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.
Pages:
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183