Composition-Rhetoric Part 63

+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 cla.s.sified 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 cla.s.ses 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?

2. Is a lie ever justifiable?

3. Was Shylock's punishment too severe?

4. Woman's suffrage should be established.

5. The regular party nominee should not always be supported.

EXERCISES

Give reasons for or against the following:--

1. We should abolish cla.s.s-day exercises.

2. The study of science is more beneficial than the study of language.

3. Foreign skilled laborers should be excluded from the United States.

4. Hypnotic entertainments should not be allowed.

5. The study of algebra should not be made compulsory in a high school.

6. _Uncle Tom's Cabin_ should be excluded from school libraries.

7. Physical training should be compulsory in public schools.

8. High school secret societies should not be allowed.

+Theme CXIII.+--_Write an argument of expediency using one of the subjects named in the preceding exercise._

(What advantages have you made most prominent?

To what feelings have you appealed?)

+Theme CXIV.+--_Write a narration in which the hero is called upon to decide whether some course of action is right or wrong_.

(Consider the theme as a narration. Does it fulfill the requirements of Chapter IX? (See Summary.) Consider just the arguments used. Are the arguments sufficient to bring conviction to the reader that the hero decided rightly?)

+203. Refutation.+--No question is worth argument unless there are two sides to it--unless there is a chance for some doubt in the mind of the hearer as to which side seems most reasonable. Many questions are of such a nature that in trying to convince our hearers of some truth, we often find it necessary to show them, not only the truth of a proposition or the expediency of a course of action, but also the falsity of some opposing proposition or the inexpediency of the opposite course of action. This tearing to pieces another's argument, is called refutation, or destructive argument. A successful debater shows nearly if not equal skill in tearing down his opponent's arguments as in building up his own.

Even in arguments in which no one takes the opposite side at the given time, we must not forget that there are points on the opposite side which are likely to arise in the minds of our hearers. Just as the skillful teacher must know the difficulties that will arise in the minds of the pupils even though they are not expressed, so must the skillful debater consider the objections that his hearer will mentally set up against his argument. It is well, however, for the debater to avoid overemphasizing objections. Sometimes his discussion gives the objections a weight that they would not otherwise have. It is not wise to set up "a man of straw"

for the purpose of knocking him down.