Composition Rhetoric by Stratton D. Brooks

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+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.)

SUMMARY

1. The purpose of discourse may be to inform or to entertain.

2. The forms of discourse are--
_a._ Description.
_b._ Narration.
_c._ Exposition.
_d._ Argument (Persuasion).

3. Discourse presupposes an audience, and we must select a subject and use
language adapted to that audience.

4. The suitableness of a subject is determined--
_a._ By the writer's knowledge of the subject.
(1) This may be based on experience, or
(2) It may be gained from others through conversation and
reading.
_b._ By the writer's interest in the subject.
(1) This may exist from the first, or
(2) It may be aroused by our search for information.
_c._ By adaptability of the subject to the reader. It should be of
present, vital interest to him.

5. Subjects.
_a._ The sources of subjects are unlimited.
_b._ Subjects should be definite. They often need to be narrowed in
order to be made definite.
_c._ The title should be brief and should be worded so as to arouse
a desire to hear the theme.

6. Exposition is explanation.

7. We may make clear the meaning of a term--
_a._ By using synonyms.
_b._ By using simpler words.
_c._ By supplementing our definitions with examples or comparisons.

8. General description includes the characteristics common to all members
of a class of objects.

9. General narration is one form of exposition. It relates the things that
characterize a process or action whenever it occurs.

10. Argument.
_a._ Explanation is the first step in argument.
_b._ A statement of advantages and disadvantages may assist us to
determine which side of a question we believe.
_c._ Specific instances may be used either for explanation or
argument.

11. Debate.
_a._ The subject of the debate may be stated in the form of a
resolution, a declarative sentence, or a question.
_b._ The most important arguments should be given the first and last
positions.
_c._ A brief will assist us in arranging our arguments in the most
effective order.
_d._ The refutation of opposing arguments should usually be placed
just before our own last and strongest argument.
_e._ Cautions in debating.
(1) Be fair.
(2) Be honest with yourself.
(3) Do not allow your desire for victory to overcome your
desire for truth.
(4) Remember that mere statement is not argument.
(5) Remember that exhortation is not argument.

V. THE WHOLE COMPOSITION

+80. General Principles of Composition.+--There are three important
principles to be considered in every composition: unity, coherence, and
emphasis. Though not always named, each of these has been considered and
used in our writing of paragraphs. The consideration of methods of
securing unity, coherence, and emphasis in the composition as a whole is
the purpose of this chapter. It will serve also as a review and especially
as an enlarged view of paragraph development as treated in Chapter III,
for the methods discussed with regard to the whole composition are the
same that are used in applying the three principles to single paragraphs.

+81. Unity.+--A composition possesses unity if all that it contains bears
directly upon the subject. It is evident that the title of the theme
determines in a large degree the matter that should be included. Much that
is appropriate to a theme on "Bass Fishing" will be found unnecessary in a
theme entitled "How I caught a Bass." It is easier to secure unity in a
theme treating of a narrow, limited subject than in one treating of a
broad, general subject. The first step toward unity is, therefore, the
selection of a limited subject and a suitable title (see Sections 58-61);
the second is the collection of all facts, illustrations, and other
material which may appropriately be used in a theme having the chosen
title.

+82. Coherence.+--A composition is given coherence by placing the ideas in
such an order that each naturally suggests the one which follows. If the
last paragraph is more closely related in thought to the first paragraph
than it is to the intervening ones, the composition lacks coherence.
Similarly, that paragraph is coherent in which the thought moves forward
in an orderly way with each sentence growing out of the preceding one.

In describing the capture of a large trout a boy might state that he broke
his pole. Then he might tell what kind of pole he had, why he did not have
a better one, what poles are best adapted to trout fishing, etc. Though
each of these ideas is suggested by the preceding, the story still lacks
coherence because the boy will need later to go back and tell us what
happened to him or to the trout when the pole broke. If a description of
the kind of pole is necessary in order to make the point of the story
clear, it should have been introduced earlier. Stopping at the moment of
vital interest to discuss fishing poles, spoils the effect of the story.
Good writers are very skillful in the early introducing of details that
will enable the reader to appreciate the events as they happen, and they
are equally skillful in omitting unnecessary details. The proper selection
of these details gives unity, and their introduction at the proper place
gives coherence to a narrative. By saying, "I am getting ahead of my
story," the narrator confesses that coherence is lacking. Read again the
selection on page 106.

+83. Emphasis.+--If we desire to make one part of a theme more emphatic
than another, we may do so by giving a prominent position to that part. In
debating we give the first place and the last to the strongest arguments.
In simple narration the order in which incidents must be related is fixed
by the time-order of their occurrence, but even in a story the point gains
in force if it is near the close. Because these two positions are the ones
of greatest emphasis, a poor beginning or a bad ending will ruin an
otherwise good story.

Emphasis may also be affected by the proportional amount of attention and
space given to the different parts of a theme. The extent to which any
division of a theme should be developed depends upon the purpose and the
total length of the theme. A biography of Grant might appropriately devote
two or three chapters to his boyhood, while a short sketch of his life
would treat his boyhood in a single paragraph. In determining the amount
of space to be given to the different parts of a composition, care must be
taken that the space assigned to each shall be proportional to its
importance, the largest amount of space being devoted to the part which is
of greatest worth.

Emphasis is sometimes given by making a single sentence into a paragraph.
This method should be used with care, for such a paragraph may be too
short for unity because it does not include all that should be said about
the topic statement, and though it makes that statement emphatic, fails to
make its meaning clear.

Clearness, unity, and coherence are of more importance
than emphasis, and usually, if a theme possesses the first
three qualities, it will possess the fourth in sufficient
measure.

+84. The Outline.+--An outline will assist us in securing unity,
coherence, and emphasis.

1. The first step in making an outline has relation to unity. Unity
requires that a theme include only that which pertains to the subject.
There are always many more ideas that seem to bear upon a subject than can
be included in the theme. We may therefore jot down brief notes that will
suggest our ideas on the subject, and then we should reject from this list
all that seem irrelevant or trivial. We should also reject the less
important ideas which pertain directly to the subject if without them we
have all that are needed in order to fulfill the purpose of the theme.

Which items in the following should be omitted as not necessary to the
complete treatment of the subject indicated by the title? Should anything
be added?

_My First Partridge_

Where I lived ten years ago.
Kinds of game: partridge, quail, squirrels.
Partridge drumming.
My father went hunting often.
How he was injured.
Birch brush near hemlock; partridge often found in such localities.
Loading the gun.
Going to the woods.
Why partridge live near birch brush.
Fall season.
Hunting for partridge allowed from September to December.
Tramping through the woods.
Something moving.
Creeping up.
How I felt; excited; hand shook.
Partridge on log.
Gun failed to go off; cocking it properly.
The shot; the recoil.
The flurry of the bird.
How partridges fly.
How they taste when cooked.
Getting the bird.
Going home.
Partridges are found in the woods; quail in the fields.
What my sister said.
My brother's interest.
My father's story about shooting three partridges with one shot.
What mother did.

2. The second step in outline making has relation to coherence. After we
have rejected from our notes all items which would interfere with the
unity of our theme, we next arrange the remaining items in a coherent
order. One method of securing coherence is illustrated by a simple
narrative which follows the time-order. We naturally group together in our
memory those events which occurred at a given time, and in recalling a
series of events we pass in order from one such group to another. These
groups form natural paragraph units, and the placing of them in their
actual time-order gives coherence to the composition.

After rejecting the unnecessary items in the preceding list, re-arrange
the remaining ones in a coherent order. How many paragraphs would you make
and what would you include in each?

3. The third step in making an outline has relation to emphasis. In some
outlines emphasis is secured by placing the more important points first,
in others by placing them last. In this particular outline we have a
natural time-order to follow, and emphasis will be determined mainly by
the relative proportion to be given to different paragraphs. Do not give
unimportant paragraphs too much space. Be sure that the introduction and
the conclusion are short.

+Theme XLV.+--_Write a personal narrative at least three paragraphs in
length._

Suggested subjects:--
1. How I was saved from drowning.
2. The largest string of fish I ever caught.
3. An incident of the skating season.
4. What I did on Christmas day.
5. A Saturday with my grandmother.
6. To the city and back.

(Make an outline. Keep in mind unity, coherence, and
emphasis. Consider each paragraph with reference to
unity, coherence, and emphasis.)

+85. Development of a Composition with Reference to the Time-Order.+--
Of the several methods of developing a composition let us consider first
that of giving details in the natural time-order. (See Section 46.) If a
composition composed of a series of paragraphs possesses coherence, each
paragraph is so related to the preceding ones that the thought goes
steadily forward from one to another. Often the connection in thought is
so evident that no special indication needs to be made, but if the
paragraphs are arranged with reference to a time-order, this time-order
is usually indicated.

Notice how the relation in time of each paragraph to the preceding is
shown by the following sentences of parts of sentences taken in order from
a magazine article entitled "Yachting at Kiel," by James B. Connolly:--

1. It was slow waiting in Travemunde. The long-enduring twilight of a
summer's day at fifty-four north began to settle down...

2. The dusk comes on, and on the ships of war they seem to be getting
nervous...

3. The dusk deepens...

4. It is getting chilly in the night air, with the rations running low,
and the charterers of some of the fishing boats decide to go home...

5. It is eleven o'clock--dark night--and the breeze is freshening, when
the first of the fleet heaves in sight...

6. After that they arrive rapidly...

7. At midnight there is still no _Meteor_...

8. Through the entire night they keep coming...

9. Next morning...

+Theme XLVI.+--_Write a narrative, four or more paragraphs in length,
showing the time-order._

Suggested subjects:--
1. The race up the river.
2. The life of some well-known man.
3. The cake that fell.
4. Retell some incident that you have recently read.
5. Relate some personal experience.
6. A story suggested by the picture on page 160.

(Make an outline. Consider the unity, coherence, and emphasis of each
paragraph separately. Then consider the unity, coherence, and emphasis of
the whole composition. Notice what expressions you have used to indicate
the relations in time. Have you used the same expression too often?)

+86. Development of a Composition with Reference to Position in Space.+--
A second method of development is to relate details with reference to
their position in space.

[Illustration]

Just as we may give either a paragraph or a whole theme coherence by
following a given time-order, so may we make a paragraph or a whole theme
coherent by arranging the parts in an order determined by their position
in space. In developing a theme by this method we simply apply to the
whole theme the principles discussed for the development of a paragraph
(Section 47).

In a description composed of several paragraphs, each paragraph should
contain a group of details closely related to one another in space. The
paragraphs should be constructed so that each shall possess unity and
coherence within itself, and they should be so arranged that we may pass
most easily from the group of images presented by one paragraph to the
images presented by the next. In narration, the space arrangement may
supplement time-order in giving coherence.

If the most attractive features of an art room are its
wall decorations, five paragraphs describing the room may
be as follows:--

1. Point of view: general impression.
2. The north wall: general impression; details.
3. The east wall: general impression; details.
4. The south wall: general impression; details.
5. The west wall: general impression; details.

It is easy to imagine a room in the description of which the following
paragraphs would be appropriate:--

1. Point of view.
2. The fireplace.
3. The easy-chair.
4. The table.
5. The bookcase.
6. The cozy nook.

Such an arrangement of paragraphs would give coherence. Unity would be
secured by including in each only that which properly belonged to it.

There are many words and expressions which indicate the relative position
of objects. The paragraph below is an illustration of the method of
development described in Section 47. Notice the words which indicate the
location of the different details in the scene. If each of these details
should be developed into a paragraph the italicized expressions would
serve to introduce these paragraphs and would show the relative positions
of the objects described.

The beauty of the sea and shore was almost indescribable: _on one side_
rose Point Loma, grim, gloomy as a fortress wall; _before_ me stretched
away to the horizon the ocean with its miles of breakers curling into
foam; _between_ the surf and the city, wrapped in its dark blue mantle,
lay the sleeping bay; _eastward_ the mingled yellow, red, and white of San
Diego's buildings glistened in the sunlight like a bed of coleus; _beyond_
the city heaved the rolling plains rich in their garb of golden brown,
_from which_ rose the distant mountains, tier on tier, wearing the purple
veil which Nature here loves oftenest to weave for them; while _in the
foreground_, like a jewel in a brilliant setting, stood the Coronado.

--Stoddard: _California_.

+Theme XLVII.+--_Write a description three or more paragraphs in length._

Suggested subjects:--
1. Some well-known building (exterior).
2. A prominent person.
3. An attractive room.
4. The interior of a church.

(Consider your outline with reference to unity, coherence, and proportion
of parts. When the theme is completed, consider the unity, coherence, and
emphasis of each paragraph and of the composition as a whole.)

+87. Paragraph Relations.+--Relations in thought other than those of time
and space may be indicated by the use of certain words and phrases. Such
expressions as, _however, nevertheless, consequently, indeed, moreover, at
all events_, etc., are often used to indicate a relation in thought
between paragraphs. Notice how _nevertheless_, at the beginning of the
selection below, serves to connect it in thought with a preceding
paragraph not printed here. Notice also the relations in thought shown by
the italicized words. These and similar words are used to make the
transition from one paragraph to the next.

_Nevertheless_, Howe was at last in possession of Philadelphia, the object
of his campaign, and with his communications by water open. He had
consumed four months in this business since he left New York, three months
since he landed near the Elk River. His prize, now that he had got it, was
worth less than nothing in a military point of view, and he had been made
to pay a high price for it, not merely in men, but in precious time, for
while he was struggling sluggishly for Philadelphia, Burgoyne, who really
meant something very serious, had gone to wreck and sunk out of sight in
the northern forests. _Indeed_, Howe did not even hold his dearly bought
town in peace. After the fall of the forts, Greene, aided by Lafayette,
who had joined the army on its way to the Brandywine, made a sharp
dash and broke up an outlying party of Hessians. _Such things_ were
intolerable, they interfered with personal comfort, and they emanated from
the American army which Washington had now established in strong lines at
Whitemarsh. _So_ Howe announced that in order to have a quiet winter, he
would drive Washington beyond the mountains. Howe did not often display
military intelligence, but that he was profoundly right in this particular
intention must be admitted. In pursuit of his plan, _therefore_, he
marched out of Philadelphia on December 4th, drove off some Pennsylvania
militia on the 5th, considered the American position for four days, did
not dare to attack, could not draw his opponent out, returned to the city,
and left Washington to go into winter quarters at Valley Forge, whence he
could easily strike if any move was made by the British army.

--Henry Cabot Lodge.

+88. The Transition Paragraph.+--Just as a word or phrase may serve to
denote the relation in thought between paragraphs, so may a whole
paragraph be used to carry over the thought from one group of paragraphs
to another in the same theme. Such a paragraph makes a transition from one
general topic or method of treating the subject of the theme to some other
general topic or to the consideration of the subject from a different
point of view. This transitional paragraph may summarize the thought of
the preceding paragraph in addition to announcing a change of topic; or it
may mark the transition to the new topic and set it forth in general
terms.

+89. The Summarizing Paragraph.+--Frequently we give emphasis to our
thought by a final paragraph summarizing the main points of the theme.
Such a summary is in effect a restatement of the topic sentences of our
paragraphs. If our theme has been coherent, these sentences stated in
order will need but little changing to make a coherent paragraph. In a
similar way, it is of advantage to close a long paragraph with a sentence
which repeats the topic statement or summarizes the thought of the
paragraph. See the last sentence in Section 57.

+90. Development of a Composition by Comparison or Contrast.+--The third
method of development is that of comparison or contrast. Nearly every idea
which we have suggests one that is similar to it or in contrast with it.
We are thus led to make comparisons or to state contrasts. When these are
few and brief, they may make a single paragraph (Section 48). If our
comparisons or contrasts are extended, they may make several paragraphs,
and thus a whole theme may be developed by this method.

In such a theme no fixed order of presentation is determined by the actual
occurrence in time or space of that which we present. Consequently, in
outlining a theme of this kind, we must devote special attention to
arranging our paragraphs in an order that shall give coherence and
emphasis.

+Theme XLVIII.+--_Write a theme of three or more paragraphs developed by
comparison._

Suggested subjects:--
1. Compare men with verbs (active, passive, transitive, intransitive,
defective, redundant, auxiliary, copulative, etc.).
2. Show that the body resembles a machine.
3. In what way is the school like a factory?
4. How do two books that you have read differ?
5. Compare Lincoln and McKinley. How alike? How different?
6. How can you tell an oak tree from an elm tree?
7. Without naming them, compare two of your friends with each other.
8. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of public high schools
with those of private academies.

+91. Development of a Composition by Use of Generalization and Facts.+--
Using the fourth method of development, we may give an entire composition
to the explanation of the meaning of a general proposition or to the
demonstration of the truth of such a proposition. To accomplish this
purpose we state facts or instances that illustrate the meaning of the
proposition or that show it to be true. In such a composition each
important fact or instance may be given a separate paragraph, while
several minor facts or illustrations may be properly combined in the same
paragraph. (See Section 44.) Greater emphasis may also be given the more
important facts by assigning them to the emphatic positions.

Notice how by specific instances the following selection illustrates the
truth of the generalization set forth in the second sentence and restated
in the last sentence.

DEGENERATION THROUGH QUIESCENCE

While parasitism is the principal cause of degeneration among animals, yet
it is not the sole cause. It is evident that if for any other reason
animals should become fixed, and live inactive lives, they would
degenerate. There are not a few instances of degeneration due simply to a
quiescent life, unaccompanied by parasitism.

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