If you prefer, choose one of the following subjects:— 1. The Stuart kings were arbitrary rulers. 2. The climate of our country is changing. 3. Gutenberg did not invent the printing press. 4. The American Indians have been unjustly treated by the whites. 5. Nations have their periods of rise and decay.
(Are the facts you use true? Are they pertinent? Do you know of facts that would tend to show that your proposition is not true?)
+182. Number and Value of Reasons.+—Although a statement may be true and pertinent it is seldom sufficient for proof. We need, as a rule, several such statements. If you are trying to convince a friend that one kind of automobile is superior to another, and can give only one reason for its superiority, you no doubt will fail in your attempt. If, however, you can give several reasons, you may succeed in convincing him. Suppose you go to your principal and ask permission to take an extra study. You may give as a reason the fact that your parents wish you to take it. He may not think that is a sufficient reason for your doing so, but when he finds that with your present studies you do not need to study evenings, that one of them is a review, and that you have been standing well in all your studies, he may be led to think that it will be wise for you to take the desired extra study.
While we must guard against insufficiency of reasons, we must not forget that numbers alone do not convince. One good reason is more convincing than several weak ones. Two or three good reasons, clearly and definitely stated, will have much more weight than a large number of less important ones.
EXERCISES
A. Give a reason or two in addition to the reasons already given in each of the following:—
1. It is better to attend a large college than a small one, because the teachers are as a rule greater experts in their lines of work.
2. The school board ought to give us a field for athletics as the school ground is not large enough for practice.
3. Gymnasium work ought to be made compulsory. Otherwise many who need physical training will neglect it.
4. The game of basket ball is an injury to a school, since it detracts from interest in studies.