ARGUMENT
87. General Principle.—There is probably no form of expression with which you are more practically acquainted than argumentation, both from using it yourself and from having it employed on you. If you go to college, you will study the theory of it in connection with logic and you will have a great many hard names to learn and a complicated system to understand; but, as a matter of fact, you find now that if you greatly care to have something done or not done, you will instinctively find reasons for supporting your views. You did this even as a little child, when you wished to do something your parents did not think advisable, or to be excused from doing something they desired you to do. Although this may be the first time you have consciously thought of argument as a form of composition, you must have had a great deal of practical experience in it.
It has been pointed out several times in this book that the very first thing to consider in any form of expression is the reader to whom you address yourself. Owing to the frequent practical use you have made of argument in conversation, this will be easy for you to remember when you now come to write it. That is, you are so used to making your arguments suit the persons you are trying to persuade, that you do it instinctively. Even a little child puts forth different reasons for action when trying to persuade his mother from those which he would put forth when trying to persuade a playfellow; and you feel, without the necessity of stopping to think at all, that you should use different arguments with your mother from those which would be likely to convince your teacher.
But the next step in composing, which has been mentioned throughout the book, is more necessary in argumentation than in any other form of expression. You must not only have an outline in mind for what you are about to say, but that outline should be written, and almost as much time and thought should be given to it as to the composition itself; for clear thought is the great essential in argumentation, and a carefully prepared outline is the greatest help to clear thought.
88. The Introduction.—There are three parts to every outline for a discussion or argument. First comes the introduction, or statement of the subject. To write this clearly, you need to remember the principles of exposition, because often the introduction to an argument is merely a clear exposition of the subject. It is very necessary to be perfectly clear in this introduction, so that your reader may have a definite idea of what it is you are about to discuss. Sometimes people discuss at great length, only to find that from neglect to state the subject clearly they have been arguing about quite different questions. For instance, suppose that the following subject is selected for a discussion: Pupils under fifteen years of age should not be taken out of school to earn money for their families. The statement and full exposition of the subject in the introduction to the argument should exclude cases where there is no other possible source of income for the family; otherwise you and your opponent may be discussing a question about which you really agree.
In your introduction, therefore, give first a perfectly plain statement of your subject,—what are the generally admitted facts about it (facts which even your opponent must admit), and what it is you wish to prove.
Exercise 136.—In the following subjects for discussion, see if you can pick out the place where the statement is indefinite and might lead to misunderstanding. Write one paragraph on each, defining, limiting, and making clear the subject as you see it, and another on the generally admitted facts in the case as distinct from the points which are debatable.
1. Animals in captivity are better off than in their natural state.
What kind of captivity? What kind of animals? What do you mean by being "better off"—merely "healthier" or "happier" or "more secure"?
2. A boy's club should not study history.
What kind of boys? What kind of history? Is history taught in the schools? Do these boys go to school?
3. All girls should learn to be housekeepers.
What do you mean by "housekeeper"? Do you mean that they should learn nothing else?
4. It is not harmful for children to read fairy tales.
How about nervous, excitable children who cannot sleep after a fairy story? How about dreadful tales of witches and hobgoblins that make the healthiest child afraid of the dark?
5. It is wrong to kill animals.
Do you include noxious and dangerous ones? Or animals used for food?
89. The Reasons.—The second part of your argument consists of the statement of the various proofs and reasons you advance to make people think and feel as you do about your subject. It is well to divide your subject into several main divisions or points, and take these up one by one; also to set down separately your main arguments. These should be arranged in what is called "climactic order,"—that is, the more unimportant reasons first and the better and stronger ones after, leading up to the argument which you think is your strongest one. There are two main divisions of argument as reasons in favor of something. First, there are the proofs directly for your side of the question, and then there are the proofs against your opponent's argument. The first is called direct proof; the second is called refutation.
Suppose now that you wish to persuade the principal of your school to grant a holiday on Washington's Birthday. Your introduction states the subject very briefly, since in the nature of things there can be almost no possibility of misunderstanding. It might be well to mention here that nobody doubts the value of vacations in school life if wisely selected, and that what you wish to prove is that it would be a wise selection to give the school a holiday on the twenty-second of February.