Thomas de Quincey - "The Notebook of an English Opium Eater"

Frances Hodgson Burnett - "In the Closed Room"

Pelham Grenville Wodehouse - "Psmith, Journalist"

Georges Ohnet - "Serge Panine, v4"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: Practical Argumentation

G >> George K. Pattee >> Practical Argumentation




The officials of the forestry service, in speaking of the great
devastation caused by forest fires, make the startling assertion that
a new navy of first-class battle-ships could be built for the sum lost
during a few weeks in the fires that raged from the pines of Maine to
the redwoods of California.

Figures used in this way are most effective, and yet probably nothing
in argumentation is more tedious than too many of these descriptions
of statistics coming close together. If numbers absolutely have to
be indicated a great many times, even figures are likely to be less
tiresome.

CONCRETENESS. General statements and abstract principles invariably
weary an audience. Theories and generalities are usually too
intangible to make much impression. Specific instances and concrete
cases, however, are usually interesting. A vivid picture of real
persons, things, and events is necessary to arouse the attention of an
audience and cause them both to understand the argument and to give it
their consideration. The slogan of a recent political campaign was
not, "Improved economic conditions for the laboring man"; it was, "The
full dinner pail." The political orator who is urging the necessity
for a larger navy on the ground that war is imminent does not speak of
possible antagonists in such general terms as _foreign powers_;
he specifies Germany, Japan, and the other nations that he fears. The
preacher who would really awaken the conscience of his church does not
confine himself to such terms as _original sin_ and _weaknesses
of the flesh_; he talks of _lying_, _stealing_, and _swearing_.

Compare the effectiveness of the following examples:--


People of the same race are more loyal to each other than to
foreigners.

Blood is thicker than water.


Western farmers are demanding political recognition.

"No, I am not going to vote a straight ticket this year. If I do, my
candidate must be in favor of some things I want." That was the dictum
of Franklin Taylor, Farmer, on Rural Route No. 12, ten miles from a
western town. He is a type of thousands of other farmers in the West.


Business streets that were once commodious and impressive are now
smoky and filthy.

Business streets that ten years after the great fire promised to be
almost grant in the width and perspective are now mere smoky tunnels
under the filth-dripping gridirons of the elevated railways.


The West is becoming more densely populated.

The center of population, now in Indiana, is traveling straight toward
the middle point of Illinois. The center of manufacturing has reached
only eastern Ohio, but is marching in a bee-line for Chicago.


In the following quotation Mr. Crisp, laying aside for the moment
abstractions and generalities, and bringing his case down to a
specific instance, gives a concrete illustration of how the protective
tariff affects a single individual:

Will you tell how this protective tariff benefits our agricultural
producers? I can show you--I think I can demonstrate clearly--how the
tariff hurts them; and I defy any of you to show wherein they are
benefited by a protective tariff.

Suppose a farmer in Minnesota has 5,000 bushels of wheat and a farmer
in Georgia has 100 bales of cotton. That wheat at eighty cents a
bushel is worth $4,000, and that cotton at eight cents a pound is
worth $4,000. Let those producers ship their staples abroad. The
Minnesota wheat-grower ships his wheat to Liverpool; whether he ships
it there or not, that is where the price of his wheat is fixed. The
Georgia cotton-raiser ships his cotton to Liverpool; whether he ships
it there or not, that is where the price of his cotton is fixed. The
wheat and the cotton are sold in that free trade market. The wheat is
sold for $4,000; the cotton brings the same amount. The Minnesota
farmer invests the $4,000 he has received for his wheat in clothing,
crockery, iron, steel, dress goods, clothing,--whatever he may need
for his family in Minnesota. The Georgia cotton-raiser invests the
proceeds of his cotton in like kind of goods.

Each of those men ships his goods to this country and they reach the
port of New York. When either undertakes to unload them he is met by
the collector of customs, who says, "Let me see your invoice." The
invoice is exhibited, and it shows $4,000 worth of goods. Those goods
represent in the one case 5,000 bushels of wheat, in the other case
100 bales of cotton. The collector at the port says to either of these
gentlemen--the man who raises the wheat in Minnesota or him who raises
the cotton in Georgia, "You cannot bring into this market those goods
for which you have exchanged your products unless you pay to the
United States a tariff by the McKinley law--a tax of $2,000."

FIGURES OF SPEECH. The use of figurative language is also an aid to
clearness and to force. Simile, metaphor, personification, antithesis,
balance, climax, rhetorical question, and repetition are all effective
aids in the presentation of argument. The speeches of great orators
are replete with expressions of this sort. Burke, in his _Speech on
Conciliation_, says, "Despotism itself is obliged to truck and
huckster"; "The public," he said, "would not have patience to see us
play the game out with our adversaries; we must produce our hand";
"Men may lose little in property by the act which takes away all their
freedom. When a man is robbed of a trifle on the highway, it is not
the twopence lost that constitutes the capital outrage." In speaking
of certain provisions of the Constitution, Webster says that they are
the "keystone of the arch." The following paragraph is taken from his
_Reply to Hayne_:--

And, sir, where American liberty raised its first voice, and where its
youth was nurtured and sustained, there it still lives in the strength
of its manhood and full of its original spirit. If discord and
disunion shall wound it; if party strife and blind ambition shall hawk
at and tear it; if folly and madness, if uneasiness under salutary and
necessary restraint, shall succeed to separate it from that Union by
which alone its existence is made sure; it will stand, in the end, by
the side of that cradle in which its infancy was rocked; it will
stretch forth its arm with whatever of vigor it may still retain, over
the friends who gather round it; and it will fall at last, if fall it
must, amidst the proudest monuments of its own glory, and on the very
spot of its origin.

_The Outlook_, in a recent issue, first states a vital question
in literal and then, to drive home the meaning of the problem, in
figurative language:--

Is the Constitution of the United States a series of inflexible rules
which can be changed only by the methods which those rules themselves
prescribe, or is it the expression of certain political principles by
which a living and growing Nation has resolved to guide itself in its
life and growth? Is it an anchor which fastens the ship of state in
one place, or a rudder to guide it on its voyage?

Sometimes figures of speech are used to such excess or in such
incongruous combinations that they detract from the effectiveness of
the debate in which they occur rather than add to it. The distance
from a forceful figure to an absurd figure is so short that a debater
has to be on his guard against using expressions that will impress his
audience as ridiculous or even funny. A mixture of highly figurative
language with literal language and commonplace ideas, and a mixture of
several figures are especially to be guarded against. As an example of
the extent to which figures may be mixed the following will serve:--

"I'm up a tree," admitted the bolting Senator, "but my back is to the
wall and I'll die in the last ditch, going down with flags flying,
and from the mountain top of Democracy, hurling defiance at the foe,
soar on the wings of triumph, regardless of the party lash that barks
at my heels."


DELIVERY.

To be a successful debater one must understand how to talk and how to
act in the presence of an audience. Uncouthness in appearance and
awkwardness in speech have often brought defeat. Moreover, it is not
enough that a debater refrain from offending his audience; his bearing
and his voice should be of positive assistance to him both in pleasing
them and in interpreting to them the ideas that he wishes to convey.
First of all, a good delivery is one that assists in making the
argument clear. Its next most important function is to make the
argument forceful. A speaker should never rest content with being able
to present his argument merely with clearness; he should strive to be
interesting and impressive also. These qualities depend in no small
measure upon the way a speech is delivered. The best story or the best
argument will fall flat unless it is full of the fire of enthusiasm,
unless the personality of the speaker vivifies it and makes it a
living reality. Unfortunately, this intangible quality in a speaker,
often called "personality" or "magnetism," cannot, to any great
extent, be taught. In the main, one must seek this and develop it for
himself. A text-book can point out what constitutes good form, what is
pleasing and impressive to the eye and to the ear, and, in a word,
what make up the externals of a good delivery; but beyond these
mechanical directions it cannot go. A student should observe the
following fundamental directions as his first step toward becoming a
successful speaker. Afterwards, he should cultivate earnestness,
enthusiasm, perception, a sense of humor, and all other such qualities
as go to make up a really great speaker.

POSITION. The best position for a debater to take on the stage is in
the centre well toward the front. He should take the centre because in
that position he can best see the entire audience, and the entire
audience can best see him. He should stand near the front edge of the
platform for several reasons: first, he can make himself more easily
understood; his voice need not be so loud in order to be heard
distinctly in every part of the hall. This is no small advantage for
one who is not gifted with unusual powers of speech. In the next
place, if a debater stands close to his audience, he can adopt a more
conversational style of delivery. He can establish a direct personal
connection between himself and his hearers and talk to them as man to
man. If the hall is not too large, he need scarcely raise his voice
from its accustomed tone; he can look his audience in the eye,
receiving the stimulus of whatever interest they express; and at the
same time he can let them see in his features the earnestness and
sincerity that he feels. To stand near the back of the stage is
undoubtedly easier for one who is diffident or inexperienced; perhaps
he will then be able partially to forget where he is and to imagine
that he is alone; but such an attitude both severs all personal
connection between speaker and hearer, and shows that the debater does
not trust himself, that he has no great belief in his subject, and
that he fears his audience. An impression of this sort is a great
handicap even to the strongest case. If one would inspire confidence,
he must appear confident; if one would make friends, he must be
friendly, avoiding even a suggestion of aloofness. To accomplish these
purposes as far as is possible by _action,_ a debater should come
close to his audience, having every appearance of being glad that he
is to speak and confident in the strength of the side that he is to
uphold.

The next thing for a speaker to learn is how to stand. He should not
take a natural posture, as some writers say, unless that posture is
one of strength and, to some degree, of grace. A student without
training will usually stand with his head protruding forward, his
shoulders drooping, his body twisted, and his feet far apart, with all
his weight on one leg. Such an attitude is enough to condemn one even
before he begins to speak. A slipshod appearance suggests slipshod
thinking and reasoning. A speaker should always stand erect, with his
head back, chin in, shoulders rolled back and down; either the feet
should be near together with the weight of the body on both, or one
foot should be slightly in advance of the other with the weight of the
body entirely on the rear foot. In the latter case, the leg on which
the body rests must form a straight line with the body, there being no
unsightly bulging at the hip; and the leg on which the body does not
rest must be slightly bent at the knee. This posture is not difficult
to attain if one will practise it frequently, endeavoring in his
everyday life to walk and stand in a soldierly manner. On the other
hand, erectness should not be carried to such an extreme as to become
stiffness. A debater's object is to be forceful and pleasing. In
striving for this end, he should always remember that he can very
easily err in either of two directions.

A debater should allow his hands, for the most part, to hang naturally
at his sides. There may be a great temptation for him to put them in
his pockets, but he should resist this for two reasons: such a
procedure is not considered good form, and his hands are less
available for instant use in the making of gestures. If one is
delivering a lengthy argument, there is no particular harm in putting
one hand behind the back for a short time, or even in front of the
body along the waist line, provided this can be done in an easy,
natural manner; but in the case of a short speech, one will do well to
keep his hands at his sides. They must hang naturally in order not to
attract attention, being neither closed tightly nor held rigidly open.
If one will follow these directions, his hands and arms may feel
awkward, but they will not appear so.

Another important principle in the matter of position requires that a
debater shall keep his eyes fixed on his audience. He must not look at
the floor, at the ceiling, or at the walls. He must look at the people
he would convince. Only in this way can he hope to hold their
attention. Only in this way can he win their confidence and reach
their feelings. To look into space means to debate into space.

In the next place, a speaker must beware of falling into ludicrous and
disgusting habits of deportment. Nervousness will often cause one in
the presence of an audience to keep making an unsightly gesture, a
peculiar twitch or step that will absolutely ruin his whole speech.
Some speakers have been known to change their weight from one foot to
the other as often as twenty or thirty times a minute. Other speakers
have adopted a peculiar jerk of the head or a constant shrugging of
the shoulders that is most disagreeable to see. Still others keep
constantly opening and shutting their hands. For years one speaker of
some small prominence spent the greater part of his time while on the
platform in tugging at his coat, apparently in an effort to make it
fit better around the collar. All such actions as these are to be
carefully guarded against.

A debater, however, is not expected to stand perfectly still: he
should use considerable interpretative and emphatic action. To begin
with, he ought not to stand all the time in exactly the same spot.
Monotony of position is to be avoided as well as monotony of action or
of voice. He will rest himself and his audience if he will
occasionally move about, taking two or three steps at a time. In doing
this he must never go backward; he must never retreat. If, for any
reason, he began his speech while standing near the rear or the centre
of the stage, he should move forward; if he cannot go forward, he may
move back and forth near the edge of the platform. The best time for
one to change his position is at the conclusion of a paragraph. A
paragraph division, it will be remembered, indicates a change in
thought. If a debater, therefore, makes a longer pause than usual at
this point, and in addition alters his position slightly, he helps
interpret his argument. He does for the hearer exactly what
indentation does for the reader.

GESTURES. So much has been said and written about gestures that a
student is often puzzled to know whose advice to follow and what to
do. Some writers say that no gestures at all are desirable; others
deem them necessary, but declare that they should never be made unless
they are spontaneous and natural. In the light of such conflicting
advice, what will determine the proper course for a student to follow?
The answer to this question lies in a consideration of the ultimate
object of a course in debating. If it is to give students some
facility in expressing their thoughts before an audience, if it is to
train students for practical work in business and professional life,
then those men who are recognized as the polished and powerful
speakers of the day should be taken as models. Most of these, it will
be found, use gestures. There is but one reasonable course, then, for
the student to follow: he should make gestures. They may be crude and
awkward at first, but only by practice can he ever hope to improve
them.

The best method of procedure, undoubtedly, is for the beginner to
become familiar with two or three of the most common gestures,
learning how to make them and just what they signify. He should then
use them. They may seem mechanical and ungainly at first, but constant
practice both in private and before a class will soon enable him to
make them with considerable emphasis and ease. From this point on, the
road is clear. The knowledge that he can use his hands to good
advantage, even in a limited way, will soon cause him to make gestures
spontaneously. Nor will he be limited to the few with which he
started. In the midst of an explanation and in the heat of an
impassioned plea, he will find himself using gestures that he had not
thought of before. The awkward and premeditated gesture with which he
began will have become forceful and spontaneous.

The gestures that a student should first learn to use must be
illustrated to him by his instructor. To see a gesture made several
times gives one a better idea of how to make it and of what it means
than could a dozen pages in a text-book. The choice of gestures, too,
may rest with the instructor. It makes no particular difference with
what ones a debater begins, provided that they are simple in execution
and are such as he will wish to use in practically every debate into
which he enters. Ordinarily, the best ones for a beginner to practice
on are those indicating emphasis. If he wishes for a wider field, he
might also try to use gestures indicating magnitude and contrast. When
he has finished with these, he should hesitate before deliberately
introducing many others. A debate is not a dramatic production, and it
should in no wise savor of melodrama.

VOICE. Correct position and forceful gestures are very important, but
upon no one thing does the success of a debater, aside from his
argument, depend so much as upon his voice. One may move his audience
in spite of an awkward posture and in the absence of all intelligent
gestures, but unless his voice meets certain requirements, his case is
almost hopeless. Above all else a speaker's voice must be distinct.

Distinctness depends upon several things. First, the voice must be
loud enough to be heard without difficulty in every part of the room.
To produce this result, one should speak especially to those in the
rear, carefully watching to see whether he holds their attention; at
the same time he must be careful not to shout in a manner unpleasant
to those sitting nearer him. The stress laid by public speakers upon
the matter of loudness is well illustrated by a story told of one of
the foremost orators of the day. It is said that he invariably
stations some one in the back of the audience to signal to him when
his voice is either too low or unnecessarily loud.

In the next place, distinctness depends upon enunciation. The debater
who drops off final syllables, slurs consonants, runs words together,
or talks without using his lips and without opening his mouth is hard
to understand. It often requires considerable conscious effort to
pronounce each syllable in a word distinctly, but the resulting
clearness is worth a strenuous attempt. One great cause of poor
enunciation is too rapid talking. A fairly slow delivery is preferable
not only because the words can be more easily understood, but also
because it gives a debater the appearance of being more careful and
accurate in his reasoning. Great rapidity in speech may be due to
nervousness or inexperience; whatever its cause, it is usually fatal
to distinctness.

A pleasing tone of voice is not of so great moment as distinctness of
utterance, yet its cultivation is by no means to be neglected. Harsh,
rasping sounds and nasal twangs are disagreeable to hear, and no
speaker can afford to offend his audience in this way. An unpleasant
voice may be the result of some physical defect; more often it is
caused by sheer carelessness. In most cases a little practice will
produce a wonderful change. A very common breach of elegance in
speaking is the habit of drawling out an _er_ sound between
words. The constant repetition of this is exceedingly annoying. It is
usually caused by an attempt to fill in a gap while the speaker is
groping about for the next word. The best way to correct this blunder
is to be so familiar with what one is going to say that there will be
no gap to fill in; but in case one does have to hunt for words, it is
a thousand times preferable to leave the gap unfilled. Each word
should stand out by itself, even though there is a pause of many
seconds. To offend the ears of an audience with a crude tone of voice
or with meaningless sounds is a bad violation of propriety.

The first step to be taken in the cultivation of a distinct and
pleasing voice is to acquire the habit of standing correctly. Under
the subject of position it was stated that the body should be kept
erect, the head thrown back, and the shoulders rolled back and down.
This posture is the best not only because it is the most graceful but
because it gives the speaker the greatest command of his vocal organs.
Stooping shoulders and a bowed trunk contract the lungs and diminish
the supply of breath, and a bent neck renders the cords of the neck
less controllable. After taking the proper position, one should next
endeavor to breathe as deeply as he can. The louder he has to speak,
the deeper should be his breathing. Remembering that he does not wish
to talk fast, he will do well to fill his lungs at the close of each
sentence, always inhaling, in order not to make an unpleasant gasping
noise, through the nose. While speaking, he should control his supply
of breath not by contracting the chest but by elevating the diaphragm.
This procedure will give his voice a richness and a resonance that it
otherwise could not have. Breathing merely from the top of the lungs
means squeakiness of tone and poor control. One who breathes
incorrectly will find it necessary to shout to make himself heard at a
distance; one who breathes correctly can usually be heard under the
same conditions by merely talking. The superiority of the round, deep
tone over the shout is too obvious to need comment. In the next place,
a speaker must think about this voice. Thought and study are as
essential in the training of a voice as in the mastery of any art. A
natural voice is not usually pleasing; it becomes so only through
cultivation. Much of this training can be done by the speaker unaided.
Few people are so insensible to qualities of sound that they cannot
detect harshness and impurities even in their own utterance, provided
that they will give the matter their attention. It is not enough,
however, for one to watch his voice only while he is debating or while
he is repeating his arguments in preparation for a debate; he must
carry constant watchfulness even into his daily conversation. The
services of a good instructor are invaluable, but at best they can be
only auxiliary. All improvement must come through the efforts of the
speaker himself.

ATTITUDE TOWARD OPPONENTS. If one will bear in mind that the
fundamental purpose of argument--whether written or spoken--is to
present truth in such a way as to influence belief, he will at once
understand that a debater should always maintain toward his opponents
the attitude of one who is trying to change another's belief, the
attitude of friendship, fairness, and respect. Such a point of view
precludes the use of satire, invective, or harsh epithets. These
never carry conviction; in fact, they invariably destroy the effect
that an otherwise good argument might produce. Ridicule and bluster
may please those who already agree with the speaker, but with these
people he should be little concerned; a debater worthy of the name
seeks to change the opinions of those who disagree with him. For this
reason he is diplomatic, courteous, and urbane.

A debater should, moreover, keep to this same attitude even though his
opponent introduce objectionable personalities. One will find it for
his own best interest to do so. Good humor makes a far better
impression than anger; it suggests strength and superiority, while
anger, as everyone knows, is often the result of chagrin, and is used
to cover up weaknesses. Besides, an audience always sympathizes with
the man who is first attacked. All this does not mean that a debater
should calmly submit to unfairness and vilification. On the contrary,
he should defend himself spiritedly; but he should not meet abuse with
abuse. To do so would be to throw away an invaluable opportunity. He
should remain dignified, self-controlled, and good-humored; then by
treating his opponent as one who has inadvertently fallen into error,
and by pointing out the mistakes, the unfairness, and the way in which
the real question has been ignored, he can gain an inestimable
advantage.