the two great musicians
who have convulsed the musical world in the second half of this
century. The later-comer, Richard Wagner, pursued a fully defined
ideal, a single problem, on the solving of which he had long
concentrated his thoughts and all the force of his genius, viz.:—the
fusion of music and the drama. He kept steadily in this one path and
brought the music-drama to the highest point it is possible for it to
attain. Berlioz, on the contrary, realized at one stroke all the
modifications that seemed to him desirable to fasten upon the
symphony and the opera. He did not seek an integral reform, but
simply wished to enrich each branch of musical art with new
descriptive and picturesque elements. But while his flexible brain
turned now toward the stage, now toward the church, or the concert-
room, he did not deviate much from the traditional forms, though he
endowed them with new and wonderful characteristics.
Warmly romantic with Shakespeare, purely classic with Virgil, who
were his literary deities, he was eclectic in literature as in music. The
splendid lyric accents of Gluck are not in full harmony with the deep
poetic and chivalric inspiration of Weber, and the lack of
resemblance between Spontini and Beethoven is still more striking,
yet Berlioz loved them all. It matters not that Berlioz confounded
these masters in his religious admiration of them and made for
himself a double personality, repudiating all rule and tradition when
he wrote for the orchestra and for the concert stage, and becoming a
pious observer of hallowed forms when he turned to the theatre. In
his Les Troyens, the voice parts are of a wholly classic purity while
the orchestra abounds in modern romanticism; in Béatrice et
Bénédict, delightful inspirations, exquisite in their poetry, are
mingled with the conventional forms that Berlioz mercilessly
condemned in the works of others: inexplicable vocal flourishes,
repetitions of words, outrages on prosody, the clipping of rebellious
words; all this by a composer in whose eyes correct declamation was
a fundamental essential of song.
Such was the composer Berlioz, such the critic, and the critic was
not unhelpful to the composer. In fact, all that he was in France, all
that he was able to win, during his lifetime, he owed to his position
as a writer for the press and as the friend of influential journalists.
But he made many enemies, less by the aggressiveness of his writings
than by his caustic wit. There was in him an imperative necessity to
tell the public his hates and his loves, and if he did not always feel
free to give bold expression to the disgust with which certain works
filled him, he invariably let his contempt be seen through his
polished and even laudatory phrases. At least, nobody was ever
deceived. The musician in Berlioz is impassioned, now tender, now
vigorous. It is the same with the writer. His style is picturesque and
incisive, sometimes trivial. Side by side are exclamations of
admiration and contempt; quasi religious respect and genuinely holy
anger, all equally energetic and sincere—the word and the blow. To
appreciate this at its full value, it suffices to select at hazard one of
the collection of articles published by himself in book form under the
titles, Les Soirées de l’orchestra, Les Grotesques de la musique, in
which the humorist tone prevails and A travers chants, which
contains his most serious thoughts; the two volumes of letters
published after his death, Correspondance inédite et lettres intimes;
and finally his amusing and fascinating Mémoires, in which he
travesties himself unreservedly and confuses somewhat the dates
and facts. This book is a genuine romance.
Berlioz, bitter and unsympathetic as it here pleases him to appear,
was wholly unconventional; he was the athlete constantly stripped
for the combat, and armed for the fight. How different from the
Berlioz seen in his profession and in society! As much as those, who
knowing him but slightly, judged him hard and unsociable, so much
did those to whom his affections went out, laud his extreme kindness
and his tenderness of feeling. He was not prepossessing in
appearance or manner. His esteem and friendship had to be won
little by little, in order to open by some means or other, the way to
his heart. He no sooner found himself among friends, than his spirits
rose and often urged him into countless pleasantries. Nevertheless,
even toward these he showed the most variable disposition: he would
arrive sullen and morose, and then without warning, would break
into wild and infectious gaiety, to fall just as suddenly into icy
reserve. A troublesome thought would suffice for this, and it only
needed an inopportune word to make him intractable. If he chanced
to be in the mood for brilliant paradoxes or merry persiflage, it was
necessary to refrain from interrupting or opposing him. In the heat
of conversation, no matter how serious, he loved to utter wretched
puns, and absurd verbal extravagances. These irrepressible sallies, at

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