7. You and your friend have had a discussion about the inaccuracy with which news is commonly reported in the papers. Your friend has urged the difficulties under which news is gathered, and you have tried to convince him that his argument is not a sufficient justification. Reproduce the conversation. 8. You are a student at X Academy. For some weeks you have been studying Latin (or French, or mathematics) with one of your fellow-students, which fact you have casually mentioned in a letter to your father. Your father replies, objecting seriously to this method of study. (1) Write your father's letter. (2) Write your reply, in which you either accept gracefully your father's counsel or attempt to answer his objections. Let this second letter voice your own convictions in the matter. 9. You are of the opinion that certain changes should be made in the course of study in your school. State what these changes are, and give reasons for the changes. 10. The members of your bicycle club are discussing the advisability of petitioning the board of supervisors in your county to provide side-paths for bicyclists along a main-travelled road in your vicinity. Give reasons for or against the advisability of making such a petition. 11. There is a strong sentiment in your town in favor of an ordinance for regulating the speed of automobiles within the town limits. State your own beliefs, and give reasons. 12. You have doubtless decided on some business or profession as your life work. Give reasons for your decision. 13. In the world of work men are seldom at liberty to go on a vacation. Why should not the same rule apply to the getting of an education? Why should you not study the whole year through, including Saturdays? 14. School examinations are sometimes seriously objected to by students, but such examinations, when judiciously conducted, have certain merits. Try to discuss the matter fairly, avoiding mere prejudice. 15. CLASS EXERCISE: Let the class choose from the list at the end of this chapter a half-dozen propositions to be thought about at odd times for a week or so. At the end of the period set for thought ask the class to 66 take numbers." Then draw from a box containing the propositions written on separate slips of paper one of the propositions, and read it to the class. After a moment's pause, to admit of thought, draw from another box containing numbered slips a slip with a number on it. Read the number to the class, and ask the student having the same number to make a two minutes' speech on the proposition previously read. If interest in the debate begins to lag, draw another proposition, and have that debated in the same manner. Let each student debate according to his own convictions. If wholly extemporaneous speeches are wanted, let each student write on a slip of paper some proposition which he is interested in and which he thinks the other students will be interested in. Then choose the proposition to be debated and the speakers in the same way as above. The students should remember, however, that noted speakers seldom or never make wholly extemporaneous speeches: Their speeches are for the most part carefully thought out, if not actually written out. They almost never speak on subjects to which they have not given much thought, sometimes years and years of thought. Webster's Reply to Hayne, occasionally cited as an extemporaneous speech, was extemporaneous only in its language. To its matter Webster had given a lifetime of meditation. SECTION 84 The Brief A brief is simply a brief outline of an argument. A good brief will show each step in an argument, the main proposition, the subordinate propositions (like I, II, III, and IV below), and the supporting proofs. It is an outlined plan drawn up to test the adequacy of the proofs and to serve as a guide in composing the finished argu ment. In drawing up a brief you will find it helpful to adopt the method suggested in Section 9 for the preparation of an outline for an explanatory theme. That is, write your statements and proofs on separate slips of paper, and then sort them until you are satisfied with their arrangement. A brief, however, is given a form somewhat different from that of an ordinary outline, as the following specimen brief will show : THE QUESTION FOR DEBATE Resolved, That football, as now played, is a beneficial form of school athletics. BRIEF FOR THE NEGATIVE 1 Proposition: Football, as now played, is not a beneficial form of athletics, for 2 I. It is not an essential form of school athletics, for 1. It does not provide exercise for those students who most need exercise, for a. Such students are not strong enough to play football. 2. It is not played by a large number of students, for a. The greater number are not qualified physically to play football, for x. The strain on muscles and nerves is excessive. b. Some students who are qualified physically to play football will not play it, for x. Their parents have forbidden them to play. y. They themselves object to the game. c. It is impracticable to provide coaching for all students who can play football, for x. Too much time and money would be required. y. Special training must be given to the first eleven. 1 When there is an introduction, the main argument is commonly headed"Brief Proper," the three parts of the brief being (1) Introduction, (2) Brief Proper, and (3) Conclusion. In the present case, however, no introduction seems to be needed, since the terms in the proposition are perfectly clear and no other matters need to be explained before the argument itself is begun. 2 Note how, by the use of the word for, each following statement or proof is made to read as a reason for the preceding one. This device helps to test the adequacy of the proofs. 3. Other forms of athletics are more useful in after life, as 1 a. Walking. b. Running. c. Jumping. d. Swimming. e. Boxing. 4. Other forms of athletics are adapted, or can be adapted, to the physical needs of nearly all the students, as a. Field exercises (especially walking, running, etc.). b. Gymnastic exercises. c. Military drill (i.e., such of the drill exercises as do not require the use of guns, and therefore do not involve great expense). II. It is not a beneficial form of physical exercise, for 1. It cannot be adapted to the physical needs even of those students who play it, for a. As few students have the same physical development, exercise that is beneficial to one may be injurious to another. b. In many instances it does not develop those muscles that most need to be developed, for x. It cannot be directed to the development of any one muscle or of any one set of muscles. 2. Physical injuries are frequent. 3. Fatalities result more frequently in football than in any other form of school athletics. III. It is detrimental to the best scholarship, for 1. It does not produce that perfect balance between mind and body essential to clear thinking, for a. The exercise is so excessive as to dull the mind. 2. The time given to training interferes seriously with studies, for a. An immoderate amount of time each day during the football season must be spent in training, for 1 Note that for is not used here. The reason is that the subheadings in this case are explanations or illustrations, and not proofs, of the heading under which they stand. x. The football season lasts only a few months. y. In no other manner can the work of the first eleven be made effective. b. The time required for training comes in the fall of the year when most attention should be given to studies, for x. The foundation of scholarship in the studies of the year is then laid, and, if neglected, cannot afterward be repaired. 3. It lowers the standard of scholarship, for a. Altogether too much prominence is given to athletics, for x. During the football season enthusiasm for studies is very largely displaced by enthusiasm for football. b. It puts body strength before mind strength, for x. "The football hero" is seemingly more honored by the student body than the prize debater or the best scholar. IV. It is detrimental to student morals, for 1. As now played, it is an exhibition of brute strength, for a. The players dress in unsightly garments during practice and play. b. Some of the players wear sweaters to the class room. c. Other students imitate the slovenly habits of the players. 3. It encourages loitering among students who do not play football, for a. Many students spend time watching practice playing which would better be spent in study or in beneficial exercise. 4. It encourages unseemly conduct in contests between schools, for a. "Rooters use the school yell (an imitation of an Indian war-whoop) to disconcert rival players, and |