Composition-Rhetoric Part 24

_a._ Explanation is the first step in argument.

_b._ A statement of advantages and disadvantages may a.s.sist 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 a.s.sist 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 t.i.tle of the theme determines in a large degree the matter that should be included. Much that is appropriate to a theme on "Ba.s.s Fishing" will be found unnecessary in a theme ent.i.tled "How I caught a Ba.s.s." 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 t.i.tle (see Sections 58-61); the second is the collection of all facts, ill.u.s.trations, and other material which may appropriately be used in a theme having the chosen t.i.tle.

+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 s.p.a.ce 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 s.p.a.ce to be given to the different parts of a composition, care must be taken that the s.p.a.ce a.s.signed to each shall be proportional to its importance, the largest amount of s.p.a.ce 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 a.s.sist 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 t.i.tle? 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; c.o.c.king 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 ill.u.s.trated 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 pa.s.s 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 s.p.a.ce. 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.