Composition-Rhetoric

by Stratton D. Brooks; Marietta Hubbard

EXERCISES

Consider each of the following propositions. Do you believe the affirmative or the negative?

1. This city needs a new high school building.

2. All the pupils in the high school should be members of the athletic association.

3. The school board should purchase an inclosed athletic field.

4. The street railway should carry pupils to and from school for half fare.

5. There should be a lunch room in this school.

6. Fairy stories should not be told to children.

+Theme XLII.+—Write a paragraph telling why you believe one of the propositions in the preceding exercise:

(What questions should you ask yourself while correcting your theme?)

+76. Order of Presentation.+—If you were preparing to debate one of the propositions in the preceding exercise, you would need to have in mind both the reasons for and against it. Next you would consider the order in which these reasons should be discussed. This will be determined by the circumstances of each debate, but generally the emphatic positions, that is, the first and the last, will be given to those arguments that seem to you to have the greatest weight, while those of less importance will occupy the central portion of your theme.

+77. The Brief.+—If, after making a note of the various advantages, examples, and other arguments that you wish to use in support of one of the propositions in Section 75, you arrange these in the order in which you think they can be most effectively presented, the outline so formed is called a brief. Its preparation requires clear thinking, but when it is made, the task of writing out the argument is not difficult. When the debate is to be spoken, not read, the brief, if kept in mind, will serve to suggest the arguments we wish to make in the order in which we wish to present them. The brief differs from the ordinary outline in that it is composed of complete sentences. Notice the following brief:—

Manual Training should be substituted for school athletics.

Affirmative

1. The exercise furnished by manual training is better adapted to the
developing of the whole being both physical and mental; for—
a. It requires the mind to act in order to determine what to do
and how to do it.
b. It trains the muscles to carry out the ideal of the mind.

2. The effect of manual training on health is better; for—
a. Excessive exercise, harmful to growing children, is avoided.
b. Dangerous contests are avoided.

3. The final results of manual training are more valuable; for—
a. The objects made are valuable.
b. The skill of hand and eye may become of great practical value
in after life.

4. The moral effect of manual training is better; for—
a. Athletics develops the "anything to win" spirit, while manual
training creates a wholesome desire to excel in the creation
of something useful or beautiful.
b. Dishonesty in games may escape notice, but dishonesty in
workmanship cannot be concealed.
c. Athletics fosters slovenliness of dress and manners, while
manual training cultivates the love of the beautiful.

5. The beneficial results of manual training have a wider effect upon the
school; for—
a. But comparatively few pupils "make the team" and receive the
maximum athletic drill, while all pupils can take manual
training.

+78. Refutation or Indirect Argument.+—In debate we need to consider not only the arguments in favor of our own side, but also those presented by our opponents. That part of our theme which states our own arguments is called direct argument, and that part in which we reply to our opponents is called indirect argument or refutation. It is often very important to show that the opposing argument is false or, if true, has been given an exaggerated importance that it does not really possess. If, however, the argument is true and of weight, the fact should be frankly acknowledged. Our desire for victory should not cause us to disregard the truth. If the argument of our opponent has been so strong that it seems to have taken possession of the audience, we must reply to it in the beginning. If it is of less weight, each separate point may be discussed as we take up related points in our own argument. Often it will be found best to give the refutation a place just preceding our own last and strongest argument.

From the foregoing it will be seen that each case cannot be determined by rule, but must be determined for itself, and it is because of the exercise of judgment required, that practice in debating is so valuable. A dozen boys or girls may, with much pleasure and profit, spend an evening a week as a debating club.

+Theme XLIII.+—Prepare a written argument for or against one of the propositions in Section 75.

(Make a brief. Re-arrange the arguments that you intend to use until they have what seems to you the best order. Consider the probable arguments on the other side and what reply can be made. Answer one or two of the strongest ones. If you have any trivial arguments for your own side, either omit them or make their discussion very brief.)

+79. Cautions in Debating.+—When we have made a further study of argument we shall need to consider again the subject of debating. In the meantime a few cautions will be helpful.

1. Be fair. A debate is in the nature of a contest, and is quite as interesting as any other contest. The desire to win should never lead you to take any unfair advantage or to descend to mere quibbling over the statement of the proposition or the meanings of the terms. Win fairly or not at all.

2. Be honest with yourself. Do not present arguments which you know to be false, in the hope that your opponent cannot prove their falsity. This does not mean that you cannot present arguments in favor of a proposition unless you believe it to be true, but that those you do present should be real arguments for the side that you uphold, even though you believe that there are weightier ones on the other side. Do not use an example that seems to apply if you know that it does not. You are to "tell the truth and nothing but the truth," but in debate you may tell only that part of the "whole truth" which favors your side of the proposition.

3. Do not allow your desire for victory to overcome your desire for truth. Do not argue for the sake of winning, nor develop the habit of arguing in season and out. In the school and outside there are persons who, like Will Carleton's Uncle Sammy, "were born for arguing." They use their own time in an unprofitable way, and what is worse, they waste the time of others. They are not seeking for truth, but for controversy. It is quite as bad to doubt everything you hear as it is to believe everything.

4. Remember that mere statement is not argument. The fact that you believe a proposition does not make it true. In order to carry weight, a statement must be based on principles and theories that the audience believes.

5. Remember that exhortation is not argument. Entreaty may persuade one to action, but in debate you should aim to convince the intellect. Clear, accurate thinking on your own part, so that you may present sound, logical arguments, is the first essential.

+Theme XLIV.+—Prepare a written argument for or against one of the following propositions:—

1. Boys who cannot go to college should take a commercial course in the high school.

2. Novel reading is a waste of time.

3. Asphalt paving is more satisfactory than brick.

4. Foreign skilled labor should be kept out of the United States.

5. Our own town should be lighted by electricity.

6. Athletic contests between high schools should be prohibited.

(Consider your argument with reference to the cautions given in Section 79.)