[This lesson is adapted from the outline of Dr. Vincent, in the
Chautauqua Normal Guide.]
_I. There are four Uses of Illustrations._
1. They win and hold _attention_. The ear is quickened to interest by
a story; the eye is arrested by the picture or the chalk mark. Nothing
awakens and retains the interest more than the illustration, whether
heard or seen.
2. They aid the _apprehension_. The statement of a truth is made plain
where it is illustrated, as the rule in arithmetic is seen more clearly
in the light of an example; and the definition of a scientific word in
the dictionary by the picture accompanying it.
3. They aid the _memory_. It is not the text, nor the line of thought,
but the illustrations, which keep the sermon or the lesson from being
forgotten.
4. They awaken the _conscience_. How many have been aroused to conviction
of sin by the parable of the Prodigal Son; and what is that but an
illustration? So, many, like Zinzendorf, have been awakened by some
picture of a Bible scene. Mr. Moody’s stories have sent the truth home as
deeply as his exhortations.
_II. There are four Classes of Illustrations._
1. Those which depend upon the _sight_, and derive their interest from
the pupil’s delight in seeing. Such are maps, pictures, diagrams, etc.,
and when drawn in presence of the scholar, though ever so rudely, they
have an increased interest and power.
2. Those which depend upon the _imagination_. At no period in life is
the imagination as strong as in childhood, when a rag doll can be a baby
and a picture has real life. Thence come “word-pictures,” fairy stories,
imaginary scenes, etc., as illustrations of the lesson.
3. Those which depend upon _comparison_. To see resemblance in things
different, or the correspondence between the outward and the spiritual,
is as old as the parable of the sower, and the miracle of the loaves.
“The likes of the lesson” form a fruitful field for the use of
illustration.
4. Those which depend upon _knowledge_. More than for anything else
children are eager to know; and the story has an added value which is
true. History, science, art, and indeed every department of knowledge
will furnish illustrations of spiritual truth.
_III. How to obtain Illustrations._
1. By gaining knowledge, especially Bible knowledge. The wider the
teacher’s range of thought, the more readily will he find illustrations
to fit his thought. Particularly will the incidents of Bible story be
found to furnish the frame for his thoughts in the class. Know the
stories of the Bible, and you will have an encyclopædia of illustration
in your mind.
2. By the habit of observation. People find what they are seeking
for, and the teacher who is looking for illustrations will find them
everywhere, in books, among men, on the railway train, and in the forest.
3. _By the preservation of illustrations._ The scrap book for clippings,
the blank book for stray suggestions, the envelope, will all have their
uses. Plans innumerable have been given, but each worker’s own plan is
the best for himself.
4. _By practice in the use of illustrations._ The way to use them is to
_use_ them, and use will give ease. The teacher who has once made the
experiment will repeat it, and find that his rough drawing, or his map,
or his story will always attract the eager attention of his scholars.
_IV. A few hints as to the use of Illustrations._
1. Have a clear idea of the subject to be taught. Learn the lesson
first of all, and know what you are to teach, before you seek for your
illustration.
2. Use illustrations only in the line of the teaching. Never tell a story
for the sake of the story, but always to impress a truth; and let the
truth be so plain that the story must carry its own application.
3. Obtain the help of the scholar in illustration. Let the pupils suggest
Bible incidents or Bible characters which present the traits of character
which the lesson enforces. Never add a feature to the portrait which the
scholar can himself give from his own knowledge.
4. Do not use too many illustrations. Let not the lesson serve merely as
a vehicle for story-telling, or picture drawing, or blackboarding; but
keep _the truth_ at all times in the foreground.