on MEMORIZATION
By the end of her second year at Miss Stephenson's, Ume was at the top of her class, covered with glory at the school's second annual commencement ceremony, the news of which had reached Sutematsu and the Bacons in Colebrook. "A large number of premiums were distributed, and it will surprise the public to learn that not less than four of them were received by the young Japanese, Miss Ume Tsuda, for composition, writing, arithmetic and deportment," the Daily National Republican announced. "And it may be stated here that, at a previous examination of the class in elocution, while the remainder of the pupils read their pieces from a book, this child recited hers from memory, without making a single mistake, and her piece was the White-footed Deer, by Bryant." |