A	»	B	»	C	»	D	»	E
F	»	G	»	H	»	I	»	J
K	»	L	»	M	»	N	»	O
P	»		R	»	S	»		T
U	»		V	»	W	»		Z

Luis Velez de Guevara - "El Diablo Cojuelo"

Hendrik Hamel - "Verhaal van het vergaan van het jacht de Sperwer"

E. A. Wallis Budge - "Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life"

W.W. Jacobs - "Bob's Redemption"

Wiley Inks Deal with Meredith
Moreover Technologies - Premier purveyor of real-time news and RSS feeds from across the Web

New Book for BlackBerry Users (and Abusers) Now Available at Amazon.com
Ad - Get Info for Book Publishing from 14 search engines in 1.

New Book for BlackBerry Users (and Abusers) Now Available at Amazon.com
Wiley plans to publish about 20 Meredith titles annually in a variety of cooking, gardening, crafts, do-it-yourself and home decorating categories that tie into Meredith magazines such as Family Circle and Quilting. Under the agreement, Meredith will

Composition Rhetoric by Stratton D. Brooks

S >> Stratton D. Brooks >> Composition Rhetoric




--Macaulay: _Milton_.


+193. Summary of Arrangement.+--The necessity of argument arises because
some one does not believe the truth of a proposition. To establish in his
mind a belief, we must present our arguments in an orderly and convincing
way. The order will usually be to show him first the possibility and then
the probability, and finally to lead him as near to certainty as we can.
We may say, therefore, that we should use arguments from cause, arguments
from sign, and arguments from example in the order named.

Another principle of arrangement is that inductive argument will usually
precede deductive argument. We naturally proceed by induction to establish
general truths which, when established, we may apply. If our audience
already believe the general theories, the inductive part may be omitted.

Both of these principles of arrangement should be considered with
reference to that of a third, namely, climax. Climax means nothing more
than the orderly progression of our argument to the point where it
convinces our hearer. We call that argument which finally convinces him
the strongest, and naturally this should be the end of the argument. Of
several proofs of equal grade, one that will attract the attention of the
hearer should come first, while the most convincing one should come last.

In arranging arguments attention needs also to be given to coherence. One
proof may be so related to another that the presentation of one naturally
suggests the other. Sometimes, for the sake of climax, the coherent order
must be abandoned. More often the climax is made more effective by
following the order which gives the greatest coherence.


+Theme CII.+--_Prove one of the following propositions:_

1. The Presidential term should be extended.

2. Bookkeeping is of greater practical value than any other high school
study.

3. In cities all buildings should be restricted to three stories in
height.

4. Sumptuary laws are never desirable.

5. No pupil should carry more than four studies.

6. This school should have a debating society.


(Have you proved possibility, probability, or actuality? Have you used
arguments from cause, sign, or example? Consider the arrangement of your
arguments. Consider the analogies you have used, if any. Can you shorten
your theme without weakening it?)


+194. The Brief.+--Arrangement is of very great importance in argument. In
fact, it is so important that much more care and attention needs to be
given to the outline in argument, and the outline itself may be more
definitely known to the hearer than in the other forms of discourse. In
description and narration especially, it detracts from the value of the
impressions if the reader becomes aware of the plan of composition. In
exposition a view of the framework may not hinder clear understanding, but
in argument it may be of distinct advantage to have the orderly
arrangements of our arguments definitely known to him whom we seek to
convince.

The brief not only assists us in making our own thought orderly and exact,
but enables us to exclude that which is trivial or untrue. An explanation
may fail to make every point clear and yet retain some valuable elements,
but an argument fails of its purpose if it does not establish a belief. A
single false argument or even a trivial one may so appeal to a mind
prejudiced against the proposition that all the valid proofs fail to
convince. This single weakness is at once used by our opponent to show
that our other arguments are false because this one is. A committee once
endeavored to persuade the governor of a state not to sign a certain bill,
but they defeated themselves because their opponents pointed out to the
governor that two of the ten reasons which they presented were false and
that the committee presenting them knew they were false. This cast a doubt
upon the honesty of the committee and the validity of their whole
argument, and the governor signed the bill.

The brief differs from the ordinary outline in that it is composed of
complete sentences rather than of topics.

Notice the following example.


+Term examinations should be abolished.+


AFFIRMATIVE


I. There is no necessity for such examinations.

1. The teacher knows the pupil's standing from his daily recitations.

2. Monthly reviews or tests may be substituted if desirable.

II. The evils arising from examinations more than offset any advantages
that may be derived from them.

1. The best pupils are likely to work hardest, and to overtax their
strength.

2. Pupils often aim to pass rather than to know their subject.

3. A temptation to cheat is placed before them.

III. Examinations are not a fair test of a pupil's ability.

1. A pupil may know his subject as a whole and yet not be able to answer
one or two of the questions given him.

2. A pupil who has done poor work during the term may cram for an
examination and pass very creditably.

3. Pupils are likely to be tired out at the end of the term and often are
not able to do themselves justice.



NEGATIVE


If the writer should choose to defend the negative of the above
proposition, the brief might be as follows:--

I. Examinations are indispensable to school work.

1. In no other way can teachers find out so well what their pupils know
about their subjects, especially in large classes.

2. They are essential as an incentive to pupils who are inclined to let
their work lag.

II. As a rule they are fair tests of a pupil's ability.

1. Pupils who prepare the daily recitations well are almost sure to pass a
good examination.

2. Pupils who cram are likely to write a hurried, faulty examination.

3. It seldom happens that many in a class are too worn out to take a term
examination.

III. They prepare the pupils for later examinations.
(1) For college entrance examinations.
(2) For examinations at college.
(3) For civil service examinations.
(4) For examinations for teachers' certificates.


EXERCISES

_A._ Write out subordinate propositions proving the main subdivisions.
Also change the arrangement when you think it desirable to do so.

1. Two sessions are preferable to one in a high school.
(1) One long session is too fatiguing to both teachers and pupils.
(2) Boys and girls as a rule study better at school than they do at
home.
(3) The time after school is long enough for recreation.

2. The pupils of this high school should be granted a holiday during the
street (county or state) fair.
(1) They will all go at least one day.
(2) It will cause less interruption in the school work if they all go
the same day.

3. Women should be allowed to vote.
(1) They are now taxed without representation.
(2) Whenever they have been allowed to take part in the affairs of the
government, it has been an advantage to that government.
(3) Many of them are much more intelligent than some men who vote.

_B._ Write out briefs for the following propositions (affirmative or
negative):--

1. High school studies should be made elective in the last two years of
the course.

2. The government should own and control the railroads of our country.

3. The old building on the corner of ---- Street ought to be removed.

4. Latin should not be made a compulsory study.

5. Reading newspapers is unprofitable.

6. Laws should be made to prohibit all adulteration of foods.

7. We are all selfish.

8. A system of self-government should be introduced into our school.


+Theme CIV.+--_Write out the argument for one of the
preceding propositions._

(Examine the brief carefully before beginning to write.
Can you improve it? )


+Theme CV.+--_Write a theme proving one of the following propositions:_--

1. Immigration is detrimental to the United States.

2. The descriptions in _Ivanhoe_ are better than those in the _House of
the Seven Gables_.

3. Argument is of greater practical value than exposition.

4. The Mexican Indians were a civilized race when America was discovered.

5. The standing army of the United States should be increased.

6. All police officers should be controlled by the state and not by the
city.

(Have you used arguments from cause, sign, or example? Are they arranged
with reference to the principles of arrangement? (Section 192.) Consider
each paragraph and the whole theme with reference to unity.)


+Theme CVI.+--_Write a debate on some question assigned by the teacher._

(To what points should you give attention in correcting your theme? Read
Section 79.)


+195. Difference between Persuasion and Argument.+--Up to this point we
have considered argument as having for its aim the proof of the truth
of a proposition. If we consider the things about which we argue most
frequently, we shall find that in many cases we attempt to do more than
merely to convince the hearer. We wish to convince him in order to cause
him to act. We argue with him in order to persuade him to do something.
Such an argument tries to establish the wisdom of a course of action and
is termed _persuasion_. Persuasion differs from argument in its aim. In
argument by an appeal principally to the reason, we endeavor to convince;
in persuasion by an appeal mainly to the feelings, we endeavor to move to
action.


+196. Importance of Persuasion.+--Persuasion deals with the practical
affairs of life, and for that reason the part that it performs is a large
and important one. All questions of advantage, privilege, and duty are
included in the sphere of persuasion. Since such questions are so directly
related to our business interests, to our happiness, and to our mode of
conduct and action, we are constantly making use of persuasion and quite
as constantly are being influenced by it. Our own welfare and happiness
depends to so great an extent upon the actions of others that our success
in life is often measured by our ability to persuade others to act in
accordance with our desires.


+197. Necessity of Persuasion.+--It is frequently not enough to convince
our hearer of the truth of a proposition. Often a person believes a
proposition, yet does not act. If we wish action, persuasion must be added
to argument. If we always acted at the time we were convinced, and in
accordance with our convictions, there would be no need of persuasion.
Strange as it seems, we often believe one thing and do just the opposite,
or we are indifferent and do nothing at all. We all know that disobedience
to the laws of health brings its punishment--yet how many of us act as if
we did not believe it at all! The indifferent pupil is positive that he
will fail if he does not study. He knows that he ought to apply himself
diligently to his work. There is no excuse for doing otherwise, yet he
neglects to act and failure is the result.


+198. Motive in Persuasion.+--The motive of persuasion depends upon the
nature of the question. The motives that we have in mind may be selfish,
or, on the other hand, they may be supremely unselfish. We may urge others
to act in order to bring about our own pleasure or profit; we may urge
them to act for their own self-interest or for the interest of others. We
may appeal to private or public interest, to social or religious duty.
When a boy urges his father to buy him a bicycle, he has his own pleasure
in mind. When we urge people to take care of their health, we have their
interest in view; and when we urge city improvements or reforms in
politics, we are thinking of the welfare of people in general.


+199. The Material of Persuasion.+--Persuasion aims to produce action and
may make use of any of the forms of discourse that will fit that purpose.
We may describe the beauty of the Adirondacks or narrate our experiences
there in order to persuade a friend to accompany us on a camping trip. We
may explain the workings of a new invention in order to persuade a
capitalist to invest money in its manufacture. Or we may by argument
demonstrate that there is a great opportunity for young men in New
Orleans, hoping to persuade an acquaintance to move there. When thus used,
description, narration, exposition, and argument may become persuasion;
but their effectiveness depends upon their appeal to some fundamental
belief or feeling in the person addressed. Our description and narration
would not bring to the Adirondacks a man who cared nothing for scenery and
who disliked camp life. The explanation of our invention would not
interest a capitalist unless he was seeking a profitable investment. Our
argument would not induce a man to move to New Orleans if his prejudice
against the South was greater than his desire for profit and position. In
each case there has been an appeal to some belief or sentiment or desire
of the person whom we seek to persuade.


+200. Appeal to the Feelings.+--Persuasion, therefore, in order to produce
action must appeal largely to the feelings. But all persons are not
affected in the same way. In order to bring about the same result we may
need to make a different appeal to different individuals. One person may
be led to act by an appeal made to his sense of justice, another by an
appeal made to his patriotism, while still another, unmoved by either of
these appeals, may be led to act by an appeal made to his pride or to his
love of power. If we would be successful in persuading others, we ought to
be able to understand what to appeal to in individual cases. Children may
be enticed by candy, and older persons may be quite as readily influenced
if we but choose the proper incentive. It is our duty to see that we are
persuaded only by the presentation of worthy motives, and that in our own
efforts to persuade others we do not appeal to envy, jealousy, religious
prejudices, race hatred, or lower motives.


EXERCISES


Show how an appeal to the feelings could be made in the following. To what
particular feeling or feelings would you appeal in each case?

1. Try to gain your parents' permission to attend college.

2. Urge a friend to give up card playing.

3. Try to persuade your teachers not to give so long lessons.

4. Persuade others to aid an unfortunate family living in our community.

5. Induce the school board to give you a good gymnasium.

6. Persuade a tramp to give up his mode of life.

7. Try to get some one to buy your old bicycle.

8. Urge your country to act in behalf of some oppressed people.

9. Urge a resident of your town to give something for a public park.


+Theme CVII.+--_Write out one of the preceding._

(Consider what you have written with reference to coherence and climax.)


+201. Argument with Persuasion.+--In some cases we are sure that our
hearers are already convinced as to the truth of a proposition. Then there
is no need of argument and persuasion is used alone, but more frequently
both are used. Argument naturally precedes persuasion, but with few
exceptions the two are intermixed and even so blended as to be scarcely
distinguishable, the one from the other. A good example of the use of both
forms is found in the speech of Antony over the dead body of Caesar in
Shakespeare's _Julius Caesar_. Read the speech and note the argument and
persuasion given in it. What three arguments does Antony advance to prove
that Caesar was not ambitious? Does he draw conclusions or leave that for
his listeners to do? Where is there an appeal to their pity? To their
curiosity? To their gratitude? What is the result in each case of the
various appeals?

In the following examples note the argument and persuasion. Remember that
persuasion commences when we begin to urge to action. Notice what feelings
are appealed to in the persuasive parts of the speeches.


They tell us, Sir, that we are weak, unable to cope with so formidable an
adversary. But, when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or
the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed and when a British
guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by
irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual
resistance, by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive
phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir,
we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of
nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the
holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are
invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, Sir,
we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides
over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our
battles for us. The battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the
vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, Sir, we have no election. If we
were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the
contest. There is no retreat, but in submission and slavery. Our chains
are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war
is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, Sir, let it come!--It is
vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace--but
there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps
from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our
brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here, idle? Is life so
dear, is peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and
slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take;
but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death.

--Patrick Henry.


The pictures in the American newspapers of the starving reconcentrados are
true. They can all be duplicated by the thousands. I never before saw,
and please God, I may never again see, so deplorable a sight as the
reconcentrados in the suburbs of Matanzas. I can never forget to my dying
day the hopeless anguish in their despairing eyes. Huddled about their
little bark huts, they raised no voice of appeal to us for alms as we went
among them.... Men, women, and children stand silent, famishing with
hunger. Their only appeal comes from their sad eyes, through which one
looks as through an open window into their agonizing souls.

The Government of Spain has not appropriated and will not appropriate one
dollar to save these people. They are now being attended and nursed and
administered to by the charity of the United States. Think of the
spectacle! We are feeding the citizens of Spain; we are nursing their
sick; we are saving such as can be saved, and yet there are those who
still say it is right for us to send food, but we must keep hands off. I
say that the time has come when muskets ought to go with the food....

The time for action has, then, come. No greater reason for it can exist
to-morrow than exists to-day. Every hour's delay only adds another chapter
to the awful story of misery and death. Only one power can intervene--the
United States of America. Ours is the one great nation of the New World,
the mother of American republics. She holds a position of trust and
responsibility toward the peoples and the affairs of the whole Western
Hemisphere.

Mr. President, there is only one action possible, if any is taken--that
is, intervention for the independence of the island. But we cannot
intervene and save Cuba without the exercise of force, and force means
war; war means blood. The lowly Nazarene on the shores of Galilee preached
the divine doctrine of love, "Peace on earth, good will toward men." Not
peace on earth at the expense of liberty and humanity. Not good will
toward men who despoil, enslave, degrade, and starve to death their
fellow-men. I believe in the doctrine of Christ, I believe in the doctrine
of peace; but, Mr. President, men must have liberty before there can come
abiding peace.

Intervention means force. Force means war. War means blood. But it will be
God's force. When has a battle for humanity and liberty ever been won
except by force? What barricade of wrong, injustice, and oppression has
ever been carried except by force? Force compelled the signature of
unwilling royalty to the great Magna Charta; force put life into
the Declaration of Independence and made effective the Emancipation
Proclamation; force beat with naked hands upon the iron gateway of the
Bastile and made reprisal in one awful hour for centuries of kingly crime;
force waved the flag of revolution over Bunker Hill and marked the snows
of Valley Forge with blood-stained feet; force held the broken line at
Shiloh, climbed the flame-swept hill at Chattanooga, and stormed the
clouds on Lookout heights; force marched with Sherman to the sea, rode
with Sheridan in the valley of Shenandoah, and gave Grant victory at
Appomattox; force saved the Union, kept the stars in the flag, made
"niggers" men.

Others may hesitate, others may procrastinate, others may plead for
further diplomatic negotiations, which means delay; but for me, I am ready
to act now, and for my action I am ready to answer to my conscience, my
country, and my God.

--John Mellen Thurston: _Speech in United States Senate_, March, 1898.


EXERCISES


1. A young boy is trying to gain his father's permission to attend an
evening entertainment with some other boys. Make a list of his appeals to
his father's reason; to his father's feelings. Make a list of his father's
objections. Is there any appeal to his son's feelings?

2. Suppose you are about to address the voters of your city on the
question of granting saloon licenses. Make a list of appeals to their
reason; to their intellect. Remember that appeals to the feelings are made
more forcible by descriptive and narrative examples than by direct general
appeals.

3. Urge your classmates to vote for some member of your class for
president. What qualifications should a good class president have?


+Theme CVIII.+--_Select one of the subjects, concerning which you have
written an argument; either add persuasion to the argument or intermix
them._

(What part of your theme is argument and what part persuasion? Does the
introduction of persuasion affect the order of arrangement?)


+Theme CIX.+--_Select one of the subjects given on page 361 of which you
have not yet made use. Write a theme appealing to both feeling and
intellect._

(Are your facts true and pertinent? Consider the arrangement.)


+Theme CX.+--_Write a letter to a friend who went to work instead of
entering the high school. Urge him to come to the high school._

(What arguments have you made? To what feelings have you appealed?)


+Theme CXI.+--_Use one of the following as a subject for a persuasive
theme:_--

1. Induce your friends not to play ball on Memorial Day.

2. Ask permission to be excused from writing your next essay.

3. Persuade one of your friends to play golf.

4. Induce your friends not to wear birds on their hats.

5. Write an address to young children, trying to persuade them not to be
cruel to the lower animals.


+202. Questions of Right and Questions of Expediency.+--Arguments that aim
to convince us of the wisdom of an action are very common. In our home
life and in our social and religious life these questions are always
arising. They may be classified into two kinds: (1) those which answer the
question, Is it right? and (2) those which answer the question, Is it
expedient?

The moral element enters into questions of right. It is always wise for us
to do that which is morally right, but sometimes we are in doubt as to
what course of action is morally right. Opinions differ concerning what is
right, and for that reason we spend much time in defending our opinions or
in trying to make others believe as we do. In answering such a question
honestly, we must lose sight of all advantage or disadvantage to
ourselves. When asked to do something we should at once ask ourselves, Is
it right? and when once that is determined one line of action should be
clear.

An argument which aims to answer the question, Is it expedient?
presupposes that there are at least two lines of action each of which is
right. It aims to prove that one course of action will bring greater
advantages than any other. Taking all classes of people into consideration
we shall find that they are arguing more questions of expediency than of
any other kind. Every one is looking for advantages either to himself or
to those in whom he is interested. A question of expediency should never
be separated from the question of right. In determining either our own
course of action or that which we attempt to persuade another to follow,
we should never forget the presupposition of a question of expediency that
either course is right.


EXERCISES


1. Name five questions the right or wrong of which you have been called
upon to decide.

2. Name five similar questions that are likely to arise in every one's
experience.

3. Name five questions of right concerning which opinions very often
differ.

4. Is an action that is right for one person ever wrong for another?


+Theme CXII.+--_Write out the reasons for or against one of the
following:_--

1. Should two pupils ever study together?