(d) The fact that he hoped to escape the notice of the Cid.
2. He was teachable. We know it because he needed but two lessons.
3. He was brave. We know it from his conduct in battle.
4. He had many noble characteristics. We know it because be became the trusted friend of the Cid.
Put into the form of a composition, we might expect something like this:
“Martin Pelaez, when we first knew him, was an arrant coward, for though strong, well-formed and versed in the use of arms, he more than once fled before the enemy. He had other traits of a coward, as we may know from his actions in hiding in his tent and hoping to escape the eye of his master and unfairly gain the reputation of a brave knight.
“Later, however, under the wise treatment of the Cid he was made ashamed of his cowardice, conquered it and became a courageous warrior. In fact, he was one of the bravest and most powerful knights in the army of the Cid.
“More than that, Martin Pelaez developed all the traits of a gentleman. He became a good keeper of secrets, was wise in counsel and brave in action.”
The foregoing is a good example of exposition, the third of the four forms of prose composition.
Argument. The Boston Massacre by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Volume IV, page 217) offers several good questions for debate. We may select the decision of the judges (page 223) as the one furnishing the best opportunity. Hawthorne says, “The judges told the jury that the insults and violence which had been offered to the soldiers justified them in firing at the mob.”