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 ORAL, 
 g'OM POSITION 
 
 CORNELIA CARHART WARD 
 
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 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO 
 DALLAS ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 MACMILLAN ft CO., LIMITED 
 
 LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA 
 MELBOURNE 
 
 THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LID. 
 
 TORONTO 
 
ORAL 
 COMPOSITION 
 
 A TEXT BOOK FOR 
 HIGH SCHOOLS 
 
 BY 
 
 CORNELIA CARHART WARD, A.M. 
 
 (SYRACUSE, RADCLIFFE) 
 HUNTER COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL 
 
 NEW YORK CITY 
 
 
 
 -fflWBHJF 
 
 ART 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 1914 
 
COPTBIOHT, 1914 
 
 BT THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 Set up and eleotrotyped. Published June, 1914 
 
 JlBAMATfC ART DEFT 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 FOR several years there has been much discussion of the 
 defects in our high school teaching of English. The public 
 and the colleges have inveighed against us, both for what 
 we did, and for what we did not do. We, as teachers, though 
 we knew that we could not expect mature thought from 
 boys and girls, and though we knew that we could not per- 
 form the miracle of obtaining one hundred per cent achieve- 
 ment from youth of fifty or seventy-five per cent brain 
 power, have not been satisfied with results. We have recog- 
 nized the defects in our graduates, and we have seen justice 
 in the demand for more practical instruction. Moreover, 
 realizing that a live, broad-minded teacher is worth more 
 than an overstrained, nervous, narrow one, we have sought 
 relief from theme correction. At any rate, we have said, 
 singly and collectively, "Oral composition will solve the 
 whole problem!" 
 
 Granted. But how should we go about it? Strange to 
 say, many were reluctant to try it. Those who did groped 
 their way, often without a definite plan of procedure which 
 should make the work of value. If oral composition is to 
 be a vital part of our English courses in the future, we must 
 cease to think of it as a haphazard experiment and must 
 plan it just as carefully as we have planned the teaching of 
 literature or writing. 
 
 The chief purpose of oral composition is to aid in prepar- 
 ing pupils to stand when occasion demands, and say natur- 
 ally, fearlessly, and agreeably, as well as simply and 
 clearly, whatever they have to say. Since everybody is 
 
 v 
 
vi FOREWORD 
 
 called on, at some time, to do this, it is high time that every- 
 body be prepared to meet this demand as he meets other 
 demands and duties in life. Nor will the ability to gather 
 his thoughts and set them forth in orderly fashion fail to 
 react on his everyday work and on his character. 
 
 This book is an attempt not only to help place oral com- 
 position where it belongs in the curriculum, but to reconcile 
 the supposed differences, to bridge the supposed gap be- 
 tween oral and written expression. The pupils must be 
 made to realize that talking, though often more effective 
 than writing, is, on the one hand, just as easy, but, on the 
 other hand, needs as much thought and preparation as 
 writing. Most pupils write better than they speak. Should 
 they not have a chance to equalize their effort? 
 
 It is expected that the teacher who uses this book will 
 place the emphasis in composition on oral expression, and 
 that as a result far less written work need be required. 
 However, the basis of good composition, the planning, is 
 provided for here. The manner of expressing thought in 
 paragraphs, sentences, and words is fully treated. Further- 
 more, the sections on material and kinds of composition, 
 and the topics, can all be used as assignments in connection 
 with written work. 
 
 The material and arrangement of the book may need 
 some justification and explanation. The full classification 
 of kinds of discourse is used, in spite of its lack of orig- 
 inality, because these kinds are in constant use, because 
 definite training prepares for public speaking better than 
 does desultory, and because oral composition should follow 
 much the same progression as does written. Terms in com- 
 mon use have been used to avoid confusion in the minds of 
 pupils. Many extracts have been taken from contemporary 
 speeches, not because of any permanent value they may 
 
FOREWORD vii 
 
 have, but because they are more in the straightforward, 
 simple style of the present, and much more like what the 
 pupils themselves may have occasion to use than are the 
 classic models. The great orations of the past are always 
 available for study. Ephemeral speeches are not. 
 
 It is to be hoped that the teacher will select according to 
 the needs of his classes. Such sections as those on the 
 reasons why we should know how to speak, the power of 
 speech, and the history of the language are not intended for 
 close study as material for examinations, but as reading to 
 arouse interest. Needless to say the order of the assign- 
 ments is not arbitrary. The topics are intended to be sug- 
 gestive, since only the general scope could be presented here. 
 The wide-awake teacher will make out new sets each term, 
 as events suggest timely subjects. Current topics should be 
 used whenever possible. The pupils will suggest good ones. 
 Teachers of other branches may be glad to formulate topics 
 that the pupils can use in correlation. 
 
 Methods in oral composition differ greatly. The writer 
 feels that it should, if possible, be made spontaneous in 
 large part. Pupils may easily be led to clear expression of 
 opinion, or to animated informal debates in the class recita- 
 tion on literature. Reports may be assigned to volunteers 
 at first, then to each in turn, thus bringing before the class 
 much additional information in an interesting form without 
 increasing the home work of all. For this, the section on 
 topics based on the college entrance reading is intended. 
 Some teachers may prefer to take entire class periods. In- 
 terest is increased by allowing the pupils to choose topics 
 from posted lists, not more than two taking the same. 
 
 It is sometimes advisable that the reports of two on the 
 same topic should be compared. The pupils make keen 
 criticisms, and become more interested at the same time 
 
viii FOREWORD 
 
 that they learn how to improve their own work. Sometimes 
 a pupil critic may be appointed for the whole period and 
 called on for a formal criticism at the close. 
 
 It may be found advisable to use some of the sections of 
 the book only for reference, to fix in the minds of the pupils 
 points of theory that have been worked out in class by skill- 
 ful questioning by the teacher. Pupils find it difficult to 
 remember such points without reading them in some formal 
 arrangement. 
 
 Much benefit may be gained by reading plays in class, 
 the pupils taking the parts. They enter into the spirit of 
 the action, interpret the meaning of the text better, show 
 more interest, and develop considerable skill in expression. 
 
 It will be found that the obstacles to oral composition 
 disappear. The pupils soon find that they can address 
 their fellows, and that such an assignment is not anything 
 to be dreaded. In a period extending over several years the 
 writer has known but one absolute failure among five or 
 six hundred girls, from embarrassment in speaking before a 
 class. Some who believed they could not collect their 
 thoughts, when standing, for the most ordinary recitation, 
 soon learned to talk extemporaneously in a natural, ani- 
 mated manner before several hundred girls in assembly. 
 Programs have been made up of talks. Whole periods 
 have been taken for original conversations between char- 
 acters of some book. These often revealed careful study 
 and clever interpretations. Informal debates have been 
 much used as opportunity occurred in class, all having a 
 chance to defend their views. Pupils have gained greatly 
 in the power of expression of opinion on all sorts of ques- 
 tions. The kinds of work suggested in this book have been 
 tested, and found productive of results. 
 
 On the whole, oral expression, plenty of it, as varied as 
 
FOREWORD ix 
 
 possible, enlivens the school work, adds interest to all parts 
 of it, relieves the overburdened teacher, and attains the 
 result most desired and worth most, that of giving the diffi- 
 dent pupil power most valuable all his life. 
 
 No attempt has been made in this book to evolve a 
 method new or startling. Although many rules here given 
 are to be found in other books in one form or other, they 
 have been common property so long that no credit can be 
 given. The exercises, though worked out independently by 
 the author, may be very like some to be found elsewhere. 
 
 The author desires to thank Miss Mary Percival, of 
 Hunter College, New York City, for reading and com- 
 ment; Miss Mildred L. L. Taitt for suggestions as to some 
 of the scientific topics; Miss Cornelia Trowbridge of the 
 Richmond Hill High School, for a list of words often mis- 
 pronounced; Miss Lulu McConnick, Job Hedges, John 
 Mitchell, John Purroy Mitchel, Booker T. Washington, 
 Fairfax Harrison, Miss Jane Addams, Miss M. Carey 
 Thomas, Dr. Charles W. Eliot, Dr. Henry Van Dyke, Dr. 
 Arthur T. Hadley, Dr. Guy Potter Benton, Dr. Talcott Wil- 
 liams, William J. Bryan, Colonel Roosevelt, William H. 
 Taft, and President Wilson, who have so kindly given per- 
 mission to use extracts from their addresses ; and the follow- 
 ing publishers for permission to use extracts from copy- 
 righted books or pamphlets: Ferd P. Kaiser, The American 
 Book Company, the Bobbs-Merrill Company, G. P. Put- 
 nam's Sons, The Houghton Mifflin Company, The New 
 York Sun, Times, and Tribune, the National Child Labor 
 Committee, and the American Association for International 
 Conciliation. 
 
 c. c. w. 
 
 HUNTER COLLEGE, New York City, 1913. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 PAOB 
 
 I. WHY WE SHOULD KNOW How TO SPEAK . . . 3-20 
 Important Place of Speech in our Lives ... 6 
 
 Why Speech has Power 11 
 
 Why Speaking is Preferable to Reading . . . 17 
 
 PART I 
 THE CONDITIONS OF GOOD SPEAKING 
 
 II. PREPARATION 23-61 
 
 Choice of Subject 24 
 
 Gathering Material 31 
 
 Outlining 34 
 
 The Introduction 43 
 
 The Conclusion 54 
 
 III. EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT . . 62-124 
 
 The Paragraph 62 
 
 The Sentence 82 
 
 The Use of Words 101 
 
 IV. ACTUAL SPEAKING 125-160 
 
 The Use of the Body 125 
 
 The Use of the Voice 135 
 
 Expressiveness Through Variation .... 137 
 
 Enunciation 148 
 
 Pronunciation 156 
 
 xi 
 
xii TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PART II 
 KINDS OF WRITING AND SPEAKING 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 V. NARRATION 163-197 
 
 Classification 165 
 
 Purpose 168 
 
 Elements 171 
 
 Technique 188 
 
 VI. DESCRIPTION 198-223 
 
 Purpose 198 
 
 Classification 198 
 
 Method 200 
 
 VII. EXPOSITION 224-256 
 
 Nature of Exposition 224 
 
 Classification 225 
 
 Essential Qualities 226 
 
 VIII. ARGUMENTATION 257-313 
 
 Nature 257 
 
 Use 257 
 
 Evidence 261 
 
 Tests of Evidence 263 
 
 Kinds of Argument 267 
 
 Preparing the Brief 269 
 
 Method of Debate . 293 
 
 PART III 
 TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 
 
 Suggested Outlines for Practice 317 
 
 General Topics for School Assemblies or Classes . . . .318 
 
 Subjects for Senior Orations 319 
 
 Topics for Oral Reports based on Uniform Entrance Requirements 322 
 
 Examples of Speeches 355 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 WHY WE SHOULD KNOW HOW TO SPEAK 
 
PROPERTY OF 
 DEPARTMENT OF DRAMATIC ART 
 
 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 WHY WE SHOULD KNOW HOW TO SPEAK 
 
 ALTHOUGH the proverb tells us that "there is nothing 
 new under the sun," we find that many things connected 
 with our daily life and work have changed a great deal 
 since the times of our ancestors. This is true not only of 
 the comforts and conveniences of life, but of studies as well. 
 We have only to think of the long, hard study of the Chi- 
 nese classics which those people who wished to hold trivial 
 civic posts in China have been forced to make, or the an- 
 cient Jewish emphasis on the learning of the scriptures and 
 the Talmud, or the Mohammedan study of the Koran, or 
 the Spartan training of the body, or the Roman education 
 for oratory and war, to see how differently in times past 
 people have considered education. A century ago, the stu- 
 dent preparing for college spent all his study hours over 
 Latin, Greek, and mathematics. Today, many of our large 
 high schools do not offer Greek, but give courses in science, 
 and in commercial and even in technical branches. 
 
 In the study of modern languages there has been great 
 advance in a few generations. In Addison's time it was 
 impossible to obtain in an English university a useful 
 knowledge of French. It was well on in the nineteenth cen- 
 
 3 
 
4 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 tury that Harvard College introduced the study of modern 
 languages. Strange to say, our mother tongue was the last 
 to receive attention. To learn to write Latin verse was 
 deemed more important than to express one's thoughts 
 about practical affairs of everyday life in the best possible 
 way. 
 
 Our grandparents tell us how they studied grammar and 
 composition writing from the time when they learned to say 
 the letters of the alphabet without knowing why, until the 
 proud day of graduation. They sang such definitions as "A 
 noun is the name of anything that can be known or men- 
 tioned," and made queer little boxes around words to show 
 the relations between parts of speech. For state occasions, 
 such as the Friday afternoon exhibitions, or the visit of the 
 school trustee or selectman, they laboriously penned crude 
 compositions on "Virtue," or "Happiness," or "Duty." Is it 
 any wonder that "composition days" were dreaded, or that 
 duty loomed up as a fearsome, unnatural thing? 
 
 Late in the last century, we who are now your teachers 
 found "English" set down in the catalogues as of equal im- 
 portance with Greek, Latin, mathematics and science. We 
 thought it strange that a language we had always known 
 should become so important all at once, but we prepared 
 to pass Regents' and college entrance examinations by 
 studying a few books very minutely and writing paragraphs 
 on many subjects, and essays or themes on a few. We 
 learned that there were methods of writing that had been 
 found good, and that we must know how to express our 
 thoughts on paper in an orderly way. 
 
 All this time, pupils everywhere recited, or "spoke pieces." 
 Everybody knew "Curfew Shall Not Ring To-Night," or 
 "Bingen on the Rhine." Elocution classes flourished, de- 
 spite the dread some members of them often felt, and con- 
 
INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 tests in declamation were held all over the land. Happy 
 and proud was the boy or girl who displayed a medal or a 
 fine set of books won in such a way ! 
 
 Now we are hearing much of a study that seems to many 
 like a new bugbear, and the pupil gasps in dismay when 
 he hears of "oral composition." Let us see what it really 
 is that goes by a name much more alarming than the thing 
 itself. It is only a bit of practice in telling somebody else 
 what we have seen, or what happened to us yesterday or 
 last week, or an amusing incident we witnessed ; or perhaps 
 we want to tell the other girls and boys how to make some- 
 thing or how to get ready for a camping or fishing trip; or 
 we may want to convince them that we are right and they 
 are wrong about something that is of vital interest to us 
 all just at the time. Of course we can't do this unless we 
 know how to express our ideas in an orderly way, and 
 clearly enough to make them understood. Then, too, we 
 need to be able to use our bodies to help our minds, so that 
 our speech shall be interesting and effective. We are 
 simply trying to put together the valuable things that have 
 been learned by our predecessors about writing our own 
 thoughts and repeating other people's thoughts, so that we 
 shall have the full use of all our powers of expression. 
 Surely this is something that we can enter upon with enthu- 
 siasm ! 
 
 If you think for a moment of the various kinds of train- 
 ing the schools of different lands and ages have given, you 
 will see that the aim was always to use what seemed the 
 best means to prepare the pupil for his work in life 
 whether it was that of a warrior, of a preacher, a scholar, or 
 a statesman. We hear much now of vocational training. 
 The boy must learn in school how to use a saw or how to 
 keep books for a business firm; the girl is taught to make 
 
6 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 dresses or cakes, or to run a typewriter. Is there anything 
 that we need to be able to do better than the thing we all 
 do every day, all our lives, no matter what our occupation 
 or place in the world? 
 
 IMPORTANT PLACE OP SPEECH IN OUR LIVES 
 
 There are several reasons why we find speech so im- 
 portant a part of our daily life. It is the most natural, sim- 
 ple way of self-expression after we have passed the baby- 
 hood period of sign-language. We feel that people are very 
 unfortunate who are obliged to communicate with others by 
 means of the fingers, or by writing. It is a great boon to 
 the person born deaf that he can now learn to talk by the 
 right use of certain muscles. Any other method is only a 
 substitute for the use of the voice, an artificial means relied 
 upon when the voice fails. Since, for our convenience, com- 
 fort, and highest usefulness, the voice must sometimes be 
 elongated to reach people far away, or multiplied, to reach 
 many who could not hear us at the same time, or preserved 
 till another day or another year, we use written signs. But 
 they are so unsatisfactory as substitutes that we have used 
 every means to carry the vibrations of the vocal organs 
 themselves. What should we do without the telephone? 
 We gladly pay a few cents to talk to a friend in the same 
 city, or to order our groceries. Sometimes we are willing to 
 pay many dollars for the privilege of talking to someone a 
 thousand miles away. It would cost but two cents to write 
 to him, and there may be no hurry. But we want the 
 human voice to carry the message. The phonograph has, 
 by recording songs and speeches, given pleasure to thou- 
 sands. 
 
 There are many occasions that demand the use of speech. 
 
INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 Our most ordinary needs are thus made known. If we want 
 certain food we say what we want. If relief is needed we 
 voice our necessities. If we see a child in front of a run- 
 away horse we shout a warning. We express our feelings, 
 whether of pain or grief or joy, by means of speech. Imag- 
 ine writing our ordinary exclamations, or welcome to a 
 friend ! It is a commonplace that social intercourse is based 
 on conversation. The man or woman who finds nothing to 
 say, or is limited to the weather and like topics, is not a 
 social success. The brilliant conversationalist is, on the 
 other hand, a desirable addition to any gathering. In busi- 
 ness relations, too, verbal expression makes possible easier, 
 clearer understanding and greater rapidity. We explain to 
 the tradesman exactly what we want. Business men carry 
 on important deals largely through personal interviews, 
 often traveling hundreds or thousands of miles for the pur- 
 pose. Few business positions are filled without interviews 
 in which the employer is able to test the personality and 
 powers of the candidate through conversation. Indeed, in all 
 the affairs of life, the deaf and the speechless, or those even 
 diffident in talking, are at an incalculable disadvantage. 
 Who does not find it necessary to employ, at some time, 
 his powers of oral expression? The clergyman, the teacher, 
 and the lawyer are absolutely dependent, not only for suc- 
 cess, but for a livelihood in their professions, on this power. 
 The physician, though he may practice more than he 
 preaches, must make his directions to the patient and the 
 nurse so clear that there can be no mistake in following 
 them. He may be called upon to lecture before medical 
 students, or before a convention. He, as well as other pro- 
 fessional men, is likely to serve on school boards or com- 
 mittees in organizations or for the general welfare. The 
 engineer must often explain certain things clearly to the 
 
8 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 men under him, or to his employers, else he risks the right 
 execution and may imperil the lives of many. Although a 
 business man may be brusque with his employees, he must 
 at times be able to "talk a person into" a deal, or to em- 
 phasize his views at a directors' meeting. He must be ready 
 to avert a strike among his men by an apt speech, or to 
 smooth the ruffled feelings of an aggrieved customer, or to 
 explain to his superintendent the best methods of manage- 
 ment. If he has a partner he must often support by force- 
 ful reasons his wish to follow a specific policy. If he is 
 employed by a large concern he may some day find himself 
 under the necessity of defending an action that has injured 
 the interests of the firm, or even of proving himself innocent 
 of some charge brought by jealous or guilty associates. 
 Many an honorable man has lost position or reputation 
 through his inability to use the English language wisely and 
 to his credit. Many a good man has lost the opportunity 
 to say the word that would have saved another from de- 
 spair or crime, because he did not know how. 
 
 The tremendous influence of the spoken word has been 
 repeatedly shown. The founder of Christianity left no 
 written sermons ; but in simple words He told the common 
 people the great truths of life and eternity, and they fol- 
 lowed Him in multitudes. Wesley drew great crowds as 
 often as he could speak, and melted men to tears and re- 
 pentance. In our own day, many have heard Dwight L. 
 Moody, a humble, unschooled man, win thousands. In 
 courts of justice, too, lawyers skilled in rhetoric have turned 
 hostile juries, and freed even proved criminals. Statesmen 
 and politicians have carried assemblies with them; Cicero 
 saved Rome by his speeches against Catiline; Patrick 
 Henry, in a few impassioned words, roused the spirit of 
 revolution in the Virginia House of Burgesses and through- 
 
INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 out the colonies; William J. Bryan won, by his "Cross of 
 Gold" speech, not only a presidential nomination, but world 
 prominence and fame. Quiet, self-possessed men, true to 
 their duty, have quelled mobs by a few calm words mobs 
 that had perhaps been fired by the burning words of union 
 leaders in mass meetings. We do not need to read the scene 
 in which Antony turned the Romans against the con- 
 spirators to realize this. Life is full of instances. 
 
 But it is not only the great orator or the man inspired 
 by the moment's need whose words are more influential if 
 spoken. Our entire system of instruction, since Socrates 
 walked and talked with all who would hear, has been based 
 on the fact that speech is more potent than written signs. 
 You all know that no book can take the place of the teacher 
 in the classroom. In colleges, where the students surely 
 know how to use books, the lecture system still prevails to 
 such an extent that entire courses sometimes consist in lec- 
 tures alone. Arrangement has been made by which stu- 
 dents at Columbia or Harvard may listen to men from the 
 Universities of Paris, Berlin, or Tokio, although their lec- 
 tures often consist of material soon to be published. From 
 kindergarten to university, instruction having the personal 
 element through speech, is considered the most valuable. 
 Outside the formal educational courses the same factor is 
 sought. Throughout the country, lecture centers and Chau- 
 tauquas have sprung up. In Boston, under the Lowell In- 
 stitute, and in New York, under the Board of Education, 
 hundreds of lectures are given for the public on government, 
 art, literature, science, health, and other topics of popular 
 interest. 
 
 Conventions, too, seem to increase in number and fre- 
 quency. Every trade, profession, and organization, from a 
 high school society to a great religious denomination, has 
 
10 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 its gathering, attended by great numbers. People go to 
 Boston, to Denver, Toronto, London, even to South Africa, 
 not only to transact business, but to listen to great speeches 
 made by noted men. 
 
 Often a special occasion or some specific purpose calls 
 eminent speakers from great distances. Noted preachers, 
 such as Lyman Abbott and Henry Van Dyke, are asked to 
 address the student body at Harvard or Yale. Henry 
 Arthur Jones crosses the ocean to lecture before universities 
 on the drama. Perhaps some social movement is in 
 progress, and the people of a city call in the leaders to 
 present the cause. So Wendell Phillips went about speak- 
 ing on abolition, and John B. Gough on temperance. Peace 
 conferences and meetings have enlisted the services of Li 
 Hung Chang as well as of Andrew Carnegie. Clubs engaged 
 in the betterment of conditions have asked Judge Ben Lind- 
 sey to tell about the children's court, or Mr. Lunn to ex- 
 plain socialism, or John Mitchell to set forth the principles 
 of labor unions. In connection with literary celebrations, 
 the Dean of American literature might be called to Boston 
 to help honor Longfellow, or William Watson invited across 
 the Atlantic to read a poem at a Dickens Centenary in New 
 York. Political meetings are held all over the land, and 
 such men as Taft, Roosevelt, Wilson, and in earlier days 
 Hill, Blaine, Douglas and Lincoln, have been heard in many 
 cities and towns. 
 
 So great has been the desire to come face to face with the 
 masters of speech that the people have made lecture tours 
 exceedingly profitable from the days of Emerson and 
 Beecher in the past, to those of Hillis and Bryan in the 
 present. People want to hear, too, the recital of personal 
 experiences, and have flocked to hear Stanley and Peary, 
 "plain, blunt men." 
 
INTRODUCTION 11 
 
 WHY SPEECH HAS POWER 
 
 It has been well said that the pen is mightier than the 
 sword, but the tongue of fire can penetrate beyond either. 
 Multitudes have been swayed by a few minutes' speech. 
 Policies of nations have been changed by the force of ora- 
 tory. Great movements have been inaugurated by the im- 
 passioned fervor of a leader. What power resides in the 
 gift of speech that can perform these miracles? Why are 
 men still mightily moved by the most primitive form of 
 human expression of thought? 
 
 There are various reasons for this. The audience is more 
 easily reached through the sense of hearing. Everyone likes 
 to hear people say things in public. Crowds will go to hear 
 children recite silly "pieces" in a manner that is still worse 
 than the matter. Plays, however poor, will draw people 
 who could not be induced to read a drama. Then, too, 
 there is an informality about speech that is pleasing. The 
 personal element is prominent. Indeed, so strong is this 
 feeling that members of a congregation often take offence 
 because they think the preacher is "hitting" them, though 
 the unfortunate man is probably generalizing. There is 
 a feeling, sometimes, of sympathy between speaker and 
 hearer, as in a conversation between congenial people. 
 Often one may see the older members of a congregation 
 nodding or shaking their heads, in response to something 
 the speaker says. In the days of our grandfathers people 
 shouted "amen" with great fervor when the preacher's 
 words pleased them. It is human nature to be interested in 
 the sound of a voice, and to respond to the personal touch. 
 
 The very nature of an audience a body of hearers, not 
 seers only, makes this interest possible. An audience is 
 generally made up of people of various classes and of differ- 
 
12 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 ent training and tastes. Many of them do not care for 
 reading, or do not read easily, or find it difficult to concen- 
 trate the mind enough to "settle down" to a book of a seri- 
 ous nature. They are all accustomed, however, to speech, 
 and find it natural to listen. They more readily compre- 
 hend, because of the interpretative aid of the various senses. 
 Some people receive ideas most easily through the sense of 
 hearing. Even those who grasp more readily the meaning 
 of what they see are helped in understanding by the fact 
 that they can see the person who is trying to communicate 
 with them. Probably no hearing person in any audience is 
 insensible to all the varieties of appeal through vocal ex- 
 pression. Oratory appeals not only to the senses, but to the 
 intellect and to the deepest emotions. 
 
 This is because the speaker has at his command all the 
 power he possesses, and every possible aid to use at will. 
 The first is the power of personality. You would probably 
 find it hard to define personality, because that quality is so 
 intangible, so difficult to determine. Yet we all recognize 
 something in each person that makes him what he is 
 different enough from every other so that we distinguish 
 him, even after one or two meetings, from everyone else. 
 Each person we meet impresses us in a new way. He has 
 certain qualities that set him apart, that make us feel his 
 own characteristics. If we have no definite impression of 
 a person, either in looks or qualities, he is "colorless," lack- 
 ing the elements that make up personality. 
 
 Sometimes the power of personality over an audience 
 arises in part from some previous knowledge. We are all 
 interested in hearing our personal friends or acquaintances 
 talk in public. Not only do we feel a friendly sympathy 
 with them, and thus come into closer mental touch with 
 them, but we overlook defects, so that we are rarely re- 
 
INTRODUCTION 13 
 
 pelled or left unmoved. Sometimes the same condition ex- 
 ists in respect to strangers, if we have previously heard of 
 them because of their prominence or their opinions. A man 
 who represents a great cause such as abolition, or temper- 
 ance, or some notable religious or moral theory, or a bitterly 
 fought political issue, is sure of making an impression. 
 Those on his side are alert to note confirmation, or gain new 
 inspiration. Those on the other will give their best atten- 
 tion in order to pick flaws. Even when the enthusiasm of a 
 cause is lacking, the fame or notoriety of the speaker 
 arouses interest and curiosity. A noted after-dinner speaker 
 like Chauncey M. Depew makes a good impression whether 
 or not he says much worth hearing. Many people take it 
 for granted that he does. An impostor who has been dis- 
 credited by most thoughtful, just persons is listened to with 
 eagerness because people want to know what kind of man 
 this is who can "lie like a gentleman" and set continents 
 agog. 
 
 One of the personal qualities most influential in making 
 people famous is also the most potent before an audience. 
 Personal magnetism is an inherent quality. Some people 
 have it from childhood. They are the ones who can lead 
 armies to certain death, sway multitudes against all pre- 
 vious intentions, or inspire countless souls to high endeavor. 
 
 But magnetism sometimes arises in those not so gifted. 
 It sometimes results, for an audience, from the manifest 
 interest and feeling of the speaker. The inspector of un- 
 graded classes in a large city school system recently found 
 herself before an audience of representative men and women 
 of culture and influence. She thought, "Here is an oppor- 
 tunity to present, where it may do good, the duty of the 
 community to protect society from the defective human 
 beings in our midst." This thought inspired her to such 
 
14 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 a degree that, plain and matter-of-fact as she appeared in 
 the beginning, she exerted a marvelous power over a body 
 of people little accustomed to give way to enthusiasm. Be- 
 fore a like audience, in New York, a young Chinaman 
 spoke, following a learned college professor, on the recent 
 revolution in China. His interest, understanding, and vital 
 desire to give an alien people the right view, fired him so 
 that he exercised magnetic power, and electrified the people 
 whom the good professor had nearly put to sleep. A few 
 years ago, during the progress of a shirtwaist workers' 
 strike, a meeting in the interests of the Consumers' League 
 was held in Cooper Union before a mixed gathering. A 
 simple working girl, small, insignificant in appearance, ill- 
 dressed, told the story of how the strike started. Her un- 
 affected air of truthfulness, her earnestness, her absolute 
 belief in the cause she presented, furnished the power that 
 held her hearers. As a common bit of metal may become 
 magnetized, so a plain personality may become inspired by 
 a great purpose. 
 
 Because the body is the temple of the soul it aids in the 
 expression of the soul. The entire body aids in exerting the 
 power of personality. The attitude itself affects the audi- 
 ence. Self-confidence, expressed by the bearing, prepos- 
 sesses the hearers. Tenseness reveals interest and enthusi- 
 asm. Animation arouses the hearer from lethargy. Move- 
 ments are sometimes more effective than a quiet poise. The 
 temperament is often revealed by the use of the hands. We 
 shall see later how expressive the hands may be. 
 
 The human eye is said to be the most powerful, compel- 
 ling bodily organ, in gaining control over other beings. Pro- 
 fessional hypnotists, who generally have sharp, dark eyes, 
 obtain control over their subjects by gazing steadily at 
 them. A person, by fixing his gaze on another, can within 
 
INTRODUCTION 15 
 
 a few seconds force the latter to look at him involuntarily. 
 He can, by the same means, force a guilty person to lower 
 his eyes or to show unmistakable signs of confession, or one 
 ill at ease to break down completely. 
 
 Someone has called the eyes the windows of the soul. 
 Certainly through them character and disposition are re- 
 vealed. Mildness, obstinacy, or fierceness is shown at a 
 glance. Feelings are shown so quickly and so involuntarily 
 that they cannot be hidden. Mirth, pleasure, sadness, fear, 
 anger, are all expressed by the eyes. Love and hate shine 
 from them. The physical and mental states, too, are shown. 
 The dull eye may indicate illness or stupidity. The bril- 
 liant one denotes clear intellect, keen wit, and quick mental 
 processes. A fixed or wild one may be the sign of insanity. 
 On the whole, no other organ is so expressive as the eye. 
 
 Since the voice is the medium by which the thoughts of 
 the speaker reach the brain of the hearer, it is most im- 
 portant as a means of communication. The mere sound of 
 the voice forces attention. Everyone will start at a sudden 
 cry or even an unexpected remark in a silent room. Many 
 persons cannot do mental work in a room where others are 
 talking, because the sound of the voice compels attention. 
 In nature the voice is flexible and vibrant, possessing wide 
 range and a sympathetic quality. When pleasing in sound, 
 as a well-trained voice used in natural tones always is, it 
 attracts, soothes, or arouses. A speaker with a good voice 
 can command his hearers from start to finish. 
 
 Through the exercise of his own personality, then, the 
 speaker can produce effects. He has the inspiration of his 
 belief, his feelings, his mood, and the aid of a flexible instru- 
 ment, the human body, to use at will. Before him is the ma- 
 terial on which to work, in the form of other human beings 
 with responsive personalities, waiting for the impression. 
 
16 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 We sometimes hear people say that oratory is a lost art. 
 It is certainly true that we do not hear of great speeches in 
 Congress so frequently as did our grandfathers, but notable 
 and influential speeches are still made, sometimes even in 
 Congress, and more often at large dinners in celebration of 
 some anniversary, or at great conventions. Undoubtedly 
 the wide prevalence of newspapers and magazines as 
 vehicles for communicating information has decreased the 
 tendency to devote energy to the making of long speeches, 
 which can be heard by but a few. On the whole, however, 
 it is probable that more people study and practice public 
 speaking now than ever before. 
 
 Conversation, as well as the art of letter-writing, seems 
 on the wane. Have you ever noticed the inanity of our 
 talk, not only that of schoolgirls but also that of able men 
 and women? Most people apparently find it impossible to 
 begin a conversation without a remark about the weather. 
 Each seems interested only in circumstances concerning 
 himself. If a speaker or a play or an art exhibition is men- 
 tioned it is only to say, "Have you seen The Man of the 
 Hour?" or "Did you go to hear Mrs. Pankhurst?" "Oh, 
 you missed it. It was fine." There is seldom any discussion 
 of the merits or demerits of the play or address, or of its 
 significance from an artistic or sociologic point of view. 
 
 Is it any wonder that people who find themselves so poor 
 in expression do not trust themselves to talk to an audience, 
 but "read papers"? Not only embarrassed students, and 
 club women anxious to set forth some newly acquired 
 knowledge, resort to the use of the type-written page, but 
 speakers invited for special occasions however informal, 
 men asked to address conventions, and even clergymen, 
 have fallen under the spell. Think of a man, prominent in 
 the life of a great city, reading in a halting manner a paper 
 
INTRODUCTION 17 
 
 to the graduates of a college, of which he is a trustee, or a 
 professor of elocution reading a paper on oral expression, or 
 a lecturer who has used the same material a hundred times, 
 confining himself closely to the sheets before him! 
 
 WHY SPEAKING Is PREFERABLE TO READING 
 
 The question may be asked, why not read? We are then 
 sure of presenting our thoughts fully and in an orderly man- 
 ner. There is such an advantage. But we can train our- 
 selves to do this without reading. In reading what we have 
 to say we neglect many aids to effective presentation. In 
 the first place, we often lose the interest of the audience. 
 A prominent schoolman recently made the after-dinner ad- 
 dress at a convention banquet of teachers. As he read his 
 carefully prepared paper the guests yawned and tried in 
 vain to follow his thoughts. Many people do not like to 
 hear others read. There are instances in which ministers 
 who read their sermons have been turned away for those 
 of less merit and ability who did not. Members of clubs 
 tire of the constant succession of papers, and eagerly wel- 
 come someone who "just gets up and talks." One who 
 makes it a rule never to "read a paper" anywhere is often 
 rewarded by having the long-suffering auditors say, "It was 
 so much more interesting because you talked." 
 
 Another reason for the failure to arouse interest is that 
 in reading in the ordinary way much of the possible effect 
 is lost by the close attention to the page. This gives an 
 impression of unfamiliarity with the subject. Whatever 
 personal enthusiasm the author has, fails to reach the audi- 
 ence. His magnetic power is held in check as if it were a 
 dangerous, instead of a most valuable ally. The eye, so 
 potent with an audience, is kept directed toward the page, 
 
18 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 so that it not only is prevented from exercising its natural 
 control, but actually, by the lowered lids, decreases the 
 effect of the speaker's personality. The voice is likely to 
 become unnatural and monotonous. The person who reads 
 as he talks is very rare. There is a tendency to change 
 completely both voice and manner. The bearing of the 
 body is less natural and impressive, and the gestures are 
 either omitted or greatly hampered. Dr. J. M. Buckley 
 tells of a meeting in London, in memory of President Gar- 
 field, at which two Americans spoke. James Russell Lowell 
 read a polished speech, which left the audience unmoved. 
 But Bishop Simpson, in a speech apparently extemporary, 
 produced a marvelous effect. The content of his speech was 
 no more valuable. The reason for his success was that he 
 was able to use his powers to the utmost. 
 
 Dependence on a few sheets of paper sometimes causes 
 embarrassing situations. A woman reading a paper on the 
 laboratory method in English found that, through misplac- 
 ing the sheets, she had left out the most important part. A 
 lecturer once dropped his manuscript to the floor as he 
 stepped forward on the platform, and the audience had to 
 wait while the agonized, perspiring victim rearranged the 
 sheets. A well-known clergyman, advanced in years, ap- 
 peared before the flock of which he was still nominally the 
 pastor, to read a sermon. The pages were confused. After 
 vainly thumbing them to restore order, he turned to his 
 assistant, virtually his successor, for aid. Even after the 
 pages had been arranged, he repeated a considerable por- 
 tion. Another preacher went as an exchange to a pulpit of 
 a denomination which practiced infant baptism. In the 
 midst of the sermon, before he saw what was coming, he 
 thundered out a denunciation of the church's belief. He 
 stopped, and assured the congregation that he had not re- 
 
INTRODUCTION 19 
 
 membered that passage in the sermon when he selected it. 
 One often needs to change the current of the discourse, 
 or at least to modify the expression, for no one can be ab- 
 solutely sure of the nature of an audience he has not seen. 
 
 Why should we neglect, as so many of us do, the cultiva- 
 tion of so useful and necessary a form of expression as 
 speech? We have seen that it is the most natural and the 
 easiest form. It is always in demand, by rich and poor, 
 learned and ignorant, and is always available. It is the 
 most effective and the most influential. Moreover, there 
 are great rewards for its skillful use, not only in personal 
 satisfaction in the mastery of a fine tool, but in apprecia- 
 tion and increased power, whatever one's work or station. 
 
 But some will say, "I can't." There should be no such 
 word as can't in the student's vocabulary. What has been 
 done can be done again. You have all heard how Demos- 
 thenes put pebbles in his mouth so that he might overcome 
 a defect in speech. Your chief defect is that you say "I 
 can't, I know I can't. I never have." Don't be alarmed if 
 you do quake a little. Some experienced preachers tremble, 
 but they go ahead and win fame and honor. A few years 
 ago there was in one school a girl who had always been un- 
 able to express herself when on her feet. She became con- 
 fused in her thought. After she had had some practice in 
 classifying and arranging material, and had talked before 
 her own class on some subjects in connection with the work, 
 she consented to talk for two or three minutes before the 
 whole school of five or six hundred during the morning 
 exercises. She was brilliantly successful, and realized that 
 she had formerly been held down by the idea that she could 
 not think before an audience. Many people hesitate for 
 years to rise in a public meeting of any kind to say a few 
 
20 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 words, and envy those who can. A woman of middle age 
 never said a word under such circumstances until, during a 
 revival, she was aroused out of self-consciousness. She has 
 spoken in weekly prayer meetings regularly ever since. A 
 young man steadily refused for several years to conduct a 
 small meeting in a young people's organization. Finally he 
 yielded to persuasion and the assertion that he could if he 
 thought so. He proved an exceptionally good leader for 
 that kind of meeting, and has led many times since. It is 
 the will to do that counts. 
 
PART I 
 THE CONDITIONS OF GOOD SPEAKING 
 
PROPERTY OF 
 lEHKIttf OF DMKIATIC ART 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 PREPARATION 
 
 ALTHOUGH Topsy said that she just "growed," the same 
 statement could be made of few things. Each product is 
 the result of the working of a combination of forces or acts, 
 some unseen, but none the less important as factors. This 
 is especially true of the arts. Take, for example, the mak- 
 ing of a fine piece of china. The maker must have, in the 
 first place, an aim, so that he will know whether he is to 
 produce a pitcher or a tea-cup, or an ornament of delicate 
 design. 
 
 Then he must have suitable material, of the right kind 
 and in sufficient quantity. He must decide just what 
 form the finished piece is to have, so that he will know 
 how to shape it harmoniously. The place in which he 
 works must be adapted to his needs, as to light and space. 
 He needs a board and a few tools, but most of all he should 
 know how to use what nature has given him. His hands 
 have been trained for their work, so that a swift, sure 
 movement as the lathe turns works wonders. Above all, 
 his mind must control and direct his movements. The 
 greatest care is to be taken, not only in the forming, but 
 in the finishing. 
 
 So it is with the art of speaking. The success and the 
 value of the effort are wholly dependent on the conditions 
 attending the individual product. The greatest and best do 
 not scorn preparation, but count it as the major part. Those 
 
 23 
 
24 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 of us who are just learning how to speak well may, then, 
 profit greatly by it. 
 
 We need to know, at the outset, what we are aiming to 
 accomplish. Are we called upon to amuse for a few mo- 
 ments, to give information about some subject that is not 
 clear to the rest of the class or the family, to explain in 
 detail a difficult process, to express our opinions for the 
 guidance of others, or to convince others that we are right 
 in wishing to follow a certain line of action? 
 
 The circumstances of the talk may have much to do with 
 the purpose of it. You may be asked to introduce a speaker 
 at some meeting in school. Of course you will not have 
 the burden of presenting the main subject of the evening, 
 nor will you plan to take up most of the time. The mayor 
 of a city was recently called on to welcome an assembly 
 of men who had come to his city to discuss the social up- 
 lift through religion. He took forty minutes to advocate 
 socialism as a political force, and to attack the principles 
 for which his hearers stood. The nature of the audience 
 may be such that you must consider it as well as the occa- 
 sion in deciding what your aim shall be. Must you soothe, 
 or arouse and inspire? Must you amuse or teach? 
 
 CHOICE OP SUBJECT 
 
 A very important step in the preparation is the determi- 
 ning of the subject. On the selection of a suitable one may 
 depend everything. It must be considered in relation to 
 the occasion, the audience, and the speaker himself. 
 
 There are some times when, from the very nature of the 
 case, the subject is the result of the previous talk, among 
 a few congenial people, or at a business meeting. But on 
 some occasions a man or woman may be asked to speak 
 
PREPARATION 25 
 
 without any specific limitation. One of these is the com- 
 memoration. Often the anniversary of the birth or death 
 of some noted person is celebrated. A pupil may be called 
 on to give a short talk in a school society, or in exercises 
 held on a national anniversary, or the centenary of some 
 writer or scientist. Most large organizations observe such 
 memorial days. Anyone in the town who can talk is likely 
 to be called on to speak. Events, too, are commemorated. 
 The anniversary of the discovery of a land, a process, or 
 a substance, or the winning of a battle, or the beginning of 
 statehood, may be observed by assemblages large and 
 small. Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg address 
 on such an occasion. Webster is remembered as an ora- 
 tor from such addresses as that at Bunker Hill. The found- 
 ing of a college or the dedication of a church is of sufficient 
 importance to call for a celebration. There is no educated 
 person, whatever his occupation, but is likely to be called 
 on for a talk on some such occasion. 
 
 The choice of a subject for a commemoration is espe- 
 cially difficult, because there seems to be no new ma- 
 terial. However, some have solved the difficulty by show- 
 ing some little-known or understood relation between the 
 man or event and the times. Others have drawn parallels 
 or contrasts. Many have applied to present conditions 
 some principle advocated by the man or involved in the 
 event. Thus the anniversary observance has been made a 
 means of inspiration. 
 
 One of the most important purposes for which people 
 come together is concerned, not with the past, but with the 
 present. Various organizations carry on their work partly 
 through meetings and conventions. Part of the program 
 is of a business nature. Officers must be chosen, reports re- 
 ceived, policies outlined. Perhaps some of the reports 
 
26 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 must be written; but the copy is always filed and often 
 printed for distribution. How glad everyone would be 
 if all who make reports would, instead of droning out 
 statistics, give live, interesting talks, emphasizing impor- 
 tant features of the work. In deciding policies, there 
 should be a few prepared speeches by those who have 
 studied the phases of the work, and all competent should 
 take part in the open discussion. Here whoever opens or 
 joins in the discussion must decide what subject and what 
 phase of it to take up. A wrong speech may endanger the 
 success of a movement planned for many years, or it may 
 launch a new one. In connection with such meetings, ses- 
 sions are often held at which outsiders speak on more 
 general subjects. These persons would not, probably, talk 
 on manufacturing to ministers, or on physics to librarians, 
 but are they always alive to the possibility of broadening 
 the field of vision, of arousing intelligent bodies of people 
 to new endeavors, to the highest use of their collective in- 
 fluence? Here, then, a comparative freedom in choice of 
 subject should be well used. 
 
 Meetings are often held, not to honor the past or ar- 
 range for the present, but to sway sentiment for the future. 
 Political mass-meetings have been a feature of our entire 
 national history. The women working for suffrage or equal 
 pay, the laboring people struggling for better conditions, the 
 social workers arousing the world to a conception of the 
 need and the possibilities of concerted effort, all use this 
 method of appeal. The girl striker, the officers of the 
 woman's club, the editor, the teacher, the business man, 
 all are called to the platform with the man who earns 
 his living by public speaking. And sometimes the hum- 
 ble laborer makes the greatest impression, because he 
 speaks of the things nearest him. 
 
PREPARATION 27 
 
 But the most frequent calls come on the unimportant, 
 unforeseen occasions, or the purely social ones. And these 
 are the hardest to answer. The school-boy or girl, or an 
 older person, is elected to a small office in an organiza- 
 tion, and is called on to make a speech. How inane many 
 such responses are! The good woman in the church feels 
 that she ought to take part in the devotional meetings, 
 but often fails to say anything new or helpful, based on 
 her own experience. The visitor to a school or Sunday- 
 school he formerly attended is sure to be asked to face 
 an expectant audience. He has five minutes, in which he 
 may leave an impression of incompetency or in which he 
 may utter stirring words that leave an influence on the 
 life of a pupil. If a well-known speaker comes to the town, 
 somebody must introduce him. Installations of all kinds 
 make it necessary for the people asked to "grace the oc- 
 casion by a few words" to try to avoid saying "the usual 
 thing." Every organization, no matter how small or un- 
 important, has luncheons or dinners, at which the officers 
 are expected to speak. Anybody who has attracted public 
 attention is besieged with requests to give an address at 
 some banquet. He is expected to keep the audience flat- 
 tered and amused, and to say something that will look well 
 in the paper. It will not do to say the same things, and 
 crack the same jokes, at more than twenty such dinners 
 in one winter. The speaker who can fulfil all the require- 
 ments, and can say something of real benefit to his hearers, 
 deserves the palm. 
 
 Often the occasion determines the nature of the audience, 
 but not always. All classes of people attend some public 
 meetings. The subject must, first, be interesting to the 
 people likely to gather. Is their general interest of a social, 
 business, or religious nature? Are they serious-minded or 
 
28 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 the opposite? Are they cultured or ignorant? All these 
 possibilities must be considered. Yet they cannot govern 
 the choice absolutely. Edward Howard Griggs delivered 
 to an audience in Cooper Union, made up of the people of 
 the lower East Side, of men with grimy hands and sales- 
 girls weary with the long day, a lecture on Carlyle that 
 included a survey of German philosophy. The hall was 
 crowded with eager people. In the same place was deliv- 
 ered a lecture on the Idea of Impersonal Immortality. 
 It was what the people wanted. 
 
 The subject should not be too familiar to the members 
 of the audience. Outside of the conventions of a profes- 
 sional nature, the physician does not want to hear about 
 medicine. The business man likes to get away from the 
 routine of his daily life. None of us cares to hear a thing 
 already too well known by personal experience or through 
 the public press. Inside information about something little 
 understood, the presentation of a new and inspiring idea, 
 the story of something alive with the human element, we 
 all want to hear. 
 
 Yet the subject should be one that the hearers are likely 
 to understand. A child has a limited power of compre- 
 hending what the man before him is talking about. An 
 unlettered person is not likely to understand any talk that 
 can be given on Professor James' Pragmatic Theory, though 
 he may be entirely capable of following a good explanation 
 of the principles of the Republican party. Some technical 
 knowledge might be necessary to enable one to grasp the 
 theory of electricity last propounded. 
 
 The speaker may not always see his hearers before- 
 hand, but he at least knows his own fitness fairly well. 
 He is not likely to interest a body of strange people in 
 something he cares nothing about. Nor can he make clear 
 
PREPARATION 29 
 
 something that he does not understand or only half knows. 
 If he is unable to find material to supply his lack, he had 
 better take another topic. Then, too, he must consider 
 whether he is capable of treating the subject adequately. 
 A school-boy may find it necessary to avoid a topic that 
 a professional man or an experienced speaker could treat 
 with ease. 
 
 After the general subject is selected, it must be narrowed. 
 A man who is planning to write a series of books may 
 take a broad subject. For a single volume he must se- 
 lect some phase of it. Should he be asked to contribute 
 a magazine article, he must narrow his treatment still 
 more. A paragraph in a daily paper calls for the discus- 
 sion of some one point. So, too, a speaker has to decide 
 on his topic. Should he deliver a course of lectures during 
 a college year, he might give a general survey of the litera- 
 ture of a nation. If asked to speak six times, he might 
 confine his remarks to the poetry of one century. An 
 evening hour could be spent in the discussion of the work 
 of a single poet. A five-minute talk before a school might 
 point the lesson of Burns's failure in life. A student could 
 show the class, in less time, the lack of "a single aim" on 
 the part of Burns. 
 
 The title sometimes needs as much attention as the 
 subject itself. Sensationalism never pays, but a bright, 
 catchy title often arouses interest. "The American In- 
 famy" awakes curiosity. "Farthest North" and "Swinging 
 Round the Circle" are unusual and suggestive. The title 
 should, if explanatory, clearly limit the subject. "The 
 Work of Morris for the Colonial Government" cannot be 
 a sketch of Morris's life. "The Mission of New Japan" is 
 not a history of the country. "A Picture I Like" cannot 
 be an account of all the treasures in the museum. If you 
 
30 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 tell an anecdote, you do not want to "give away" the 
 point by the title. Both interest and clearness, then, may 
 depend on the few words that indicate the train of your 
 thought. 
 
 Exercise I. 
 
 Criticize the following subjects, indicating reasons: 
 
 Cheerfulness. Radio-activity. 
 
 Lincoln as a story-teller. The ladies. 
 
 Suffrage. The discovery of America. 
 
 Infant baptism. Vacation schools. 
 
 Indians. A pioneer. 
 
 Exercise II. 
 
 Bring to class five subjects that you think people in your 
 town might have reason to use in speaking in public. 
 
 State the probable occasion on which each would be suit- 
 able. 
 
 Give the time each should occupy. 
 
 Exercise III. 
 
 Narrow or limit the following general subjects, stating 
 probable occasion and time for discussion of various phases: 
 
 Woman suffrage. The tariff. 
 The government of the United Tuberculosis. 
 
 States. War. 
 
 Commerce. James Russell Lowell. 
 
 Education. Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 Travel. The Anti-Saloon League. 
 
 Libraries. Harvard University. 
 
 City or country life. Congestion in cities. 
 
 Newspapers. Village improvement. 
 
 Printing. Porto Rico, 
 
PREPARATION 31 
 
 Exercise IV. 
 
 Bring to class four subjects, suitable for talks of not more 
 than five minutes, on which you would like someone to 
 speak before the class or school. 
 
 GATHERING MATERIAL 
 
 The chief requirement for a speaker, whatever his sub- 
 ject, is that he shall have something worth while to say 
 about it. He who has that is not greatly troubled by 
 the people looking at him, but is concerned with giving 
 them that which he has to give. A person telling of his 
 marvelous escape does not lack for words, nor does a 
 voluble woman expressing her indignation over being 
 cheated at the dry-goods store. The convert in a city 
 mission has a story to tell of a life made useful, that is 
 of greater value than the precepts of many a clergyman. 
 
 But we do not all have thrilling experiences to tell. We 
 may need to prepare ourselves. Webster once said, "No 
 man not inspired can make a good speech without prepara- 
 tion." He said with regard to his reply to Hayne that, al- 
 though he did not take notes and study on it, he was thor- 
 oughly conversant with the subject of debate, from having 
 made preparation on it for a totally different purpose than 
 making that speech. Emerson summed up in two sen- 
 tences his own habit of preparation. "The chief thing I 
 aim at is to master my subject. Then I earnestly try to 
 get the audience to think as I do." 
 
 The second step in the preparation for a public talk 
 is the gathering of material. This may be done from 
 various sources. The most obvious is experience. If you 
 have never made a cake, or a dress, or a chair, it would not 
 be advisable for you to try to tell other people how to do 
 
32 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 so. Mr. Cook's narrative of a journey to the pole has 
 no value except as a curiosity. That of Commander 
 Peary is vivid with his own part in it. The survivors of 
 the Triangle Company fire and those of the Titanic's disas- 
 ter can tell as no one else can the horrors of those events. 
 
 The same people can also give information as to the 
 management of affairs at the time, based on what they 
 saw. They know from observation how people acted, what 
 was done to prevent panic, what means of safety were 
 lacking. So a traveler learns, as he goes about, the man- 
 ners and customs of the people, though he does not neces- 
 sarily live in an Indian hut or take part in a war-dance. A 
 broader knowledge is, of course, gained by what we see; 
 a more intensive by what we do and feel. 
 
 Sometimes we profit by the lives or observation of others 
 who have been in different situations or seen more varied 
 sights. They tell us how affairs are managed in some 
 school society, or how trains are run, or how some diffi- 
 culty has been overcome. Most of us know people in dif- 
 ferent stations in life, of varied occupations, and of a 
 broad range of knowledge. They are often willing to tell 
 us what we need to know about some one phase of the 
 subject. 
 
 Although students are all able to read, it sometimes 
 appears that they do not take advantage of the wealth 
 of information in print. The reliable newspapers usually 
 have valuable material, in abundance, on current topics. 
 The magazine sections of some newspapers have timely ar- 
 ticles on many subjects. The weekly and monthly maga- 
 zines are rich with a varied store. I wonder how many 
 of you know that every good library contains, not only a 
 monthly guide to the articles in the periodicals, but one or 
 two cumulative indexes, such as Poole's, which list ar- 
 
PREPARATION 33 
 
 tides by subjects, for several years. The use of these 
 saves much time and reveals the hiding place of material 
 you are seeking. Of course you all go to the library fre- 
 quently to consult books. But can you always find the 
 ones you want? There may not be a librarian at leisure 
 to help you. Books are arranged on the shelves by sub- 
 jects. Learn how to use the card catalog, both for authors 
 and subjects. Books covering a variety of subjects are 
 listed on several cards. If you find a book on the general 
 subject, be sure you find out whether it has anything on 
 the special phase you are looking up. Most volumes are 
 indexed; but teachers have often given pupils books for 
 use on special subjects, only to have the girls and boys 
 come back, saying, "I can't find anything about witchcraft 
 here." 'This book hasn't anything in it about what you 
 told me to look up." Yet it was there, to be found in a 
 moment by one who searched intelligently. Is it not worth 
 while for a student to learn how to use his tools? Can 
 you not cultivate, as so many have done, the power of 
 finding out what is in a book, without reading it page by 
 page? 
 
 The matter of note-taking is important. It is usually 
 wise to think out the general divisions you are likely to 
 treat, so as to know what to look for. If you keep the 
 notes likely to fall under the various phases of the subject 
 on separate cards or papers, there will be less time lost in 
 arranging. For large subjects, undoubtedly the best way 
 is to have each note on a separate sheet. Small penny 
 pads are very useful for this purpose. Each sheet should 
 be headed, for quick classification, with the abbreviation 
 standing for the division. Then the separate sheets may 
 be easily arranged, and shifted until the desired order is 
 obtained. 
 
34 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 For a short talk, a simple scheme may be adopted. 
 Take a large sheet of paper. Note, as they occur to you, 
 the points you want to include. Take, for example, the 
 ways in which birds are protected. You will have some- 
 thing like this:- 
 
 X Claws. High nests. 
 
 Flight. Color. 
 
 / Game laws. / Audubon Society. 
 
 / Laws against killing X Beaks. 
 
 birds for adornment. Feathers. 
 
 After writing down these points, you go over them and 
 check the ones having some connection by a mark. 
 
 Those marked - - have to do with escape from harm. 
 The items marked X show means of attack in defense. 
 Those with the sign / refer to protection provided by man. 
 The first two sets will come under protection afforded by 
 nature as compared with that afforded by man. One 
 point is left unmarked. Does that, with other material, 
 form a division, conditions of life, or does it, as the result 
 of instinct, belong under the provisions of nature for avoid- 
 ance of danger? 
 
 Often, you will have so much material, after note-taking, 
 that it cannot all be used. It will be necessary to select 
 the material most pertinent, or to limit the subject more 
 narrowly. Sometimes the general divisions you had in 
 mind at the start will be considerably changed. Some 
 may be omitted, others added; the expression of all may 
 be changed. 
 
 OUTLINING 
 
 The power of classification involved in arranging scat- 
 tered material to form a clear, logical outline is one most 
 
PREPARATION 35 
 
 valuable to a student. It aids in the development of clear 
 thinking and orderly habits of mind. It trains the judg- 
 ment in comparing and selecting. Moreover, the outlining 
 of what one is to say makes possible good expression. Con- 
 fusion gives way to clearness. A subject difficult to follow 
 becomes easy to understand. Wandering, unconnected 
 ideas are gathered into a unified whole. The subject is 
 treated fully instead of inadequately. On the whole, he 
 who has mastered the methods of outlining has little to 
 fear concerning the effective presentation of his subject- 
 matter. 
 
 There are three important bases of classification for the 
 main points of any subject. These are time, or the chrono- 
 logical order, comparison, often resulting in contrast, and 
 the association of ideas. 
 
 In using the time basis we consider the facts in the order 
 of their happening, as in a narrative, or in the periods of 
 time in which they were of value. The historian of Amer- 
 ica may divide his work into the periods of discovery and 
 exploration, colonization, revolution, national growth, sec- 
 tional dispute and war, consolidation and expansion; he 
 has taken the chronological order as surely as though he had 
 divided it into sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nine- 
 teenth centuries, as we often treat literature. In telling how 
 to make a cake, the time basis is likely to be used. We may 
 give the advantages of athletics to a boy during his school 
 days and in after life. 
 
 If the historian prefers to use comparison, he may con- 
 trast Virginia and Massachusetts in colonial times. The 
 Revolutionary War may be compared with the French 
 Revolution. We may consider the question of the influence 
 of athletics as compared to that of school societies. 
 
 The basis of association of ideas is often hardest to un- 
 
36 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 derstand, but it is by far the most generally used. When 
 we think of one phase of a subject we naturally think of 
 one or two more. The most common classification, much 
 overworked, is the physical, mental, and moral. The 
 practical suggests the theoretical. The historian may 
 decide to work out the political, religious, social, educa- 
 tional, and industrial development of a nation. The Board 
 of Education may find it necessary to discuss the effect 
 of athletics on the school and on the individual pupil, or 
 the effect on the boy's health, his school work, and his 
 character. 
 
 Both the subject and the material must be carefully con- 
 sidered in deciding what basis of classification to use. 
 Many subjects can be treated by any one of the three. It 
 is best to make trial main headings, and test them by the 
 following requirements. These headings must be coordi- 
 nate. That is, (1) they must have the same relation to 
 the general subject, in order to preserve unity. (2) They 
 must be approximately equal in rank, as officers of the 
 same rank having the same relation to their chief. (3) 
 They must be mutually exclusive, so that they do not en- 
 croach on the territory of others. (4) Taken together, 
 they must cover the ground, as patrols do their beats. This 
 is something that most young writers fail to think about, 
 having an idea they have done well if half or two-thirds 
 of the field is covered. The expression of these points 
 must be clear, usually in sentence form. 
 
 Exercise V. 
 
 Write main headings for as many of the following as the 
 instructor directs, trying different bases until you find the 
 best. 
 
 If you have more than four main headings, revise by 
 
PREPARATION 37 
 
 grouping until you have a set that will bear criticism ac- 
 cording to the directions above. 
 
 1. The life of the farmer. 
 
 2. The characteristics of the Chinaman. 
 
 3. The making of a photograph. 
 
 4. How Lincoln became president. 
 
 5. A modern newspaper. 
 
 6. Our trip to West Point. 
 
 7. Our new city hall. 
 
 8. The tramp I saw yesterday. 
 
 9. Why this town should have a new railway station. 
 
 10. The century 1805-1905 in transportation. 
 
 11. The causes of the Civil War. 
 
 12. The trials of the immigrant. 
 
 13. The metamorphosis of the butterfly. 
 
 14. The benefits of libraries. 
 
 15. The city board of health. 
 
 16. The choice of a president. 
 
 17. The harvesting of the wheat crop. 
 
 18. A polar expedition. 
 
 19. Public and private schools. 
 
 20. My first day at school. 
 
 21. The game of baseball between and our school. 
 
 Exercise VI. 
 
 Select three subjects that you think could be treated by 
 main headings based on time. 
 
 Select three subjects that could be treated by main head- 
 ings based on comparison. 
 
 Select three subjects that could be developed by associa- 
 tion of ideas. 
 
 Exercise VII. 
 
 Criticize the sets of main headings on the following page. 
 Which set is best for each subject? Why best? Try to 
 write better sets for the same subjects. 
 
38 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 INDIAN LIFE. 
 a. 
 
 I. The life of the primitive Indians. 
 II. The life of the Indiana of to-day, 
 b. 
 
 I. Outdoor Me. 
 II. Indoor life. 
 c. 
 
 I. Necessities. 
 
 II. Manner of spending time. 
 III. Relations with others, 
 d. 
 
 I. Babyhood. 
 II. Childhood. 
 
 III. On the war trail. 
 
 IV. Later life. 
 e. 
 
 I. It was very easy. 
 II. It was considered cruel. 
 
 USES OF THE TELEPHONE. 
 a. 
 
 I. Social. 
 II. Business, 
 b. 
 
 I. It is useful to the business man. 
 II. The professional man cannot get along without it. 
 III. The housewife finds it a convenience. 
 c. 
 
 I. People use it hi carrying on business. 
 II. They often have occasion to use it socially. 
 III. They find it valuable hi emergency, 
 d. 
 
 I. We use the telephone hi the morning. 
 II. We find it convenient in the afternoon. 
 III. At night it may be of great service. 
 
PREPARATION 39 
 
 e. 
 
 I. Before the telephone was invented, people had much incon- 
 venience in communicating with each other. 
 II. Now, almost everyone finds the telephone a great boon. 
 
 After the main headings have been tested, we must fill 
 in the sub-headings. These must, for each division, con- 
 form to the same requirements as the main headings, but 
 need not be on the same basis. For instance, if the basis 
 time is used for the main headings, that of the association 
 of ideas may prove necessary for the sub-headings. The 
 historian who takes each century in order may trace the 
 development of the various institutions, government, re- 
 ligion, etc., in each hundred years. The most frequent mis- 
 takes in the use of the sub-headings are the following. In- 
 version may be the result of failure to coordinate properly, 
 so that a main head is where a sub-head ought to be, and 
 a point really subordinate is taking the proud position of 
 its superior. Sometimes a sub-point gets lost, and is found 
 under another command, where it is very much out of 
 place, and likely to be misunderstood. Another fault that 
 is confusing is a lack of harmony and uniformity in ex- 
 pression. If sentences, phrases, and words are all used 
 to denote topics of the same rank, it is difficult to see the 
 right relations. 
 
 Sub-headings may be carried down as far as there is 
 material. There should always be at least two of the same 
 rank under each heading except in the case of an example, 
 since there can be no division without at least two parts 
 evident. 
 
 Much depends on the arrangement, the order of treat- 
 ment of both main and sub-headings. Several things must 
 be considered. Which will arouse most interest at the 
 
40 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 beginning? Which will leave the best impression as the 
 last? Which will make the best climax? How can the 
 points be arranged so that the speaker or writer can pass 
 most easily and naturally from one to another? The de- 
 cision must depend on what order will answer most needs. 
 
 SPECIMEN OUTLINES 
 THE LAWRENCE STRIKE. 
 
 There are few who have not been interested in the accounts, 
 in so many newspapers, of the Lawrence strike. 
 
 I. The good intentions of the legislature of Massachusetts led 
 to the great strike in February. 
 
 A. The state legislature reducing the number of working 
 hours for mill workers from 56 to 54 hours a week. 
 
 B. The wool and cotton mill owners reducing wages accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 II. Great excitement was shown by all parties. 
 
 A. 400 workers under Ettor stopping work at first. 
 
 1. Rioting in streets. 
 
 2. Marching in parades. 
 
 3. Attempting to stop all work. 
 
 B. Governor sending militia to keep order. 
 
 1. Exciting the strikers all the more. 
 
 2. Causing even greater trouble for a while. 
 
 III. The result was favorable for the strikers. 
 
 A. Head of Arlington Mills announcing raise of 5 per cent. 
 
 B. Strikers regaining former positions. 
 
 C. Investigation of homes of workers made. 
 
 1. Showing bad conditions 
 
 a. Unhealthful houses. 
 
 b. Exorbitant rents charged by company 
 
 2. Resulting in efforts to better conditions. 
 
 Pupil's outline. 
 
PREPARATION 41 
 
 WHY I ENJOYED THE "SKETCH-BOOK." 
 
 Introduction 
 
 I. I had the idea that I should not like the "Sketch-Book." 
 
 A. Preferring to read stories. 
 
 B. Thinking that all essays were "dry." 
 
 II. The book proved really interesting. 
 
 A. Humor. 
 
 B. Characterization. 
 
 III. I felt well rewarded for reading the book. 
 
 Body: 
 
 I. In these essays we learn a great deal of Irving the man. 
 
 A. Personality. 
 
 1. Dreamy. 
 
 a. Fond of calling up old stories. 
 
 b. Fond of meditation. 
 
 2. Sentimental. 
 
 a. Showing interest in the village beauty's 
 
 troubles. 
 
 b. Fond of old associations. 
 
 3. Sensitive. 
 
 a. To feelings of others. 
 
 b. To external impressions. 
 
 4. Tender. 
 
 5. Grave, yet playful, by turns. 
 
 B. Tastes. 
 
 1. Love for travel. 
 
 2. Love of literature. 
 
 3. Interest in history. 
 
 II. The studies, both of nature and human nature, which Irving 
 gives us would alone be sufficient reward for reading the book. 
 
 A. Nature. 
 
 1. Charming woodland scenes. 
 
 2. Rural estates. 
 
 3. Ocean scenes. 
 
42 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 B. Human nature. 
 
 1. Gentle innocence of childhood. 
 
 2. Charming grace of girlhood. 
 
 3. Loveliness of womanhood. 
 
 ex. Wife of Leslie. 
 
 4. Dignity of manhood. 
 
 ex. Roscoe. 
 
 5. Blessedness of parenthood. 
 
 6. Peace of age. 
 
 ex. The Squire. 
 
 III. The life and customs of England, our mother country, as 
 Irving shows them to us, form the greatest interest in the 
 book. 
 
 A. Customs. 
 
 1. Of Irving's time. 
 
 a. Rural. 
 
 (1) Funerals. 
 
 (2) Church customs. 
 
 b. Urban. 
 
 2. Of past days. 
 
 a. Celebration of Christmas. 
 
 b. Allusions to historical events. 
 
 B. English life. 
 
 1. Rural. 
 
 a. Among wealthy. 
 
 b. Among poor. 
 
 2. Urban. 
 
 a. Among aristocrats. 
 
 b. Among middle class. 
 Conclusion: 
 
 I. Irving deserves a high place among writers. 
 A. Style. 
 
 1. Vivid. 
 
 2. Smooth. 
 
 3. Simple. 
 
 4. Pathetic. 
 
PREPARATION 43 
 
 B. Subjects. 
 
 1. Interesting. 
 
 2. Varied. 
 
 C. Manner of treatment. 
 
 1. Natural. 
 
 2. Sympathetic. 
 
 II. My interest in the "Sketch-Book" has made me want to 
 read other books by him. 
 
 Pupil's outline. 
 See also page 243. 
 
 Note carefully the plans of talks given on pages 364-402, 
 making formal outlines as directed by the instructor. 
 
 THE INTRODUCTION 
 
 When one is talking, he must, of course, introduce the 
 subject well; but in planning what he is to say it is often 
 well to outline the main part, the discussion, first, in order 
 that the beginning may be best fitted to the really im- 
 portant part. 
 
 There are several reasons why an introduction is desir- 
 able. When you go to a friend's house and find another 
 guest there, you naturally expect an introduction a begin- 
 ning to a possible acquaintance. The custom is not merely 
 one of courtesy. It informs you who the person is, and 
 that he is a friend or acquaintance of your friend. So, 
 the reader wants to know, when he begins an article, what 
 it is about. The subject is made clear by what we call an 
 introduction a leading into the real subject. 
 
 Few of us like abruptness in anything. Perhaps we do 
 not like sudden effects of any kind. They jar on our sense 
 of continuity, and make us feel as if the natural order 
 had been broken. So we like to be gradually accustomed 
 to something new. We want time to readjust our minds 
 and to accommodate ourselves to a new atmosphere, 
 
44 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Smoothness, then, is one reason for the introductory sen- 
 tences. 
 
 If a man picks up a magazine he turns over the pages 
 till he finds a title that attracts him. Then he reads a 
 few sentences or paragraphs, to find out whether the article 
 suits his mood or is worth reading. If he is bored by the 
 first page, he does not, usually, read farther. The listener 
 may not be able to get away from the speaker so easily, but 
 he may let his mind wander, and may go away with little 
 or no idea of what the speech was about, and a feeling that 
 he will try to avoid hearing that man again. Of course, 
 the purpose of the speech has not been carried out. The 
 speaker who interests his hearers at the beginning has the 
 best opportunity. 
 
 All introductions should conform to the requirements 
 of clearness, smoothness, and interest. But there are vari- 
 ous kinds, differing in method according to the nature and 
 purpose of the speech or article. If one is making an after- 
 dinner speech, he may refer to something the preceding gen- 
 tleman said, or to the occasion or reason for his being 
 present. This method is often used in large assemblies, 
 where there are several speakers. This does not imply that 
 an apology is good form at the beginning, unless it can be 
 made humorous. The most common way of beginning is 
 to tell some reason jor taking the subject under considera- 
 tion. The present high prices may cause someone to dis- 
 cuss the causes of the high cost of living. The proposal 
 of certain legislation may give rise to the discussion of 
 conditions in a city or in an industry. If the subject is a 
 broad one, the origin or history of it may be told. This is 
 especially true of argumentative speeches. For example: 
 people like to know who first suggested or used the initia- 
 tive or referendum. 
 
PREPARATION 45 
 
 In the case of a new subject, or one difficult to under- 
 stand, some explanation may be necessary. A few years 
 ago, most people had an extremely vague idea of what the 
 recall in judicial affairs really meant. If the general sub- 
 ject is large, some limitation may be indicated at the be- 
 ginning. A speaker on woman suffrage might confine his 
 talk to the movement in America. A general statement 
 may be made, from which the speaker leads to the par- 
 ticular theme he has in mind. He may make some asser- 
 tion as to Shaksperean plays, then speak of the tragedies, 
 and finally state his subject as Julius Ccesar. Some speak- 
 ers like to give their main points in the introduction, that 
 the hearers may follow them more readily. This is ex- 
 cellent for a long, involved treatment of a difficult subject, 
 but deadens interest in a short talk. Bald statements, such 
 
 as, "I am now about to address you on ," or, "I will 
 
 now tell you " should be avoided. 
 
 Frequently, interest is aroused by something definite and 
 vivid. An inspector telling of conditions in the tenements 
 might describe first a typical scene in a crowded section. 
 Another may find it more effective to tell a story, some 
 trifling incident, humorous or pathetic. 
 
 In general, the last sentence of the introduction should 
 be what is called a theme sentence, one which expresses 
 briefly but comprehensively the theme of the talk or paper. 
 
 Exercise VIII. 
 
 A. Criticize the introductions on pages 46-54 for clear- 
 ness, interest, and smoothness. 
 
 B. Tell to what type each belongs, as to method. 
 
 Exercise IX. 
 
 Make for each an outline of from two to four points, as 
 
46 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 may be necessary, with sub-points, the last main point 
 being the theme sentence. 
 
 1. You ask that which he found a piece of property and turned 
 into a free American citizen to speak to you to-night on Abraham 
 Lincoln. I am not fitted by ancestry or training to be your teacher 
 to-night, for, as I have stated, I was born a slave. 
 
 My first knowledge of Abraham Lincoln came in this way: I 
 was awakened early one morning before the dawn of day, as I lay 
 wrapt in a bundle of rags on the dirt floor of our slave cabin, by 
 the prayers of my mother, just before leaving for her day's work, 
 as she was kneeling over my body, earnestly praying that Abraham 
 Lincoln might succeed, and that one day she and her boy might be 
 free. You give me the opportunity here this evening to celebrate 
 with you and the nation the answer to that prayer. 
 
 From oration on Abraham Lincoln by BOOKEB T. WASHINGTON. 
 By permission. 
 
 2. In speaking to you, men of the greatest city of the West, men of 
 the State which gave to the country Lincoln and Grant, men who 
 preeminently and distinctly embody all that is most American in 
 the American character, I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble 
 ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, 
 of labor and strife, to preach that highest form of success which 
 comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man 
 who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter 
 toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph. 
 
 From "The Strenuous Life," Essays and Addresses by THEODORE 
 ROOSEVELT, 1900. By permission of The Century Co. 
 
 3. My fellow citizens No thoughtful man can face the coming 
 election without care and searching of heart. It is not a time for 
 invective or mudslinging. It is not by the road of calumny and 
 vituperation that a nation progresses. It is not by concentrating 
 our attention upon the supposed faults and shortcomings of our 
 great men that our own characters are improved and elevated. 
 Let us try in fairness and justice to review the situation, in order 
 
PREPARATION 47 
 
 that we may intelligently and properly perform our duty at the 
 coming election. 
 
 From speech in campaign of 1912 by H. L. STIMSON. "Buffalo 
 Express." 
 
 4. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the convention: I am ex- 
 plaining my vote only because my advice was not followed in my 
 own delegation. I advised that those of us who are instructed for 
 Mr. Clark should continue to vote for him until conditions arose 
 that justified us hi doing otherwise. I did not believe that the con- 
 ditions had arisen, but not all of the delegation agreed with me, 
 and then I was desirous that a poll should not be required, but if 
 we are to have a division, if a poll is demanded and each man must 
 give a reason for a vote that he casts, I am now ready to cast my 
 vote and to give my reasons for so doing. 
 
 I have asked the privilege of making an explanation because I 
 am not alone in this convention. I do not represent a one-man 
 opinion. Many of these delegates look at this question as I do, 
 and when I speak for myself I speak for some others in this hall and, 
 I am sure, for a still larger number outside of this hall. I recognize, 
 therefore, the responsibility that rests upon me when I do what I 
 intend to do and I give the explanation that I now propose to give. 
 
 From speech in Democratic National Convention, 1912, by 
 WILLIAM J. BRYAN. 
 
 5. Mr. Toastmaster and fellow Democrats: We are met to cele- 
 brate an achievement. It is an interesting circumstance that 
 principles have no anniversaries. Only the men who embody 
 principles are celebrated upon occasions like this and only the 
 events to which their concerted action gave rise excite our enthu- 
 siasm. You know that the principles of the Democratic Party are 
 professed by practically the whole population of the United States. 
 The test of a Democrat is whether he lives up to those principles 
 or not. I have no doubt there are some people in the United States 
 who covertly question the doctrines of Democracy, but nobody 
 challenges them openly. It goes without saying, therefore, that 
 we have not come together merely to state the abstract principles 
 
48 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 of our party. We have come together to take counsel as to how 
 it is possible, by courageous and concerted action, to translate them 
 into policy and law. 
 
 From speech at Jackson Day dinner, Washington, by WOODROW 
 WILSON, January 8, 1912. 
 
 6. Cardinal Farley yesterday visited St. Gabriel's Church on East 
 Thirty-sixth Street, where for seventeen years he was the pastor, to 
 dedicate the new parochial school. After the dedication he delivered 
 an address in the chapel of the new school. 
 
 I am full of gratitude to find myself here again among my dear 
 children, for I was pastor of this parish for more than seventeen years 
 and the cross I now wear is very dear to me, for it was given to me by 
 the people of this parish. I first came here twenty-five years ago to 
 succeed our dear founder, the Rev. William H. dowry, one of the 
 greatest defenders of the Catholic religion, who started this school 
 where none was. The finger of God is seen here and no pleasanter 
 duty could have fallen on me than to be here to bless your school 
 to-day. It used to be my ambition to end my days here, but I 
 always wanted to alter the dark class rooms and get such a building 
 as we now have. But I was called away to other fields of labor and 
 those who came after me have zealously carried out and completed 
 the good work. 
 
 The endeavor of Catholic schools is to educate all the faculties 
 God has given them and not only to teach religion, as the calumnious 
 throw in our teeth, but to teach all to be good citizens and patriots. 
 
 "New York Times." 
 
 7. As I was speaking to a fellow member of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives a few days ago of what I reckon to be the great commer- 
 cial value of the Philippines, he, being one of those minded to get rid 
 of those islands as quickly as possible, was kind enough to say to me 
 that he preferred " principle rather than pelf. " Before this body of 
 business men I wish emphatically to protest against the idea which 
 prevails too much to-day that the business world is largely a world 
 of plunder. Not that any responsible group of men quite venture 
 to affirm this to be so, but that their actions and their words almost 
 
PREPARATION 49 
 
 or quite assume it as a basis. Certainly a friendly ear is not always 
 turned to the requests of the business community and the sensi- 
 tiveness of credit seems often to be unknown. It is true that the 
 selfishness of some has reflected to a degree upon us all, but for that 
 reason it is more necessary to affirm, as I now do, that the business 
 men of America are, with rare exceptions, upright and high-minded 
 men, respecting the rights of others, conscious of their duties to 
 their fellows, seeking prosperity through service rather than through 
 selfishness and with personal consciences never so active and with 
 public ideals never so high as to-day. Commerce is the ally of 
 uplift and develops, not destroys. And this great club of 1,600 
 members is a witness that you as business men meet with open 
 minds; each willing to learn from the other; each glad to give from 
 his knowledge to the other. Therefore it is a special pleasure to 
 talk with you over some of the common problems of our daily work. 
 From address Some Phases of the Business Outlook by the Hon. 
 WILLIAM C. REDFIELD before the Business Men's Club of Cincinnati, 
 Ohio, February 10, 1912. 
 
 8. A man who tries to see both sides of a question is sometimes 
 accused of being on both sides by the different parties hi the con- 
 troversy. It is not my purpose to-night to discuss Socialism as 
 an economic doctrine, or a political propaganda, least of all to assail 
 my good friend, the mayor of the city. But when Socialism claims 
 to be a solution of the evils of the world, it necessarily comes under 
 the domain of morals and religion. On this ground I have some- 
 thing to say about the fallacy I see in it as such a solution. 
 
 From sermon by DR. FRED W. ADAMS, in reply to an editorial 
 by Mayor Lunn, socialistic in nature. Reported by "Schenectady 
 Union-Star." 
 
 9. Man ever aspires to rise above his present level. Consciously 
 or unconsciously he moves onward and upward. With or without 
 clearly defined methods, he labors to diminish human misery and 
 increase human happiness. The past has seen his plans poorly 
 developed. Present philosophy has a clearer conception of life's 
 problems, and better theories for their solution. The present social 
 
60 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 discontent has produced various theories of social reconstruction. 
 Prominent among these are Nihilism, Anarchism, Communism, and 
 Socialism. These four are alike, in that they spring from a common 
 cause and are means aimed at a common end. 
 
 From Relation of Modernisms to Progress by LINDLEY G. LONG, 
 "Whining Speeches," copyright, 1909, by American Book Co. 
 Used by permission. 
 
 10. We are just in the throes of tariff revision. Early in March 
 was introduced the Payne bill containing a number of modified 
 duties. At once a highly significant struggle began in Washington, 
 The country seems to have settled upon a downward revision of the 
 tariff, yet each group is jealously guarding its own particular 
 interests. Steel, for example, rasps: "Touch not our sacred 
 schedules! " Lumber and pulp cry: "Cut down your newspapers, 
 not our profits!" Agriculture growls: "Cheap shoes, by all means, 
 but abate no jot of the duty on hides!" Sugar raises the slogan in 
 the South. "Preference for home products!" In short, tariff 
 reduction, in theory acceptable to all, is well-nigh unattainable, 
 simply because every group insists on retaining all the privileges 
 it now enjoys. 
 
 This dramatic struggle between clashing interests is typical of 
 the spirit which to-day dominates our national life. 
 
 (The speaker shows that this spirit exists in industrial, political, 
 and social life, and appeals for a war hi behalf of the public weal.) 
 
 From Inglorious Peace by CHARLES C. PEARCE, "Whining 
 Speeches," copyright, 1909, by American Book Co. Used by per- 
 mission. 
 
 1 1 . A century ago this world was a slave-holding world. Through- 
 out the earth there was not, and never had been, an important 
 nation where the crack of the slave whip was not heard. To-day 
 there is not a civilized nation on the globe where man can own his 
 fellow man. Not only has the toiler in all civilized lands been made 
 free, but society is educating and uplifting the laborer, is recognizing 
 more and more his worth, his rights, his dignity. This is a great 
 revolution, one of untold meaning to humanity. It has cost years 
 
PREPARATION 51 
 
 of violent political contest. In this cause martyrs have died, armies 
 have striven in bloody conflict, and nations have been rent asunder. 
 The turning point of this revolution was reached in our civil war, 
 and the decisive hour of that war occurred when the southern army 
 struggled in mortal combat with the Union forces on the field of 
 Gettysburg. What were the principles there at stake? What was 
 the history of that battle, and what its influence? 
 
 From Gettysburg by FRED L. INGRAHAM, "Winning Speeches," 
 copyright, 1909, by American Book Co. Used by permission. 
 
 12. One hundred millions of people, ninety millions between the 
 oceans and ten millions in our ocean dependencies, constitute our 
 population. To-day, right in the harvest time, we are garnering 
 crops that make possible the greatest prosperity that ever faced 
 this country, and we are to-day where every man and every woman 
 can have work who will, where wages are the highest, and the 
 individual happiness of everyone averages higher than ever before. 
 
 I dwell on that fact to-day, borne in upon me by the procession 
 of beautiful children that filed by me this morning, evidencing 
 happy, comfortable homes and moral teaching in the schools and 
 in the homes. It is because this is the fiftieth anniversary of a day 
 as different in respect of the happiness of our people and of the 
 prospect before them as day is from night. Fifty years ago to-day 
 we were hi the throes of rebellion, the like of which had never been 
 seen in the world before and I hope may never be seen in the 
 world again. 
 
 EX-PRESIDENT TAFT. "New York Tunes." 
 
 On an afternoon hi April, 1862, a Northern general saw his beaten 
 army forced back step by step toward the Tennessee River, which 
 apparently cut off all hope of farther retreat. Of forty thousand 
 men that had gone into action under him that morning, scarce a 
 quarter remained in line. Ten thousand were killed, wounded, 
 or prisoners; twenty thousand more had broken from their places 
 at the front and were helpless to resist the enemy's victorious 
 advance. "This looks bad," said one of the general's trusted 
 friends at five o'clock on that eventful afternoon at Pittsburg 
 
52 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Landing. " No, " said the Union commander, as he looked at his 
 watch, "they won't quite drive us into the river in the two hours 
 of daylight that remain. They have put hi all their men to-day, 
 we shall be reinforced in the night, and to-morrow we shall win." 
 And they did. 
 
 Somewhat more than a year later a Confederate general stood 
 on the ridge opposite Gettysburg, watching the failure of the last 
 effort of his army to win a decisive victory on Northern soil. The 
 high hopes of the morning had been shattered by the events of the 
 afternoon. There was no panic among the troops two years' 
 experience of war had so trained the soldiers of both North and 
 South that they were hardly less steadfast hi defeat than in victory 
 but there were no reinforcements at hand and no ammunition left 
 to fight another battle. Nothing remained but long and perilous 
 retreat through a hostile country. Wrung as his heart was with 
 anguish, the Confederate general yet upheld the spirit of his army 
 by his unfaltering resolution and unchanging, even heightened, 
 courtesy of demeanor. To those under him he gave praise. What- 
 ever blame there was he took to himself. Never did the gallant 
 gentleman who for three years led the army of Northern Virginia 
 show himself more a gentleman than on that disastrous July day 
 when he saw the failure of a battle and foresaw the failure of a 
 cause. 
 
 I have chosen these two instances from the lives of the two 
 great leaders on opposite sides, Grant and Lee, because they show 
 the essential reason why those men were leaders. The North had 
 generals whose mere intellectual power of planning battles was 
 better than Grant's. The South had generals whose intellectual 
 power, taken hi this same narrow sense, was just as good as Lee's. 
 The quality that lifted these men above their fellows, and gave them 
 the loyal confidence of the soldiers under them and the people 
 behind them, was a moral one. Both were calm men, not unduly 
 exalted by victory nor unduly depressed by defeat men who could 
 moderate the excitement of those under them when there was danger 
 of rashness, or rouse the courage and endurance of their followers 
 when there was danger of faintness. That was why men loved and 
 
PREPARATION 53 
 
 trusted them during their lives; that is why men venerate their 
 memory after they are gone. 
 
 It is moral quality of this same sort that is needed to make a man 
 a leader anywhere and hi any department of We, to make people 
 love him and trust him and follow him. Life is not a game of chess 
 which is won by the man who can make the best calculations. 
 Now and then a man like Alexander or Napoleon possesses such 
 transcendent intellectual powers that he can treat life as if it were 
 a game, and can dispose of nations and armies as though they were 
 mere castles or pawns on his chess board. But neither a Napoleon 
 nor an Alexander was able to leave an enduring empire. The men 
 whose work has lasted best are those like Lincoln and Washington, 
 like Cromwell and William the Silent; men differing greatly in 
 intellectual gifts, yet marked out above all others by the habit of 
 self-command. Go back through the list of Christian heroes and 
 martyrs, back to Paul, back to Jesus himself, and we find that the 
 thing that counted most in their character and their work was that 
 they had risen above the distractions of success and failure into a 
 command of their own souls, and that this gave them -command 
 over the deeds and the souls of others. 
 
 We are here to train ourselves for leadership in our several call- 
 ings. How shall we attain the kind of power that these men pos- 
 sessed, and lead the world to trust us according to our several abili- 
 ties in the same kind of way that it trusted them? 
 
 From Matriculation sermon at Yale University, 1912, by PRESI- 
 DENT ARTHUR T. HADLEY. By permission. 
 
 14. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Lotos Club: The legend 
 of the lotus eaters was that if they partook of the fruit of the lotus 
 tree they forgot what had happened hi their country and were left in 
 a state of philosophic calm in which they had no desire to return to it. 
 
 I do not know what was in the mind of your distinguished 
 Invitation Committee when I was asked to attend this banquet. 
 They came to me before the election. At first I hesitated to accept 
 lest, when the dinner came, by the election I should be shorn of 
 interest as a guest, and be changed from an active and virile par- 
 
54 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 ticipant in the day's doings of the Nation to merely a dissolving 
 view. 
 
 I knew that generally on an occasion of this sort the motive 
 of the diners was to have a guest whose society should bring them 
 more closely into contact with the great present and future, and 
 not be merely a reminder of what has been. But after further 
 consideration I saw in the name of your club the possibility that you 
 were not merely cold, selfish seekers after pleasures of your own, 
 and that perhaps you were organized to furnish consolation to those 
 who mourn, oblivion to those who would forget, an opportunity 
 for a swan song to those about to disappear. 
 
 This thought, prompted by the coming, as one of your com- 
 mittee, of the gentleman who knows everything in the world that 
 has happened and is going to happen, and especially that which is 
 going to happen, by reason of his control of the Associated Press, 
 much diminished my confidence in the victory that was to come on 
 Election Day. I concluded that it was just as well to cast an anchor 
 to the windward and accept as much real condolence as I could 
 gather in such a hospitable presence as this, and therefore, my 
 friends, I accepted your invitation and am here. 
 
 You have given me the toast of ' The President, ' and I take this 
 toast not merely as one of respect to the office and indicative of 
 your love of country and as typical of your loyalty, but I assume for 
 the purposes of to-night that a discussion of the office which I have 
 held and in which I have rejoiced and suffered will not be inappro- 
 priate. 
 
 From address by PRESIDENT TAFT, before the Lotus Club of 
 New York, November 16, 1912. 
 
 See also pages 355-402. 
 
 THE CONCLUSION 
 
 The conclusion is even more important than the begin- 
 ning. It is correspondingly hard to handle. We have 
 often heard people keep on talking long after they had said 
 everything they had to say, just because they did not know 
 how to stop. Others say, "Well, I think that is all I have 
 
PREPARATION 55 
 
 to say," and sit down in embarrassment. Yet the ending, 
 rightly handled, is the touchstone of a speaker's power. 
 
 If the meaning is likely to be misunderstood, or if the 
 talk is long, a conclusion is necessary for clearness. The 
 hearer wants to remember what was said, and to have a 
 clear idea of the speaker's point of view. He cannot turn 
 back the pages. 
 
 An abrupt close is disconcerting. We like to feel that 
 we have had warning of the approaching end, and that we 
 have had a chance to pick up loose ends in our thoughts. 
 Smoothness in discourse always pleases. 
 
 Just as an introduction arouses interest, so the conclu- 
 sion determines the effect left on the audience. It may 
 cause clear and agreeable memories, make the hearer wish 
 for more, or inspire him to apply to his own life and work 
 whatever of good the speaker had for him. 
 
 The method or type differs with the subject and the 
 occasion. If one phase has been treated, the suggestion 
 may be made that someone else investigate farther, and 
 give the result. If other parts of the subject have been 
 taken up in another speech, or if time does not permit a 
 fuller discussion, that fact may be mentioned. 
 
 If the subject is specific, one may sometimes go from 
 the particular to the general. The writer on Julius 
 Ccssar may pass from the individual play to brief con- 
 sideration of certain qualities in all of Shakspere's trage- 
 dies, and finally to certain characteristics of all his plays, 
 or of all tragedies. As another means of clearness, the 
 summary may be used in long pieces of work, but it is dry 
 and monotonous in a very short one, except in argument, 
 where it is necessary. Repetition of the points of the in- 
 troduction is sometimes an aid to clearness, but, for the 
 sake of variety, should be very carefully used. 
 
56 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Sometimes a personal element may be introduced, leav- 
 ing the audience in greater sympathy with the speaker. 
 A narrative illustrating the theme may be given. The 
 personal opinon of the speaker, formed after observation of 
 the conditions he has told about, causes others to think for 
 themselves, agreeing or disagreeing. The impression made 
 on one who has been in close touch with the facts may be 
 used with great effect, arousing in the hearers similar sen- 
 sations. Most people respond more quickly to the indi- 
 vidual than to the general. 
 
 The most effective and valuable kind of ending probably 
 is that of application. What is the possible remedy for 
 such a state of affairs as we have found? Have those 
 tried been reasonably successful? If not, why? Perhaps 
 the plan suggested by Mr. B. may be worth trying. The 
 speaker has a plan that might be carried out. Many 
 speeches call for immediate action. If a certain law is 
 desirable, it is the duty of the hearers to get it enacted. 
 If money is needed, give it at once. People sometimes 
 need just this spur of verbal attack or suggestion to drive 
 them to action. 
 
 The forms of beginning and ending mentioned are, after 
 all, only general, and admit of much variation. Other 
 suggestions will be given in connection with argumentation. 
 Pages 270 and 297. 
 
 Exercise X. 
 
 Criticize the conclusions on the following pages for clear- 
 ness, smoothness, and effect or impression. 
 Tell to what type each belongs, as to method. 
 
 Exercise XL 
 
 Make an outline for each. 
 
PREPARATION 57 
 
 1. The soul is not a shadow. The body is. Genius is not a 
 shadow, it is substance. Patriotism is not a shadow; it is light. 
 Great purposes, and the spirit that counts death nothing, in con- 
 trast with the honor and welfare of our country these are the wit- 
 nesses that man is not a passing vapor, but an immortal spirit. 
 
 From True Greatness by THOMAS STARR KING. 
 
 2. Surely, if the immortal dead, serene with the wisdom of eter- 
 nity, are not above all joy, and pride, he must feel a thrill to know 
 that no mariner or merchant ever sent forth a venture upon un- 
 known seas which came back with richer cargoes or with statelier 
 ships. 
 
 From speech on Grant's Work by THOMAS B. REED. 
 
 3. From our investigation three points are clear: (1) the extent 
 and efficiency of women's work for public schools have been exag- 
 gerated because it has been assumed that certain striking examples 
 of cooperation indicate general conditions prevailing everywhere; 
 (2) there are openings for college women in school cooperation 
 whether they want personal connection, club connection, or paid 
 professional positions; (3) our colleges are not giving us the train- 
 ing we need to do efficient work as volunteers. Ask any school 
 or health official or business man what he thinks of our volunteer 
 work. I am sure our reputation does not fairly express our possi- 
 bilities. The A.C.A. stands for efficient community work, including 
 efficient volunteer service. Its demand will be heard that our 
 colleges teach us how to work so that our services will not only be 
 welcome, but will be progressively valuable. 
 
 From address What Women Have Done for Public Schools by 
 ELBA DENNISON, "Journal of Association of Collegiate Alumnse." 
 
 4. See page 48 for introduction to address concluding as follows: 
 Finally, gentlemen, I have not sought to deal with details but 
 
 with essentials, and the most essential thing in our shop is, or ought 
 to be, ourselves. Therefore, I have tried plainly to speak to you 
 of our own needs for self-help. The same thing in our industrial 
 
58 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 life that we teach our children in our private lives. Let us there- 
 fore lay down certain laws for ourselves: 
 
 A thing is not right because we do it. 
 
 A method is not good because we use it. 
 
 Equipment is not the best because we own it. 
 
 The wisest of us has much to learn. 
 
 None of us can afford to be deceived about our own affairs. 
 
 It is better by self-criticism to find and correct our own faults 
 than to have our customers do it for us. 
 
 It is a sound law of the business world "To thine own self be 
 true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then 
 be false to any man." 
 
 And I end as I began. To get by the law of gouge and grasp is 
 not true commerce. Against that law our enlightened business 
 sense protests, and with equal force it protests against the wicked 
 assumption that our business men are in any large part under the 
 control of the law of gouge and grasp. 
 
 Commerce is service, the friend of the worker, the servant of the 
 consumer. I venture a protest against the spirit of attack that 
 far too much prevails. Criticism should be a sane and sober process. 
 This is not found in that tyrannous type of mind that involves those 
 who disagree with it hi torrents of common abuse and denunciation. 
 All are not wicked at whom mud is thrown and righteousness is not 
 advanced by evil means. We believe in progress; it is a law of 
 business to do so. But we believe also in moderation and base our 
 hopes for the future on moderate progressiveness and on progressive 
 moderation, in public as well as in business affairs. 
 
 From address on Some Phases of the Business Outlook by WILLIAM 
 C. REDFIELD. 
 
 5. See page 47 for introduction to address concluding as follows: 
 The only thing that can ever make a free country is to keep 
 a free and hopeful heart under every jacket in it, and then there 
 will be an irrepressible vitality, then there will be an irrepressible 
 ideal which will enable us to be Democrats of the sort that when 
 we die we shall look back and say: 'Yes; from tune to time we 
 
PREPARATION 59 
 
 differed with each other as to what ought to be done, but, after all, 
 we followed the same vision, after all we worked slowly, stumbling 
 through dark and doubtful passages onward to a common purpose 
 and a common ideal. ' Let us apologize to each other that we ever 
 suspected or antagonized one another; let us join hands once more 
 all around the great circle of community of council and of interest 
 which will show us at the last to have been indeed the friends of 
 our country and the friends of mankind. 
 
 From speech at Jackson Day dinner by WOODROW WILSON. 
 
 6. To think of good business without thinking of these contribu- 
 tory causes to good business on the one hand, these dangers to 
 good business on the other hand to think of good business without 
 thinking of social justice, industrial evolution, and the measure 
 of socialism that is gripping our country to-day is to view the 
 situation with the complacency with which the monarchy and 
 aristocracy of France viewed the situation before the outbreak of 
 the French revolution. 
 
 From speech Responsibility of the Business Man in campaign of 
 1912 by FRANK A. MUNSEY. 
 
 7. Our cause, then, must be intrusted to, and conducted by, its 
 own undoubted friends those whose hands are free, whose hearts 
 are in the work who do care for the result. Two years ago the Re- 
 publicans of the nation mustered over thirteen hundred thousand 
 strong. We did this under the single impulse of resistance to a 
 common danger, with every external circumstance against us. Of 
 strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the 
 four winds, and formed and fought the battle through, under the 
 constant hot fire of a disciplined, proud, and pampered enemy. Did 
 we brave all then, to falter now? now, when that same enemy is 
 wavering, dissevered and belligerent? The result is not doubtful. 
 We shall not fail if we stand firm, we shall not fail. Wise counsels 
 may accelerate, or mistakes delay it, but, sooner or later, the vic- 
 tory is sure to come. 
 
 From speech at Republican Convention, Springfield, 1858 by 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
60 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 8. See page 46 for introduction to address concluding as follows: 
 
 And so, my friends, you have to choose between these two great 
 different courses of action. We believe hi going forward; we believe 
 that the lines upon which this nation has been acting during the last 
 decade are right; we believe that the great problems of modern life 
 require the best study, the best training and the most consistent ef- 
 fort that this nation can put into them; we believe that the science 
 of government involves greater responsibility and the exercise of 
 greater power than ever before; we believe that in order to preserve 
 to every citizen the opportunities and benefits of our present civiliza- 
 tion we require more government and more intelligent government 
 every year; we believe that the great social problems of humanity 
 about which so much has been said during this campaign can only 
 be solved by a faithful, conscientious and intelligent exercise of the 
 national power, such as the Republican party has been developing 
 for fifty years. We think it is a bad tune to go backward or to try 
 new experiments. While we are ready to go forward as fast as the 
 way can be cleared by patient and careful study, we ask you to be 
 on your guard against impulse and passion and resentment. 
 
 The great work of government can only be accomplished by pa- 
 tience, courage and forbearance. Let us see to it that our ballots 
 are cast hi that spirit. Let us remember the great responsibilities, 
 reaching even as far as these far-off lands, which rest upon the deci- 
 sion we shall reach hi November, and, in the spirit of the faith 
 which has carried us thus far, let us make that decision then. 
 
 From campaign speech, Buffalo, 1912 by H. L. STIMSON. 
 
 See pages 297-8, 357-402 for other examples. 
 
 The person who thoroughly prepares himself for a talk, 
 short or long, on any occasion, has two great advantages. 
 His material is presented clearly, in an orderly manner, at 
 its best. Whatever the speaker can do, he is able to do 
 with this subject at this time. He will not feel chagrined 
 afterward. His part before the audience has been made 
 easier. He knows that the greater part of his work is 
 done before he rises to speak. He is able, since the plan 
 
PREPARATION 61 
 
 has been made, to give care and thought to the immediate 
 expression. There will be greater ease and security, re- 
 sulting in a better impression. 
 
 Much is said of the value of the habit of extempora- 
 neous speech. This is great. The naturalness, the spon- 
 taneity, of unpremeditated speech is full of charm. It wins 
 admiration. Moreover, the ability to speak without pre- 
 vious notice prevents embarrassment and makes one al- 
 ways ready to respond. But how do people acquire this 
 very desirable power? They attain it, not at once, not, 
 in most cases, as a result of aptitude, but as a result of 
 the trained habit of thinking in an orderly manner and 
 of expressing themselves without fear or hesitation. The 
 persistence in habits of careful preparation will produce 
 extemporaneous speakers of power. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 
 
 ONE may have something to say of vital importance, 
 and may have his material well arranged in his mind, yet 
 fail utterly to gain or hold the attention of his audience, 
 or to make his ideas theirs. On the manner of expression, 
 after all, depends to a great degree the effect of the spoken 
 communication. 
 
 The term expression covers much that must be consid- 
 ered by the successful speaker. His method of saying 
 things, arrangement of paragraphs, sentences, and words, 
 choice of words and pronunciation of them, his manner of 
 placing himself before the audience, his use of the body as 
 an aid, and his control over the voice, all determine expres- 
 sion. 
 
 THE PARAGRAPH 
 
 The planning of a talk involves, to some extent, the 
 paragraph division. You may think that paragraphing be- 
 longs only to writing, but it is as essential a part of speak- 
 ing. In fact, since the hearer is deprived of that aid in 
 distinguishing the parts of the composition, the paragraph 
 indentation, he must be the more clearly made aware of 
 the parts by oral paragraphing. 
 
 The word paragraph means a writing beside. The sign 
 was used to call attention to something in the text, gen- 
 erally a change of subject. If you look at the King James 
 version of the Bible, you will see this use illustrated. In 
 
 62 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 63 
 
 modern writing the paragraph has become the unit of 
 expression. 
 
 This emphasis on the paragraph is, however, a late de- 
 velopment in our use of English. As late as the Eliza- 
 bethan age, even the best writers had little sense of the 
 relation of sentences. If you read the prose of that period, 
 you will find it very difficult to comprehend what the writer 
 was trying to say, and still more difficult to grasp his ideas 
 in logical relation. Bacon arranged his thoughts clearly, 
 but his essays were not of the kind to emphasize struc- 
 ture. Sir William Temple, in the late seventeenth cen- 
 tury, had, as Professor Minto says, "a certain apprehen- 
 sion, however faint," of paragraph method. Addison, 
 famous for the smoothness of his style, was as notable for 
 loose arrangement. Dr. Johnson was the first to bring 
 into prominence, if he did not originate it, the practice of 
 stating a general principle and following it by the particu- 
 lars in arranged sentences. Though the marvelous use of 
 illustration in various forms made Burke's statements clear, 
 and though he often expressed in a sentence the topic of a 
 single paragraph, he did not pay great attention to the con- 
 nection of sentences. 
 
 It remained, then, for the nineteenth century, so rich 
 in poetic form, to develop and formulate the theory of 
 the paragraph, and thus help bring to perfection the art 
 of English prose. De Quincey gave, as "the two capital 
 secrets in the art of prose composition . . . the philosophy 
 of transition and connection," and "the way in which sen- 
 tences are made to modify each other." Professor Bain, a 
 Scottish philosopher, undertook to lay down rules for the 
 paragraph. Macaulay paid more attention to paragraph 
 structure than most writers. As the century grew old, 
 many students, by a careful study of the best in the 
 
64 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 works of great writers and speakers, were able to set forth 
 some general qualities found in these works, and to formu- 
 late the methods used. In this way, we have learned how 
 we, too, may emulate the best. 
 
 There are two reasons why the paragraph should re- 
 ceive so much attention. For a short composition or talk, 
 on a simple subject, it is the only practicable form. In 
 longer articles or speeches it is the means of setting off 
 and developing clearly and smoothly each division or sub- 
 division of the subject. Without the paragraph, the mass 
 of material poured out before the public in these days 
 would be confused, and fail utterly to penetrate the minds 
 of most of us. 
 
 The qualities found to be vital to the paragraph are, in 
 general, those essential to any written or oral composi- 
 tion taken as a whole. The first is unity. The paragraph 
 must have a central idea, with lesser ones dependent on 
 it. There should be no digression. When this central 
 thought is determined, it must be expressed, in clear, con- 
 cise, comprehensive form, in what is called the topic sen- 
 tence. Often this is placed at the beginning or after an 
 introductory sentence, but it may be in the middle or at 
 the end. Indeed, some good writers and speakers express 
 the topic of one paragraph at the beginning of the next. 
 In speaking, the beginning is, for the sake of clearness, 
 usually the best, though repetition at the beginning of the 
 next often aids. The closing sentence may often be made 
 to help unify the paragraph, by repetition in other words, 
 of the central thought, or by summarizing. Within the 
 paragraph each subdivision should have a sentence or 
 clause to denote it, followed by such sentences as are neces- 
 sary to treat that phase. Keeping the same point of view 
 throughout, aids in giving the impression of unity. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 65 
 
 Another quality that makes the talk pleasing to the 
 hearer is coherence. This is obtained in two ways. The 
 order of treatment should be natural and logical. What 
 point will best serve to lead up to the chief point? What 
 will be the smoothest progression? Then, the parts must 
 be fastened together so that no gaps need be bridged by 
 the mind of the hearer at the expense of the vital points. 
 The hearer cannot go back and find the missed connec- 
 tion. It must be made for him so that he cannot miss it. 
 For this, words, phrases, and clauses, even whole sen- 
 tences, may be employed. Personal and demonstrative 
 pronouns, time words, adverbs and phrases of place, ex- 
 pressions of comparison and of result, may all be used. It 
 is best, however, to avoid using the same words of co- 
 herence frequently, and to use those for which there is 
 some reason, lest they seem put there only because the 
 speaker thought vaguely that he must insert some con- 
 nective. This, that, it, however, nevertheless, in fact, then, 
 too, afterward, meanwhile, on the other hand, but, on the 
 contrary, therefore, as a result, so, are examples of words 
 that may be used. When you speak, it is harder to think 
 of the proper connectives than when you write. Therefore, 
 it is wise to practice consciously the art of connecting sen- 
 tences. 
 
 See transitional sentences, page 247. 
 
 Since it is impossible for even the best mind to retain all 
 that a speaker says, it is especially necessary that the 
 speaker obey the rules of emphasis. Otherwise, the im- 
 pression left on the hearer will not be what was intended. 
 Proportion must be observed. The most important point 
 should be given most time, though not so much as to dwarf 
 the others in comparison. One-third of the material should 
 
66 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 never take two-thirds of the presentation. Some speakers 
 dwell so long on the first part, though it may be of the 
 least value, that as the time for closing approaches they 
 are forced to crowd in all the rest, leaving out much of 
 the development. Although one should not keep his eyes 
 glued to a clock, an occasional swift glance at a watch 
 at one's side may help in avoiding this. It is well to work 
 up to a climax by expressing the strongest, most effective 
 point last. Anti-climax gives the impression of weakness 
 and indicates that the speaker had no more of real value to 
 say, and that he added something just to fill up time. 
 Though first impressions of persons may be the most last- 
 ing, last impressions are, in speech, more forcible. The be- 
 ginning as well as the ending counts in right emphasis. A 
 good start looks forward. A good close reflects the merit of 
 the effort. 
 
 Probably the great men whose works we study never 
 thought of naming the various kinds of paragraphs they 
 used, but we, who have to develop a lesser talent, find it 
 convenient for the sake of distinguishing methods. In 
 telling a story, we use the narrative, or time method. In 
 description, or the enumeration of facts, we find detail or 
 particulars necessary. If we wish to make something very 
 clear to one who does not understand it, we define or ex- 
 plain. Sometimes the same end is gained by repetition in 
 other words, or by amplification of the general statements. 
 A principle or theory may be applied to some specific or 
 concrete instance. Any statement or generalization may be 
 illustrated by mention of numerous examples, or recital at 
 greater length of some incident that points the statement. 
 If there is likelihood of doubt, proofs may be adduced. The 
 statement of a cause may be followed by an account of 
 the results. Two persons or things or conditions may be 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 67 
 
 compared, showing either likenesses or differences. Some- 
 times negation, or telling what a thing is not, may be 
 used both for definition and comparison. Indeed, some 
 good paragraphs are made up by combining several of 
 these methods. 
 
 Exercise I. 
 
 Study the following paragraphs with regard to technique. 
 
 a. Unity. What sentence expresses the topic? Is it a 
 good one for the purpose? What points are included in the 
 development? Are they vitally related to the topic sen- 
 tence? 
 
 b. Coherence. Comment on the order of development. 
 What connectives are used? How? Are they the best? 
 
 c. Emphasis. Is the proportion good? Is the most forci- 
 ble order used? Are the first and last sentences adapted to 
 their uses? Does the whole leave a good impression? Does 
 the speaker use too many words? 
 
 Exercise II. 
 
 Study the same paragraphs for method of development. 
 Can you distinguish the type? Is it the most suitable for 
 the subject? 
 
 1. It was the custom of the primitive Romans to preserve in the 
 halls of their houses the images of all the illustrious men whom 
 their families had produced. These images are supposed to have 
 consisted of a mask exactly representing the countenance of each 
 deceased individual, accompanied with habiliments of like fashion 
 with those worn in his time, and with the armor, badges, and insignia 
 of his offices and exploits: all so disposed around the sides of the 
 hall as to present, in the attitude of living men, the long succession 
 of the departed; and thus to set before the Roman citizen, whenever 
 he entered or left his house, the venerable array of his ancestors 
 revived in this imposing similitude. Whenever, by a death in the 
 family, another distinguished member of it was gathered to his 
 fathers, a strange and awful procession was formed. The ancestral 
 
68 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 masks, including those of the newly deceased, were fitted upon the 
 servants of the family, selected of the size and appearance of those 
 whom they were intended to represent, and drawn up in solemn 
 array to follow the funeral train of the living mourners, first to the 
 market-place, where the public eulogium was pronounced, and then 
 to the tomb. As he thus moved along, with all the great fathers 
 of his name quickening, as it were, from their urns, to enkindle his 
 emulation, the virtuous Roman renewed his vows of respect to 
 their memory, and his resolution to imitate their fortitude, frugality, 
 and patriotism. 
 
 From Adams and Jefferson by EDWARD EVERETT. 
 
 2. Now their separate characters are briefly these. The man's 
 power is active, progressive, defensive. He is eminently the doer, 
 the creator, the discoverer, the defender. His intellect is for specu- 
 lation and invention; his energy for adventure, for war, and for 
 conquest wherever war is just, wherever conquest necessary. But 
 the woman's power is for rule, not for battle, and her intellect is 
 not for invention or creation, but for sweet ordering, arrangement, 
 and decision. She sees the qualities of things, their claims, and their 
 places. Her great function is Praise; she enters into no contest, 
 but infallibly adjudges the crown of contest. By her office, and 
 place, she is protected from all danger and temptation. The man, 
 in his rough work in the open world, must encounter all peril and 
 trial: to him, therefore, must be the failure, the offence, the in- 
 evitable error; often he must be wounded, or subdued: often misled; 
 and always hardened. But he guards the woman from all this; 
 within his house, as ruled by her, unless she herself has sought it, 
 need enter no danger, no temptation, no cause of error or offence. 
 From Sesame and Lilies by JOHN RUSKIN. 
 
 3 What is anarchy? It is a very old spirit, and has existed from 
 the earliest ages. It has manifested itself in every age and in nearly 
 every man. We see it in the child, in its first childish defiance of 
 parental law. It manifests itself in every community; there are 
 anarchists here, and there are anarchists all over the world. Where- 
 ever men are determined to do their own will, or pleasure, irre- 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 69 
 
 spective of the laws which have been enacted for public welfare 
 there is the spirit of anarchy. Every criminal has it 
 
 "No thief e'er felt the halter draw, 
 With good opinion of the law. " 
 
 Arson, theft, drunkenness, adultery, murder all the horrible 
 crimes which have ever been committed are its natural fruit. And 
 the unending struggle of humanity, from the earliest age, has been 
 to gain the victory over this vile spirit, and bring it into subjection. 
 From The State versus Anarchy by L. CLARK SEELYE. 
 
 4. We claim that we are entitled to a popular vote of confidence at 
 the coming election because we have demonstrated that we are the 
 party of affirmative, constructive policies for the betterment and 
 progress of our country in all the fields upon which the activity 
 and influence of Government can rightly enter. We claim it because 
 we have shown ourselves a party of honest, efficient, and economical 
 administration hi which public moneys are faithfully applied, 
 appointments are made on grounds of merit, efficient service is 
 rigorously exacted, graft is reduced to a minimum, derelictions from 
 official duty are sternly punished, and a high standard of official 
 morality is maintained. We claim it because we have maintained 
 and promoted peace with the world, and the dignity, honor, and 
 just interests of the United States among the nations. We claim 
 it because our party stands now, as it has ever stood, for order and 
 liberty and for the maintenance of the constitutional system of 
 government through which a self-controlled democracy for more 
 than a century has established against all detractors the compe- 
 tency of the American people to govern themselves in law-abiding 
 prosperity. 
 
 From opening speech at Republican National Convention, 1912, 
 by ELIHU ROOT. 
 
 5. Second, the railroads should be permitted to earn and hold a 
 surplus equal to fifty per cent of the amount they pay out in divi- 
 dends, to be held for emergencies and applied to improved facilities. 
 There are many expenses, and new ones constantly arising, that 
 
70 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 must not be added to capital charge unless rates are to be made 
 that the public cannot and ought not to be asked to bear. In addi- 
 tion to the heavy demands of the ordinary growth of traffic, there 
 are many extraordinary expenses. Public authorities do not hesi- 
 tate to order the railroads to provide additional equipment. This, 
 being only partially under the owner's control, is soon scattered 
 over the country. The weaker roads prefer paying a per diem 
 charge to buying for themselves. This compels the stronger roads 
 practically to provide new equipment for the whole country and 
 pay the cost of it from their own resources. Grade crossings must 
 be eliminated both in the cities and in the country. The ordering 
 of these is held to be a legitimate part of the police power of the 
 state, whose exercise is unlimited. To raise or lower tracks at a 
 single city may cost millions of dollars. This class of expenses 
 grows very rapidly in the United States as population becomes 
 denser. Safety appliances must be adopted. Ingenuity is adding 
 yearly to the number of these; and the public demands rightly 
 that they be put hi to use as soon as their value is demonstrated. 
 But all these things take money and a great deal of it. 
 
 From The Necessity of Terminal Facilities for Railroads by 
 JAMES J. HILL. 
 
 6. Even some little tune after the iceberg was struck it did not 
 occur to me that there was the least danger, and I thought of going 
 to bed. Then the officers began to come along the decks and tell 
 the passengers that though there was no danger it might be as well 
 if the passengers got into the boats as a matter of precaution. A 
 number of people were strolling along talking about the experience 
 that the ship had just gone through and for a tune no one was willing 
 to get into any of the boats. At last a few did get in, and by degrees 
 the meaning of it all was realized. 
 
 7. After waiting for an interminable time with the collapsible 
 boat in my hands I felt the Titanic sinking under my feet. I 
 could feel her going under at the bows. The storage batteries 
 furnishing the light again gave out, and there was darkness. I 
 tried to wait, but suddenly found myself leaping from the rail, 
 away up in the air, and I felt an eternity before I hit the water. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 71 
 
 When I came to I felt myself drawn into the suction, and when I 
 felt a cake of ice near I clung to it. 
 
 Extracts from accounts of the Titanic Disaster, as given "New 
 York Times" reporter. 
 
 8. Those 900,000 homesteaders and the entries of thousands of 
 preemption claimants, desert land, and stone and timber entrymen, 
 as well as the railroads themselves, have culled over the lands of the 
 Western States until to-day there only remain the lands that have 
 been during all of these years and up to the present passed over 
 many times and rejected as unfit for cultivation and not worth 
 the effort required for their reclamation. The result is that at the 
 present time not only are our home seekers becoming more and more 
 reluctant to take the remaining isolated tracts of land, but the 
 stringency of the rulings of the Department of the Interior and the 
 construction placed upon the existing laws are, in the judgment of 
 your committee, seriously retarding the development of the West. 
 This statement is conclusively borne out by the very rapidly de- 
 creasing number of original entries. 
 
 SENATOR TAYLOR. "Congressional Record." 
 
 9. There is no test of a man's ability in any department of pub- 
 lic life more severe than service in the House of Representatives; 
 there is no place where so little deference is paid to reputation 
 previously acquired or eminence won outside; no place where so 
 little consideration is shown for the feelings or failures of beginners. 
 What a man gains in the House he gains by sheer force of his own 
 character, and if he loses and falls back he must expect no mercy 
 and will receive no sympathy. It is a field in which the survival 
 of the strongest is the recognized rule and where no pretense can 
 deceive and no glamour can mislead. The real man is discovered, 
 his words are impartially. weighed, his rank is irreversibly decreed. 
 
 From speech on Garfield by JAMES G. ELAINE. "World's Best 
 Orations," copyright by Ferd. P. Kaiser Publishing Co. 
 
 10. I do then declare my conviction, and wish it may stand record- 
 ed to posterity, that there never was a bad man that had ability for 
 .good service. It is not in the nature of such men; their minds are 
 
72 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 so distorted to selfish purposes, to knavish, artificial, and crafty 
 means of accomplishing those selfish ends, that, if put to any good 
 service, they are poor, dull, helpless. Their natural faculties never 
 had that direction, they are paralytic on that side; the muscles, 
 if I may use that expression, that ought to remove it, are all dead. 
 They know nothing but how to pursue selfish ends by wicked and 
 indirect means. No man ever knowingly employed a bad man on 
 account of his abilities, but for evil ends. 
 
 From speech On Impeachment of Hastings. BURKE. 
 
 11. The circumstances of our day are so utterly different from 
 those of Jefferson's day that it may seem nothing less than an 
 act of temerity to attempt to say what Jefferson would do if he 
 were now alive and guiding us with his vision and command. 
 The world we live in is no longer divided into neighborhoods and 
 communities; the lines of the telegraph thread it like nerves uniting 
 a single organism. The ends of the earth touch one another and 
 exchange impulse and purpose. America has swung out of her 
 one-time isolation and has joined the family of nations. She is 
 linked to mankind by every tie of blood and circumstance. She is 
 more cosmopolitan In her make-up than any other nation of the 
 world; is enriched by a greater variety of energy drawn from strong 
 peoples the world over. She is not the simple, homogeneous, rural 
 nation that she was in Jefferson's time, making only a beginning at 
 development and the conquest of fortune; she is great and strong; 
 above all she is infinitely varied; her affairs are shot through with 
 emotion and the passion that comes with strength and growth and 
 self-confidence. We live hi a new and strange age and reckon with 
 new affairs alike in economics and politics of which Jefferson knew 
 nothing. 
 
 From speech What Jefferson Would Do by WOODROW WILSON at 
 Jefferson Day Dinner, 1912. 
 
 12. Those who look only at the surface of things and judge trade 
 unionism by an occasional glimpse are likely to underestimate the 
 uplifting influence of this institution upon the character of the 
 wage-earner. Trade unionism distinctly raises the moral tone of 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 73 
 
 the wage-earner by infusing into him a sense of the dignity of 
 labor. There is much lip service paid to the ennobling effect of 
 labor and the dignity it confers upon the workman, but it is the 
 trade union, more than any other institution, that translates these 
 mere professions into actual deeds. The unionist feels that it 
 is not the work itself but the spirit in which the work is accepted 
 and performed that ennobles the worker. The principal element 
 that gives to labor its dignity is its voluntary character. There 
 was nothing ennobling hi the toil of the slave, crouching beneath 
 the lash; there was nothing ennobling in the work of the serf, 
 bowed down by the weight of ages; there is little of the dignity of 
 labor in the forced work of the convict or of the man toiling under 
 the padrone system; there is, indeed, little dignity and nothing 
 ennobling in the work of any man whose earnings of to-day are 
 absolutely necessary that he may live to-morrow. The greater the 
 initiative and the more complete the independence of the worker 
 the greater the pleasure in his work and the more ennobling it 
 becomes. 
 
 From an address Philosophy, Purposes and Ideals of the Trade 
 Union Movement by JOHN MITCHELL. 
 
 13. It is upon the manual toilers, upon those who literally eat their 
 bread in the sweat of their face, that the burdens of our modern 
 industrial system and of our largely commercialized civilization 
 bear the heaviest. They realize the inequalities of that system 
 more keenly than those who have fared better economically. They 
 come face to face with the concrete shortcomings of that civiliza- 
 tion; they realize in their own daily lives of poorly requited toil 
 how far that civilization is from its ideals. All this fosters dis- 
 content; but it is not necessarily a discontent, pessimistic, hopeless, 
 despairing, sodden. It is a discontent that is hopeful, optimistic, 
 ambitious, militant. It is the discontent that stimulates to struggle, 
 that turns one's mind and thoughts from the mere contemplation 
 of the failures of our system of civilization to its ideals and its un- 
 realized possibilities. And for this reason the seeming paradox 
 is true, that among those who are held down closest to the struggle 
 for the mere necessities of life, who enjoy least of the material and 
 
74 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 the intellectual fruits of our civilization, who live most in its toil, 
 its smoke, and its grime, and least in its leisure and its sunshine 
 that among these one finds most frequently the optimist and the 
 idealist. 
 
 From address Interest of the Wage Earner in the Peace Movement 
 by CHARLES PATRICK NEILL. By courtesy of American Association 
 for International Conciliation. 
 
 14. How much of the excellence of our great writers from Milton, 
 Jeremy Taylor, and Baxter downward is traceable to their knowl- 
 edge of the diction of the Bible? We can feel it in four great mas- 
 ters of our tongue who adorned the last generation, to all of whom 
 the Scriptures were familiar from childhood. We recognize it in 
 the speeches of John Bright and Abraham Lincoln, hi the sermons 
 and essays of Cardinal Newman, and in the earlier writings of 
 Thomas Carlyle before his style became Germanized. The names 
 of Lincoln and Bright suggest the immense and unique service 
 which this translation rendered to men of our stock. It brought 
 this wonderful storehouse of historical narrative and moral reflec- 
 tion, this incomparable record of the progress of the human spirit 
 and of all the forms in which its conception of the relations of men 
 to God were expressed within the reach of those who, like Bright, 
 received no very wide education, and those who, like Lincoln, 
 received no education at all. This vast realm of knowledge and 
 imagination, embracing so much of human life and thought these 
 words of lofty and ardent thinkers, touching the heart and making 
 all its deepest chords vibrate, came within the grasp and were 
 familiar to the ordinary man and woman and became to many of 
 them the only intellectual stimulus and the only moral guidance 
 they ever received. These were the foundation of Christian life 
 not merely to the wise and learned, but to whoever could read or 
 listen to the reading of the sacred words to the humble cottager of 
 England, to the lonely shepherd upon Scottish moors, to the early 
 settlers wringing a scanty livelihood from the rocky hillsides of 
 New England. 
 
 From speech at Bible Tercentenary by JAMES BRYCE. "Bible 
 Society Record." 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 75 
 
 15. There have been men of this quality in the world. It is re- 
 corded of Bernardino of Siena that, when he came into the room, his 
 gentleness and purity were so evident that all that was base and 
 silly in the talk of his companions was abashed and fell into silence. 
 Artists like Fra Angelico have made their pictures like prayers. 
 Warriors like Chevalier Bayard and Sir Philip Sidney and Henry 
 Havelock and Chinese Gordon have dwelt amid camps and conflicts 
 as Knights of the Holy Ghost. Philosophers like John Locke and 
 George Berkeley, men of science like Newton and Herschel, poets 
 like Wordsworth and Tennyson and Browning have taught virtue 
 by their lives as well as wisdom by their works. Humanitarians 
 like Howard and Wilberforce and Raikes and Charles Brace have 
 given themselves to noble causes. Every man who will has it in 
 his power to make his lif e count for something positive hi the redemp- 
 tion of society. And this is what every man of moral principle 
 is bound to do if he wants to belong to the salt of the earth. 
 
 16. There is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high hi the 
 world. It is to stoop down and lift mankind a little higher. There 
 is a nobler character than that which is merely incorruptible. It 
 is the character which acts as an antidote and preventive of corrup- 
 tion. Fearlessly to speak the words which bear witness to righteous- 
 ness and truth and purity; patiently to do the deeds which strengthen 
 virtue and kindle hope in your fellow men; generously to lend a 
 hand to those who are trying to climb upward; faithfully to give 
 your support and your personal help to the efforts which are making 
 to elevate and purify the social life of the world, that is what it 
 means to have salt in your character. And that is the way to make 
 your life interesting and savory and powerful. The men that have 
 been happiest, and the men that are the best remembered, are the 
 men that have done good. 
 
 Selections from Salt by HENKY VAN DYKE. 
 
 In addition to the various types of isolated paragraphs, 
 there are short link paragraphs, used to connect where 
 the transition cannot easily be made, and introductory and 
 concluding: paragraphs. These do not always have topic 
 
76 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 sentences, as they are not of importance in themselves, but 
 only as they lead to others. One idea suggests another. 
 Whatever subject is suggested is only touched upon, since 
 it is subsidiary to the thought of the whole talk. 
 
 17. But that is not enough; that is not all. All histories of wild 
 and savage people, all the histories of lawless and undisciplined men, 
 all the histories of civil wars and revolutions, all the histories of. 
 discord and strife which checks the onward march of civilization 
 and holds a people stationary until they go down instead of going 
 up, admonish us that it is not enough to be independent and courag- 
 eous. 
 
 From The Spirit of Self-Government by ELIHU ROOT. 
 
 Study the examples given on pages 245-246. 
 
 In connection with paragraph subjects given in follow- 
 ing pages, allied phases of the general subject might be 
 discussed by other pupils. 
 
 Exercise III. 
 
 Construct a topic sentence, outline main points, and at 
 least first order of sub-points, and develop a paragraph on 
 one of the following. See specimen outline, page 77. 
 
 1. Qualities of a book worth reading. 
 
 2. Characteristics of a good librarian, or policeman, or nurse, 
 
 or saleswoman. 
 
 3. Powers of a policeman, or postmaster, or a minor city officer. 
 
 4. Causes of forest fires, or floods, or volcanic eruptions, or 
 
 earthquakes. 
 
 5. Causes of some recent labor strike. 
 
 6. The factors in the struggle for existence. 
 
 7. The sequence in which the biologic sciences should be studied. 
 
 8. The life history of the salmon, or the butterfly, or the frog. 
 
 9. The value of scientific classification. 
 
 10. The value of the use of Latin scientific terms. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 77 
 
 11. Value of birds, or of the honeybee, or worms. 
 
 12. Uses of the telegraph, or wireless at sea, or the aeroplane in 
 
 war. 
 
 13. Purposes of the study of geometry. 
 
 14. Value of the study of history, or Lathi, or French, or German, 
 
 or of some one science. 
 
 15. The value of museums, or parks. 
 
 16. Geographic advantages of Rome, or of England, of New York, 
 
 of New Orleans, of San Francisco, of Chicago. 
 
 17. Advantages our town has for a certain factory. 
 
 18. Benefits of the railway to our town. 
 
 19. Value of the county seat to a town. 
 
 20. How Caesar gained a hold on his men. 
 
 THE BENEFITS OF VACATION. 
 
 The great amount of travel on railway and steamship lines every 
 summer indicates that, more and more, people are realizing the 
 value of a vacation. 
 
 I. Vacation enables one to rest. 
 
 A. Physically. 
 
 1. Relaxation of body. 
 
 2. Healthful exercise. 
 
 a. Providing change of activity. 
 
 b. Counteracting nerve strain. 
 
 B. Mentally. 
 
 1. Less concentration necessary. 
 
 2. No anxiety over work. 
 
 II. Vacation is a tune for recreation. 
 
 A. Opportunity to enjoy scenery. 
 
 1. Tune to reach distant places. 
 
 2. Tune to visit places of interest hi the vicinity. 
 
 B. Possibility of taking up some favorite pursuit, such as 
 
 1. Playing some game. 
 
 2. Caring for flowers. 
 
 3. Drawing. 
 
78 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 III. One's ability to work is renewed. 
 
 A. Bodily. 
 
 1. Ability to exert greater physical strength. 
 
 2. Ability to endure the strain of continued effort. 
 
 3. Control of nerves. 
 
 B. Mentally. 
 
 1. Interest renewed. 
 
 2. View broadened, balanced. 
 
 Exercise IV. 
 
 Construct a topic sentence, outline the points, and de- 
 velop a paragraph orally on one of the following subjects: 
 
 1. My idea of the essential characteristics of a lady, or of a 
 
 gentleman. 
 
 2. The ideal pupil. 
 
 3. The ideal office-holder. 
 
 4. What a novel is, or a play, or an allegory, or a romance. 
 
 5. The trial jury, or the grand jury. 
 
 6. What a constitution is. 
 
 7. What a republic, or a democracy, or a monarchy, or an empire, 
 
 is. 
 
 8. The writ of habeas corpus. 
 
 9. Caesar's camp formation. 
 
 10. The formation of the phalanx. 
 
 11. The equipment of a foot-soldier in CaBsar's time, or now, in 
 
 the American army. 
 
 12. How crowds are managed by the police. 
 
 13. How electric storms are caused, or hail storms, or snow on 
 
 the mountains. 
 
 14. Why the tide rises and falls. 
 
 15. What an eclipse is. 
 
 16. The principles of photography. 
 
 17. Structure of the camera. 
 
 18. The principle of the thermometer, or the hygrometer, or the 
 
 telescope, or the microscope. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 79 
 
 19. The turbine water-wheel, or the electric motor in street cars 
 
 run without trolleys. 
 
 20. The composition of coal. 
 
 21. Structure of the butterfly's wing. 
 
 22. How the caterpillar spins a cocoon. 
 
 23. How the cricket chirps, or the katydid makes its sound. 
 
 24. How dandelions are propagated. 
 
 25. How seedless oranges, or grapes, are obtained. 
 
 26. How soil is loosened. 
 
 27. How plants obtain sustenance from the ah-. 
 
 28. How the bee gathers pollen and honey. 
 
 29. How the piano is played. (Structure.) 
 
 Exercise V. 
 
 Construct the topic sentence, plan the outline, and de- 
 velop the paragraph orally by the method of comparison, 
 on one of the following. See page 68, example 2; page 72, 
 example 11. 
 
 1. Comparison of the novel and the drama. 
 
 2. Argumentation and exposition, or description and exposition. 
 
 3. Comparison of two characters in a novel you are reading. 
 
 4. Comparison of two novels or of two plays as to interest. 
 
 5. Comparison of the style of two authors whose books you 
 
 have read. 
 
 6. Comparison of two magazines or of two newspapers, as to 
 
 nature of contents. 
 
 7. A republic compared to a monarchy. 
 
 8. Comparison of the chief principles of two parties at present. 
 
 9. The principles of the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. 
 
 10. Patricians and Plebeians. 
 
 11. Athenian and Spartan education. 
 
 12. Social life in public schools as compared with that in private 
 
 schools. 
 
 13. How basket-ball as played by girls differs from the boys' game. 
 
 14. How American football differs from Rugby football. 
 
 15. Comparison of trees and herbs. 
 
80 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 16. Comparison of the vertebrate eye and the camera. 
 
 17. The circulatory systems of a man and a fish, or of a fish and a 
 
 crayfish. 
 
 18. Comparison of kinetic and potential energy. 
 
 19. Noise and music. 
 
 20. The tungsten, or Mazda lamp and the common incandescent 
 
 lamp. 
 
 21. Comparison of two kinds of heat radiators. 
 
 22. Centripetal and centrifugal forces. 
 
 23. The plum and the peach, or the pear and the apple. 
 
 24. Comparison of the dog and the cat as domestic animals. 
 
 25. The comparative desirability of two routes to Chicago, or 
 
 to New York, or to Boston. 
 
 26. The work of the architect and of the carpenter in building 
 
 a house. 
 
 27. The work of the city mail-carrier as compared with the work 
 
 of the rural carrier. 
 
 28. The advantages of the electric car as compared to the horse- 
 
 car. 
 
 Exercise VI. 
 
 Develop a paragraph on one of the following by illustra- 
 tion. See page 75, example 15. 
 
 1. How men of great wealth use it for the people. 
 
 2. Congestion in the city of . 
 
 3. The trying life of a physician, or of a clergyman, or of a 
 
 settlement worker. 
 
 4. The possibility of rising from lowliness to a high position. 
 
 5. The possibility of a poor boy obtaining a college education. 
 
 6. The queer use of English. 
 
 7. Shakspere's use of history. 
 
 8. Fads of society women. 
 
 9. Hobbies of prominent men. 
 
 10. Eccentricities of men of genius. 
 
 11. Methods of helping the poor. 
 
 12. Spirit of some athletes. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 81 
 
 13. The value of accuracy. 
 
 14. The danger of carelessness. 
 
 15. The crowded conditions on Street. 
 
 16. How children often amuse themselves. 
 
 17. The saving of babies by pure milk. 
 
 18. What the Fresh Ah* Fund means to some children. 
 
 19. Manners hi this decade. 
 
 20. The danger hi practical joking. 
 
 21. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." 
 
 22. "All's well that ends well." 
 
 Exercise VII. 
 
 Plan and develop a paragraph to prove or disprove one 
 of the following topics. See page 69, example 5, and page 
 71, example 10. 
 
 1. Physical culture is a benefit to health. 
 
 2. Football is a dangerous form of athletics. 
 
 3. Football develops manly qualities in the players. 
 
 4. Basket-ball is an excellent exercise for girls. 
 
 5. Music improves the mind. 
 
 6. Sewing, or cooking, should be taught hi schools. 
 
 7. Manual training is of great benefit to pupils. 
 
 8. Literary societies are a benefit to high school pupils. 
 
 9. There should be a gymnasium hi every school building. 
 
 10. There should be a large playground for every school. 
 
 11. The country boy has many advantages over the city boy. 
 
 12. It is improbable that any one language will become universal. 
 
 13. Graduation from a high school is of value to a boy who goes 
 
 into business. 
 
 14. Synthetic rubber is likely to take the place of natural rubber. 
 
 15. The voters of to-day are more independent than those of 
 
 a generation ago. 
 
 16. A knowledge of Latin is of practical value. 
 
 17. New York City is becoming a summer resort. 
 
 18. The winters are less severe than formerly hi the Middle At- 
 
 lantic States. 
 
82 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 19. The earth is not a perfect sphere. 
 
 20. New York State is a glaciated region. 
 
 21. The glacier helped make New York the Empire State. 
 
 22. A molecule of hydrogen consists of two atoms. 
 
 Exercise VIII. 
 
 Develop one of the following subjects into a paragraph 
 by cause and effect. See examples on page 71, example 8, 
 and page 73, example 13. 
 
 1. Effects of exploration and travel hi Elizabethan times. 
 
 2. How the flood was caused. 
 
 3. The working of conscription in foreign armies. 
 
 4. The present high cost of shoes, or eggs, or aluminum utensils 
 
 5. The lowered cost of typewriters, or of automobiles. 
 
 6. The use of Chinese hair in large quantities. 
 
 7. Fashions and the textile factories. 
 
 8. The scarcity of laborers on farms. 
 
 9. The agitation over employers' liability acts. 
 
 10. The regulating of weights and measures. 
 
 11. The reaction of factors of environment on an organism. 
 
 12. Differentiation and division of labor. 
 
 13. Near-sightedness. 
 
 14. Habits and modifications of blind fish found in caves. 
 
 15. The adaptation of teeth in a rat or squirrel. 
 
 16. The relation of insects to the cultivation of figs in the United 
 
 States. 
 
 17. The temperatures of the bottom waters of the Mediterranean 
 
 and the adjacent Atlantic. 
 
 18. The climate of England as affected by certain conditions. 
 
 19. What would follow an inclination of the earth's axis of 45. 
 
 20. The relation of the mosquito to disease. 
 
 21. The introduction of dry fanning hi Kansas. 
 
 THE SENTENCE 
 
 The paragraph expresses the central idea, or, in a longer 
 treatment of a subject, some phase of it. The paragraph 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 83 
 
 is, in turn, made up of sentences, each of which, bearing 
 on the same subject or some phase of it, has a lesser, subor- 
 dinate, thought. "A sentence is the expression of a com- 
 plete thought." It must, then, have a subject, and must 
 predicate something of that subject. Since there are many 
 possible modifications of any idea, these may be included 
 by means of clauses subordinate to the principal one, by 
 phrases, or by words which serve in place of groups of 
 words. What is known as "style" depends largely on the 
 structure of sentences. Unity, coherence, emphasis, con- 
 cord, variety, and harmony must all be considered. 
 
 A. Rules for securing unity in the sentence: 
 
 1. Avoid changing the point of view or the subject. 
 
 2. Avoid a loose arrangement of relative clauses, espe- 
 cially a relative clause within a relative clause, or and 
 which if there is no coordinate relative clause. 
 
 3. Do not crowd into the same sentence ideas which have 
 no close connection. 
 
 4. Avoid the too frequent use of and by subordinating the 
 less important phases of the thought to be expressed. 
 
 5. Do not add a supplementary clause when the thought 
 is complete. 
 
 6. Do not insert needless parenthetical expressions. 
 
 B. Rules for securing coherence, or clearness, in the sen- 
 tence. 
 
 1. Unless there is good reason for not doing so, follow the 
 natural English order: subject, verb, modifiers. 
 
 2. Place all words, phrases, and clauses as near as possi- 
 ble to the words they modify. 
 
 3. Place every pronoun so that its antecedent cannot be 
 mistaken. 
 
 4. Avoid a careless use of participial phrases, such as the 
 "dangling participle." 
 
 5. Avoid throwing a word, phrase, or clause so loosely 
 
84 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 into a sentence that it might modify either the preceding 
 or the following part. 
 
 C. Rules for securing emphasis in the sentence: 
 
 1. Avoid a weak or commonplace beginning, such as, now, 
 well, because. 
 
 2. Avoid a weak or commonplace ending, such as a prep- 
 osition. 
 
 3. Whenever possible, arrange the parts so as to form a 
 climax. 
 
 4. Use parallel structure, several clauses of the same kind 
 in succession, if you can do it without monotony. 
 
 5. Use connective words very carefully. 
 
 6. Invert the natural order occasionally to draw attention 
 to the point of an adverbial clause, or to throw the most 
 important part to the end. 
 
 7. Leave out all words which do not add to the meaning. 
 
 a. Tautology consists in repeating the thought. 
 
 It rained all day, from six in the morning till night. 
 
 b. Redundancy is the use of words not necessary to the 
 
 sense. 
 
 Collect together all the fragments. 
 
 c. Verbosity consists in using many words when few 
 
 are needed to express the meaning. 
 
 D. Rules for securing concord in sentences: 
 
 1. A verb should agree with its subject. 
 
 a. The verb with a collective noun should be singular 
 
 or plural, according as the group, or the indi- 
 viduals in it, are prominent. 
 
 b. If there are two subjects of different persons or 
 
 numbers, the verb agrees with the more prom- 
 inent, or, if there is no emphasis, with the nearer. 
 
 c. A verb used in the predicate of two or more sub- 
 
 jects, denoting different things, should be plural. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 85 
 
 2. The correct verb form should be used, 
 a. Distinguish between 
 
 lie, lay, lain 
 sit, sat, sat 
 rise, rose, risen 
 
 lay, laid, laid, 
 set, set, set. 
 raise, raised, raise. 
 
 b. Use the right form for the past tense and past par- 
 
 ticiple. 
 
 I begin, 
 I come, 
 I eat, 
 I do, 
 I drink, 
 I give, 
 I go, 
 It rings, 
 I run, 
 I see, 
 I write, 
 It grows, 
 
 c. Observe the sequence of tenses: 
 
 In a complex sentence each verb takes the tense 
 of the time that it expresses; thus a general truth 
 is expressed in the present. 
 
 The tense of the verb in the subordinate clause, 
 or the tense of an infinitive, should not conflict with 
 that of the main verb. 
 
 began, 
 
 [ have begun. 
 
 came, 
 
 have come. 
 
 ate, 
 
 have eaten. 
 
 did, 
 
 have done. 
 
 drank, 
 
 have drunk. 
 
 gave, 
 
 have given. 
 
 went, 
 
 have gone. 
 
 t rang, 
 
 t has rung. 
 
 ran, 
 
 have run. 
 
 saw, 
 
 have seen. 
 
 wrote, 
 
 [ have written. 
 
 It grew, ! 
 
 it has grown. 
 
 RIGHT. 
 
 I intended to go. 
 
 The disaster was to be expected. 
 
 I knew that Tom went yester- 
 day. 
 
 WRONG. 
 
 I intended to have gone. 
 
 The disaster was to have been 
 expected. 
 
 I knew that Tom has gone yester- 
 day. 
 
86 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 RIGHT. WRONG. 
 
 They told Macbeth he would be They tell Macbeth he would be 
 
 king. king. 
 
 I thought I would go. I thought I would have gone. 
 
 I hope he will see it. I hope he would see it. 
 
 Your mother told you that fire Your mother told you that fire 
 
 is dangerous. was dangerous. 
 
 Your sister was surprised when Your sister would be surprised 
 
 you told her the news. when you told her the news. 
 
 She has been ill two months. She is ill two months now. 
 
 If Mary had heard the call, she If Mary would have heard the call, 
 
 would have answered. she would have answered. 
 
 d. Use the indicative and subjunctive forms, and aux- 
 
 iliary verbs carefully. 
 
 The indicative denotes a fact. 
 
 The subjunctive denotes: 
 A wish. 
 
 0! That I were in the country! If only I 
 
 might go! 
 Condition contrary to fact. 
 
 If the ah- were clearer, we could see farther. 
 A supposition or conclusion, regarded as untrue 
 or unlikely. 
 Were the waves mountain-high, the ship would 
 
 ride them safely. 
 A purpose. 
 
 Hurry, lest you be late. 
 A conceded supposition. 
 
 I am determined to win, hard though it be. 
 
 The subjunctive is falling into disuse in ordinary 
 speech. 
 
 e. Distinguish between shall and will, and between 
 
 should and would. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 87 
 
 Shall denotes: Simple future, 1st person. 
 
 I shall go. 
 Promise, 2nd person. 
 
 You shall have it. 
 Command, 2nd person. 
 
 You shall obey. 
 Determination, 2nd and 3rd persons. 
 
 It shall be done. 
 Witt denotes: Determination, 1st person. 
 
 I will have it. 
 Promise, consent, refusal. 1st person. 
 
 I will buy it for you. 
 Simple future, 2nd and 3rd persons. 
 
 You will go. 
 Should denotes: Future, 1st person. 
 
 I should be glad to go. 
 
 Future time in subordinate clauses and 
 indirect discourse. 
 
 He believed that he should win. 
 A meaning equivalent to the subjective. 
 
 If you should go, do the errand. 
 Duty, obligation. 
 
 He should do as he is told. 
 Would denotes: Determination. 
 
 He would go, in spite of us. 
 Customary action. 
 
 They would walk on fair days. 
 Wish. 
 
 Would that it were true! 
 Promise or determination, in indirect dis- 
 course. 
 
 She said she would go. 
 
 Conclusion in conditional sentences, and 
 result in subordinate clauses. 
 
 She is so tall that you would think her older. 
 
 In interrogative sentences shall or will may be 
 used in the second or third persons, according to 
 
88 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 the answer expected, but shall must be used in the 
 first person. 
 
 To denote the simple future use shall in the first 
 person, mill in second and third. 
 
 In a subordinate clause introduced by that use the 
 same auxiliary as though it were an independent 
 sentence. 
 
 In other subordinate clauses shall in all persons 
 denotes simple futurity, will in all persons implies 
 exercise of will. 
 
 3. Be careful to use the right case. 
 
 a. The objective case should be used as the object of 
 
 a verb, after prepositions, as the subject of an 
 infinitive, and as objective complement. 
 
 b. The nominative should be used as the subject of a 
 
 verb, and as the subjective (or attribute) comple- 
 ment of incomplete intransitive verbs, such as be, 
 become, seem, and equivalent verbs. 
 
 I don't known whom you saw. Jessie, whom you know to 
 be taller than /, was between you and me. It may have 
 been she. 
 
 4. Use pronouns correctly. 
 
 a. Distinguish clearly the use of who, which, and 
 
 that. 
 
 Who is used only of persons, or animals and 
 things personified. 
 
 Which is used of animals and things. 
 
 That may be used of either persons or things. 
 Sometimes it is used to vary the sound, or when 
 both are included. In most instances it is prefer- 
 able for introducing restrictive clauses. 
 
 b. Do not confuse pronouns in number and person: 
 
 RIGHT. WRONG. 
 
 Everybody thinks his ideas are Everybody thinks their ideas are 
 
 the best. the best. 
 
 As one approaches the entrance, When one approaches the entrance, 
 
 he can see the fine statue. you can see the fine statue. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 89 
 
 5. Do not confuse adjectives and adverbs. 
 
 RIGHT. 
 He felt bad. 
 He went slowly. 
 
 WRONG. 
 He felt badly. 
 He went slow. 
 
 Most of the people were on the Mostly all the people were on the 
 
 way home. 
 
 way home. 
 
 6. Do not confuse or misuse the comparative and super- 
 lative. 
 
 RIGHT. 
 It is an extreme case. 
 
 That is the better of the two. 
 
 He is taller than any of his 
 brothers. 
 
 She was brighter than any 
 other girl in school. 
 
 It was harder to study her les- 
 son than it was to skate. 
 
 WRONG. 
 It is the most extreme case. 
 
 (Double superlative.) 
 That is the best of the two. 
 He is the tallest of his brothers. 
 
 She was brighter than any girl in 
 school. 
 
 Her lesson was harder than skat- 
 ing. 
 
 (Trying to compare what cannot 
 be compared.) 
 
 7. Use the right preposition. 
 
 a. Insert another preposition if necessary, or rear- 
 range the sentence. 
 
 WRONG. 
 It is as good or better than this. 
 
 RIGHT. 
 It is as good as, or better than, 
 
 this. 
 It is at least as good as this. 
 
 b. Choose the preposition that has become idiomatic 
 with a certain word: Different from, not than; 
 agree with or to according to meaning; comply 
 with; taste of or for, according to meaning; stay 
 
90 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 at, not to; lives at or in, as meant; fell into; 
 marched in the ranks; went into the city; dis- 
 appointed in or because of. Dependent on; con- 
 form to; between two, but among many; resem- 
 blance to; fear of, considerate of, compatible 
 with. 
 
 c. Do not use unnecessary prepositions. 
 
 RIGHT. WRONG. 
 
 He was between the pillars. He was in between the pillers. 
 The dog was behind the chair. The dog was in behind the chair. 
 She followed her sister. She followed after her sister. 
 
 They mingled with the people. They mixed in with the people. 
 John met his friend at the corner. John met with his friend at the 
 
 corner. 
 
 She rose from her chair. She rose up out of her chair. 
 
 They selected the garments they They selected out the garments. 
 
 wanted. 
 I wondered whence the sound I wondered from whence the 
 
 came. sound came. 
 
 She accepted the gift. She accepted of the gift. 
 
 d. Do not use prepositions for verb forms. 
 
 RIGHT. WRONG. 
 
 She could have gone. She could of gone. 
 
 It must have happened last It must of happened last week. 
 
 week. 
 
 The rumor seems to have been The rumor seems to of been true. 
 
 true. 
 
 E. Rules for securing euphony or harmony in sentences. 
 
 1. Avoid disagreeable combinations of sounds, or words 
 
 hard to pronounce distinctly, such as ruggedest, 
 lovedst, indubitably. 
 
 2. Avoid the frequent repetition of sounds: I said that 
 
 that was what I wanted; it was in interesting form. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 91 
 
 3. Select smooth, harmonious words, especially those with 
 
 liquid and vowel sounds. 
 
 4. Try to use words that suggest the sense, or at least 
 
 seem suited to it. Sinuous, jagged, hiss, fluent, whiz, 
 and titter are such words. 
 
 5. Arrange the words so that the sentence has rhythm, 
 
 though not so regular as to suggest scansion and 
 cadence. 
 
 F. Rules for securing variety in sentences. 
 
 1. Vary the length of sentences. 
 
 2. Use sentences of different grammatical and rhetorical 
 
 form. 
 
 a. Use the interrogative and exclamatory forms occa- 
 
 sionally, but not in such a way as to suggest 
 affectation, or so frequently as to make either 
 seem a characteristic of your style. Either form 
 soon becomes monotonous. 
 
 b. Use most the periodic sentence, which holds the 
 
 main thought in suspense till the close. 
 
 After everything has been admitted as to the respon- 
 sibility either of society in general or of one's parents, 
 it is upon one's own self, and nowhere else, that the 
 real responsibility for right living must rest. 
 
 c. Sometimes the loose sentence may be used. This is 
 
 so constructed that it may be brought to a close 
 in two or more places, and yet make complete 
 sense. 
 
 The boy opened the door, saw the engine going down 
 the street, rushed after it, and reached the fire in a 
 few moments. 
 
 d. Use the balanced sentence. This is made up of two 
 
 members that are similar in form, but con- 
 trasted in meaning. 
 
 To err is human; to forgive, divine. 
 
 3. Vary the order of the elements of sentences. 
 
 4. Avoid frequent repetition of words or expressions, 
 
92 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 G. Rules governing the use of figures of speech. 
 
 The modern tendency in public speaking is toward sim- 
 plicity and conciseness. Therefore, the old style of oratory 
 often seems to us not only florid and ornate, but affected 
 and bombastic. Perhaps we have gone too far to the other 
 extreme. The use of figurative language often aids greatly. 
 Not only does it add the element of the poetic, but it makes 
 the image more vivid, the idea more clear. Then, too, it 
 increases emphasis by giving the hearer some comparison 
 that he remembers long after the bare statement or argu- 
 ment has faded from his mind. A figure of speech is an 
 expression not literal, but suggestive. The speaker says 
 one thing and means another. 
 
 Figures of speech may be divided into classes. 
 
 1. Those which aid clearness through comparison or con- 
 trast. 
 
 a. Likeness. 
 
 1. Personification. 
 
 The sky was sullen. The earth heard. 
 
 2. Metaphor. 
 
 A cloud of trouble came upon him. (Likeness im- 
 plied.) 
 
 3. Simile. 
 
 Trouble came upon him as a cloud. 
 
 b. Contrast. 
 
 1. Antithesis, a sharp contrast. 
 
 War injures, by destroying resources; peace benefits, 
 by building up prosperity. 
 
 2. Irony meaning the opposite of what is said. 
 
 Certainly Miss Herne, who last week paid only 
 eight hundred dollars for three simple dresses, is 
 qualified to prove that a working-girl can dress 
 well for eight dollars a month. 
 
 3. Litotes denying the opposite. 
 
 These are not made to last but a day. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 93 
 
 (4) Epigram the terse, pithy expression of truths, so 
 worded that there is apparent contradiction. 
 
 "A little learning is a dangerous thing." 
 
 2. Those that suggest, through association of ideas, the 
 real meaning. 
 
 a. Hyperbole, or exaggeration. 
 
 A nation mourned his loss. 
 
 b. Metonymy, or change of name. 
 
 We all read Dickens. (Name of author for his 
 works.) The kettle boils. (Container for thing 
 contained.) The bench and the pulpit protested. 
 (Sign for thing signified.) Capital and labor are 
 in conflict. (Abstraction for concrete.) 
 
 c. Allusion to the Bible, to mythology, to history, to 
 
 science. 
 
 It was a reign of terror in financial circles. 
 
 The Jasons of modem times often find their quest 
 
 vain. 
 
 d. Interrogation the asking of questions to which no 
 
 answer is expected. 
 
 Great care must be taken in the use of figures lest they 
 weaken instead of strengthen. It is not wise to prolong a 
 figure too far lest the hearer be put under too great a 
 strain. Trite figures are useless. Comparison with un- 
 familiar things only puzzles. Perhaps one of the most 
 frequent mistakes is the mixing of figures. 
 
 Exercise IX. 
 
 Form a sentence of about ten words. Express the same 
 idea in as many ways as possible. 
 
 Form a simple sentence. Add as much as you can with- 
 out violating unity or good sentence structure. 
 
 Put the following together in as many ways as possible: 
 
 1. Godfrey Cass had a horse. It was a good horse. It was called 
 Wildfire. He also had a brother. That brother was called 
 
94 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Dunstan. He was mean and spiteful. Dunstan had bor- 
 rowed some money of Godfrey. This belonged to their 
 father. Godfrey needed it to pay back. He was forced to 
 sell Wildfire. He disliked doing so. 
 
 2. Goldsmith was a laughing-stock. He was simple and credu- 
 
 lous. He was good-natured and lovable. He could talk 
 entertainingly. He was welcomed everywhere. He had 
 many friends. They all loved him. 
 
 3. I walked along the street one day. I was in the shopping 
 
 district. It was a cold day. It was late in December. I 
 saw a small boy. He was ragged and dirty. He was look- 
 ing in a shop window. It was full of sleds and skates. 
 
 Exercise X. 
 
 Correct the following sentences, taken from pupils' 
 speech and writing, and give reason for each change. Some 
 sentences contain several faults. 
 
 1. In that store around the corner there stood a pretty sewing 
 outfit. Quite wonderful it seemed to Nana. And when she thought 
 of the many things she could make and she could help Mama if 
 she only had it, she determined to procure it at any cost. It was 
 quite cheap and Nana thought of ways and means to earn money 
 for it. 
 
 2. He saw that unless relief would come soon, he must give up 
 his watch. 
 
 3. She obtained the position, and, in a short time, her mistress 
 became attached to her, and often remarked the resemblance be- 
 tween her and her little daughter whom she had supposed was lost 
 at sea. 
 
 4. Waiting for a car at Broadway, it was quite some tune before 
 one came and then it went past us without stopping. 
 
 5. So, without any more decision, he ran to his room, calling the 
 rest of us out of bed and getting his rifle was prepared for the worst. 
 
 6. The woman only was trained on household arts. 
 
 7. If he didn't bring up Eppie, people wouldn't have pitied him. 
 
 8. Every one of his ambitions were founded on her. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 95 
 
 9. We saw, standing in the doorway, a boy about ten years old. 
 digging his fists in his eyes, who was crying loudly. 
 
 10. Oh, we have him a long tune, that lazy fellow. 
 
 11. When we use the basis of association of ideas, you use things 
 in their regular order. 
 
 12. As one must some day try their skill in one of the industrial 
 arts, and as dressmaking is a very useful one, I thought of making 
 a shirtwaist. 
 
 13. History is both very beneficial as a source of education and 
 knowledge, for in the tune of our forefathers there were no histories 
 at all. 
 
 14. His fathers would have turned him off had he told him of his 
 marriage and Nancy would have nothing to do with him had he 
 told her. 
 
 15. This girl, Lydia Randon, was fifteen years of age, about five 
 feet and possessed a very sweet disposition which fact made her 
 popular everywhere. 
 
 16. So it is easy to be seen that Lydia did not spend all her time 
 with her books. 
 
 17. She had always regarded it as something that, though she 
 would like to get it very much, she should soon get over the disap- 
 pointment if she did not get it. 
 
 18. But he had no such intention hi view. 
 
 19. Tearing off his waist and jacket, holding them over the flame, 
 he immediately caught the blaze, with the burning fragments 
 waving hi the air, he mounted the rock and cried "stop! stop! 
 danger! 
 
 20. But no, his heroism was not done hi vain. 
 
 21. The two stole stealthily down the stairs. 
 
 22. Jack rode at full speed and after a long tune, and after hard 
 work on the part of Jack, he caught up to the engine in which poor 
 little Grace was. 
 
 23. But now her grief must begin again for they had arrived at, 
 the palace of the prince, the story-teller then left her and was soon 
 to meet her future husband. 
 
 24. When I set out for home, nothing seemed apparently amiss 
 with Wotan, who would now and then stop to play in the road. 
 
96 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 25. I quick took to my heels, but he was at me, attempting to 
 attack me. 
 
 26. Meanwhile Wotan had become exhausted and went in back 
 of the house. 
 
 27. The animal had succumbed from a fit brought on by excessive 
 heat. 
 
 28. The work was too hard for the weavers, so again they went 
 to look for ways and means to make the weaving easier. 
 
 29. And there was a man named Arkwright, he was himself a 
 weaver, and he said the weaving was too hard. 
 
 30. There was a man named , he was very timid, and 
 
 afraid of people, and he used to work at night to improve the 
 machinery. 
 
 31. The opium finally got the best of Molly. 
 
 32. A huge cathedral was erected there in the twelfth century 
 and it is remarkable for its wonderful sculpture. 
 
 33. I think that if he would have told Nancy, she would have had 
 too much pride to marry him. 
 
 34. I saw him walking along the street on my way to school. 
 
 35. Antony is speaking over Caesar's body after Brutus had 
 delivered his oration. 
 
 36. He thinks Brutus is the most brave and finest Roman of 
 them all. 
 
 37. The banks are low and numerous trees and bushes are growing 
 there. 
 
 38. The darkness startled us, *he com was tall and dense. 
 
 39. I suppose it wanted to be shown how anxious Godfrey 
 was to learn whether his wife died or whether she was still 
 living. 
 
 40. Nobody knew about this marriage except Dunstan, and he 
 always bribed him not to tell. 
 
 41. And then Godfrey, in the chapter before, we are told how 
 anxious he was to be together with Nancy. 
 
 42. Perhaps Nancy would have forgiven Godfrey if he would 
 have told her of his marriage. 
 
 43. When ushered into her presence, she was soon followed by a 
 confidant. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 97 
 
 44. When he saw her he fell in love with her, and all through the 
 trial he was on her side and she won. 
 
 45. He afterward called on her and her maid talked in a sarcastic 
 manner and he never went there again. 
 
 46. She was much admired by all the men but did not even glance 
 at them but when Sir Roger came hi he thought she looked at 
 him and fell in love with her. 
 
 47. He was in love with a certain widow, who was very highly 
 educated and all the men were in love of her. 
 
 48. Others, who have done good daily work, but because they 
 become nervous and excited forget all they ever knew and fail 
 in the examination. 
 
 49. Will Wimble was a very peculiar man, he was the younger 
 son of a noble. He had no trade, he had a taste for trading but he 
 did not do it because a baronet's son was supposed to learn either 
 to be a physician, a lawyer or a clergy and as he had no taste for 
 it, he knew nothing. 
 
 50. Her name was Moll White, and Addison was told that Moll 
 White was a witch. 
 
 51. Who did you go to the party with? I wished I could have 
 gone. Perhaps I will get to go to the next one. 
 
 52. Between you and I, I think she was very foolish to stay, so 
 soaking wet. She might of gone home along of me. 
 
 53. Walking north on Broadway, electric signs were able to be 
 seen. . . . As we were going in the same direction, we did not have 
 to wait, which did not often happen. 
 
 Exercise XL 
 
 Study the following sentences taken from public speeches. 
 If they are good, why? Is there any art in arrangement, 
 method of statement, etc.? Select those containing figures 
 of speech. Try to improve the sentences. 
 
 1. Twenty-four years ago he placed upon the statute books of 
 his state a law guarding the secrets of the ballot. 
 
 2. I go on the ground that this Constitution was made by the 
 states; that it is a federal union of the states, in which the several 
 states still retain their sovereignty. 
 
98 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 3. Does any man in his senses believe that this beautiful struc- 
 ture this harmonious aggregate of states, produced by the joint 
 consent of all can be preserved by force? 
 
 4. Disguise it as you may, the controversy is one between power 
 and liberty; and I tell the gentlemen who are opposed to me that, 
 strong as may be the love of power on their side, the love of liberty 
 is still stronger on ours. 
 
 5. Just as his earlier career at home was coincident with the rapid 
 internal development of the Dominion, so his later career as Cana- 
 dian plenipotentiary to the mother country coincided with the 
 strengthening of Imperial sentiment which has been so notable a 
 phenomenon of recent Canadian growth. 
 
 6. Indeed, eloquence, learning, talents, genius, courage, all com- 
 bined do not make a leader. 
 
 7. That relief from past conditions was needed cannot be denied. 
 
 8. The iron hand alone is powerless against an awakened and 
 insistent nation; the great, strong, human hand alone can control 
 and bring order out of disorder, bring harmony and good feeling 
 out of bitterness and danger. 
 
 9. With everything to make us happy and everything to make us 
 confident of the future, with everything to inspire us with trust in 
 our government, ourselves, and our future, and with everything to 
 make us contented and happy, we are restless, uneasy, discontented, 
 unhappy, suspicious, and intolerant. We are engaged in a saturna- 
 lia of vituperation. Justice and fair dealing are thrown to the 
 winds. Appeals to passion and prejudice displace reason and logic. 
 
 10. We speak not only for a party, but for a nation, for mankind 
 and for history. 
 
 11. Nominate him, and the platform, instead of being so much 
 party declaration, will become the creed of a waiting people. 
 
 12. While industry is suspended, while the plough lies in the fur- 
 row, while the Exchange is silent, while no smoke arises from the 
 factory, a process is going on quite as important to the wealth of 
 nations as any process which is performed on more busy days. 
 
 13. In our colonies the state does much for the support of religion; 
 but in no colony, I believe, do we give exclusive support to the 
 religion of the minority. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 99 
 
 14. We are against crooked business, big or little; we are in 
 favor of honest business, big or little. 
 
 15. Young and old, rich and poor, grave and gay, ceased for a 
 moment their pursuit of pleasure, their quest of wealth, their con- 
 templation of sorrow, to bow their heads in memory of the mar- 
 tyred President. 
 
 16. He does not cling to a thing simply because it is hoary with 
 age. Neither will he embrace one because it is new. 
 
 17. Sixteen years this partnership has levied tribute under the 
 forms of law. It has taxed the crust upon the lips of hunger. It 
 has filched from the pockets of poverty. 
 
 18. Not hi Washington nor in the customs, but with ourselves, 
 is the best protection found. 
 
 19. Stability hi foreign markets depends largely on ability in 
 home ones. 
 
 20. The place for narrow men is in ruts; for dead men, in graves. 
 
 21. A Bourbon superintendent who can't learn is bad but no 
 worse than a Bourbon employer who won't learn. 
 
 22. He can counsel without haughtiness and reprove without 
 scorn. He fears no man's censure, but inspires every man's respect. 
 
 23. Further, this is no building up of a legal ecclesiasticism, this 
 is no piling up of a great supreme court which will wrap its robes 
 around itself and look with great amazement upon the great mass 
 of the Church that will appeal co it for help. It is nothing of the 
 kind. The men who are in the business of formulating this are not 
 legalistic men, they are not ecclesiastical legalists, they are not 
 dreamers of ecclesiastical empires, but they are as spiritual men as 
 anybody in this building. They are men who are hi the prayer 
 meeting, they are men who are in the slums, they are men who can 
 step out of their office and kneel down with the penitent on the curb- 
 stone, or behind the door of the big church, or in the slimy slums of 
 the big cities and lead men to God. 
 
 24. What manner of man, then, shall this convention raise up 
 to be its standard bearer? He should have had political training 
 and experience, for these are almost as essential qualifications in 
 a nominee for the Presidency as are the clinic and classroom for 
 
100 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 the physician and surgeon. Without any pretentious parade of 
 the virtue, he should be progressively conservative and conservative- 
 ly progressive. He must be well balanced, thoughtful, delibera- 
 tive, and yet, in ability to inspire enthusiasm among his fellows, 
 be a natural leader of men. 
 
 25. Countless are the voices that have enriched our air of earth, 
 but they have grown faint with the centuries. 
 
 26. The sweetest harmonies come from the lives that have had 
 the most tuning. 
 
 27. Politics will not interfere with business when politics ceases 
 to be business. 
 
 28. Man, the machine of machines, compared with which all 
 the contrivances of the Watts and the Arkwrights are worthless, 
 is repairing and winding up, so that he returns to his labors on the 
 Monday with clearer intellect, with livelier spirit, with renewed cor- 
 poral vigor. 
 
 29. Fighters hi the world's arena must lay aside every weight 
 and the habits of thought and traditions that so easily beset them, 
 and with keen self-training address themselves to the contest. 
 
 30. The newspaper is manufactured out of the subtlest, most 
 volatile, most elusive raw material in the world the truth. 
 
 31. The Nun's Priest's Tale shows Chaucerian wit at its best, 
 as brilliant and delicate as the flash of a humming bird. 
 
 32. In the chemistry of the English language, Latin is the chief 
 element. 
 
 33. Use the short, sharp, crisp Anglo-Saxon words, that have the 
 snap and sparkle and energy of electricity. 
 
 34. The copyreader must be able to apply sandpaper to the 
 bodily excrescences, but not to the soul of the narrative. 
 
 35. Don't use slang unless you have the keen apprehension to 
 select from the slang of to-day what will be the idiom of to-morrow. 
 
 36. Dr. Carrel has caused mankind to take one step farther on 
 the long road of the Holy Grail of knowledge. 
 
 37. He is a knight worthy to sit at King Arthur's Round Table. 
 There is no man, I believe, in this great assembly, that could dust 
 his sword or unhorse him in this great battle. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 101 
 
 38. We shall, then, enter the holy place of moral obligation by 
 passing through the outer court of physical obligation. 
 
 39. Whatever talents may be, if the man create not, the pure 
 efflux of the deity is not his; cinders and smoke there may be, but 
 not yet flame. 
 
 40. Great Britain and Spain hold the keys of the Mediterranean. 
 
 41. It is to be regretted that the prose writings of Milton should 
 be so little read. . . . They are a perfect field of cloth of gold. 
 The style is stiff with gorgeous embroidery. 
 
 42. We wish that in those days of disaster, which, as they come 
 on all nations, must be expected to come on us also, desponding 
 patriotism may turn its eyes hitherward, and be assured that the 
 foundations of our national power still stand strong. 
 
 43. Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here 
 idle? What is it that the gentlemen wish? What would they have? 
 Is life so dear, is peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of 
 slavery? Forbid it, almighty God. I know not what course 
 others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death. 
 
 THE USE OF WORDS. 
 
 You are all familiar with the Biblical story of the con- 
 fusion of tongues following the building of the tower of 
 Babel. Modern scholarship has shown that there may 
 have been some time when only one language existed. 
 Comparison of various languages shows that there is some 
 relation. The word meaning the same as our word father 
 may illustrate this: Sanskrit, pitar; Greek, irony/a ; 
 Latin, pater; Gothic, fadar; Old French, pedre; French, 
 pere; Old Irish, athir; Italian and Spanish, padre; Pro- 
 venc,al, paire; German, Vater; Icelandic, fair. 
 
 The numerals, all ten, may be traced in much the same 
 way: Sanskrit, trayas; Greek, T ps; Gothic, freis; Latin, 
 tres; French, trois; Danish and Swedish, tre; English, 
 three; German, drei. 
 
102 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 More than a hundred roots of Sanskrit, a very old lan- 
 guage of the Hindoos, have been found by Professor Au- 
 gust Fick to be represented by common words in many 
 European languages, especially English. 
 
 Various theories have been brought forth to show how 
 language became differentiated. Twenty-five hundred 
 years before Christ, the differences must have been greater 
 than those now between French and Spanish or Italian. 
 
 Therefore, the period of common speech must have been 
 many thousands of years before. Some think various races 
 were of common descent. Others believe that wandering 
 tribes may have mutually adapted their speech. Some think 
 conquest, or commercial relations, might account for like- 
 nesses. Certainly, all these factors may have affected our 
 language. 
 
 There are at least a hundred families of languages, of 
 which four have been carefully studied, among them the 
 Semitic, to which Arabic and Hebrew belong, and the Indo- 
 European, to which the various European languages be- 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 103 
 
 TEUTONIC 
 
 0600J 
 
 long. This last has eight branches, of which Teutonic is 
 one. Teutonic is divided into three parts, each subdivided. 
 If you look at the diagrams,* you will see how English is 
 related to the others. 
 
 * From History of the English language, O. F. Emerson. The Mac- 
 millan Company. 
 
104 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 There were several reasons for the differentiation. In 
 early days tribes wandered. They not only lost contact 
 with old associates, but met others from whom they learned 
 new words and different pronunciations. The members of 
 a clan or tribe, a large family group, developed manner- 
 isms, through imitation of each other and lack of good 
 models, to such a degree that their speech was noticeably 
 different from that of other groups. The climate also af- 
 fected speech, especially in some regions. There was no 
 printing. A few persons, after written signs were invented 
 in each group, spent their time copying manuscripts. They 
 made mistakes or deliberate changes, which were perpetu- 
 ated by later copyists. Since very few could read, and 
 since few followed strict rules of pronunciation or even 
 spoke distinctly, there were no effective checks to the 
 leveling of vowel sounds and inflections. The speech of the 
 higher classes and of the dwellers in cities kept more closely 
 to the literary standard, but that of the lower classes and 
 country people varied greatly. 
 
 There were changes of pronunciation due to the shifting 
 of the accent. Computo became compute, finally compt. 
 Final consonants and even middle ones were dropped. 
 Corpus became corpo. Vowels were changed or dropped 
 after slurring for years. Convento became convent. Cleri- 
 cum was changed to clercum, then to clerc. Our British 
 brothers pronounce clerk as if it were spelled clark. Our 
 word day has had, among others, the forms dah, dags, d&g, 
 tag. 
 
 After much investigation, the students of language 
 learned that the changes which took place followed certain 
 general laws. It was found that, under certain conditions, 
 the vowels of one group of languages changed to others, as 
 a to o, or that the quantity changed. Two great consonant 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 105 
 
 shiftings were discovered, by which b became p, p became 
 /, d became t, and so on. Thus the sounds changed from 
 the earlier Indo-European to the Teutonic. Then, in the 
 Old High German period, there was a second shifting of 
 consonants, though the West Germanic, from which Eng- 
 lish is descended, did not have this. Perhaps you will see 
 that the Latin decem, the Gothic taihun, German zehn, 
 and English ten are really the same. So, too, we can show 
 that cors (cordis), hair to, herz, and heart are the same. 
 
 But there were also great changes in form. The full 
 inflection of verbs was gradually lessened, sometimes 
 dropped. Case endings disappeared, so that the forms 
 showed often no distinction. The conjugation or declension 
 of any common verb or noun can be traced through vari- 
 ous languages, to illustrate how one letter after another 
 was dropped, till such simple forms as those of modern 
 French or English were left. Prefixes and suffixes were 
 frequently added, thus forming new words. New com- 
 pounds were formed. You know, if you study German, 
 how many there are in that language. You know that, in 
 our own, such a word as saleswoman was formed in just 
 this way. Underbid is a verb illustrating the same method. 
 
 Some kinds of words, such as prepositions, adverbs, and 
 conjunctions, were used more, and pronouns were not only 
 used where they had formerly been thought unnecessary, 
 but developed new forms. 
 
 These great changes went on through ages, when history 
 was not yet written of these things. Scholars have had 
 to reconstruct the probable forms according to the laws 
 formulated from known forms. But our mother tongue, 
 gradually forming late in the world's history, has gone 
 through not only such changes as have been mentioned, but 
 other modifications as well. It is a hybrid, not only show- 
 
106 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 ing the traces of ordinary use by the unlettered people, 
 but adopting and modifying words from other languages. 
 
 In prehistoric times, the people who dwelt in the British 
 Isles spoke forms of Celtic. Some spoke Cymric or what 
 is now known as Welsh. This survived in some localities. 
 Others spoke Cornish, a form that died out only about a 
 century ago. The Breton language was carried over to 
 the north of France, and is still used in Brittany. These 
 were all divisions of the Britannic, but there was another 
 used in the islands, that branch of Celtic called Gaelic, to 
 which belong Irish, Scottish, and Manx. In these exist 
 writings of the eighth and later centuries. You may have 
 heard of the recent attempts to revive Gaelic. It is still 
 spoken in some of the interior districts of Scotland and 
 Ireland. Very few of the words from these Celtic lan- 
 guages found a permanent place in English, but some are 
 still common: brat, mattock, clan, glen, brogue, bog, sham- 
 rock, cairn, crag, slogan, and whiskey. 
 
 As you know, the Romans occupied Britain for several 
 centuries, early in the Christian era. But they seem not 
 to have left much effect on the language. Some scholars 
 think that chalk, kettle, mint, and crisp were modifications 
 of Latin words, through Old English. 
 
 In 449 A. D. that invasion took place which was to de- 
 termine the language of Britain for all time, probably, the 
 coming of the Jutes to Kent. Later came the Saxons and, 
 to the North, the Angles. These tribes spoke dialects of 
 Low German, a division of the West Germanic branch of 
 Teutonic. In the North there were two dialects among the 
 Angles. Here in Northumbria poets sang, and their words 
 were written down. One man, Bede, wrote a church his- 
 tory. By the eighth century, there was something to act 
 as a preservative force. After 871, the West Saxon dialect 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 107 
 
 became as a result of conquest the standard. Then under 
 the influence of Alfred considerable prose was written, and 
 the poetry of the North reproduced in the West Saxon 
 dialect. 
 
 This literary language was highly developed, or, per- 
 haps we should say, it had not yet been simplified. The 
 nouns had five cases, comprising six different declensional 
 forms, for both numbers, sometimes more. Adjectives were 
 fully declined, for all cases, in masculine, feminine and 
 neuter. God, or good, had ten forms. Pronouns were de- 
 clined in singular, dual, and plural, some cases having 
 three forms for the same number and gender. Verbs were 
 conjugated as weak in three classes, and as strong, with 
 six classes, some with subdivisions. Those of you who 
 have difficulty in remembering principal parts of German 
 verbs may be glad you do not have Old English with 
 which to struggle. Not only the indicative and imperative 
 moods, but the optative as well, had forms. 
 
 Perhaps you would like to compare the following trans- 
 lation of part of Chapter IV of the gospel of St. Mark with 
 that of the King James or the Revised Version. 
 
 And eft he ongan hi aet thaere sae laeran. And him waes my eel 
 menegu to gegaderod, swa thset he on scip eode, and on thaere SSB 
 waes; and eall seo menegu ymbe tha sse waeron on lande. And he 
 fela on bigspellum laerde, and him to qwaeth on his lare, Gehyrath; 
 Ut eode se saedere his saed to sawenne. And tha he seow, sum feoll 
 with thone weg, and fugelas comon and hit fraeton. Sum feoll 
 ofer stanscyligean, thar hit naefde mycele eorthan and sona up eode, 
 and for tham hit naefde eorthan thiccnesse, tha hit up eode, seo 
 sunne hit forswaelde, and hit forscranc, for tham hit wyrtruman 
 naefde. And sum feoll on thornas; tha stigon tha thornas and forth- 
 rysmodon paet, and hit waestm ne baer. And sum feoll on god land, 
 and hit sealde uppstigendne and wexendne waestm; and an brohte 
 thritigfealdne, sum syxtigfealdne, sum hundfealdne. And he cwaeth, 
 Gehyre se the earan haebbe to gehyranne, 
 
108 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Though there have been many additions, we still use a 
 large proportion of Anglo-Saxon words. Most of those in 
 every-day speech relating to common objects, to home life, 
 to the natural feelings, and to fanning, are of such origin. 
 Demonstrative adjectives, such as this and that, adjec- 
 tives irregularly compared, nouns forming plurals by 
 change of vowel, verbs having irregular or strong conju- 
 gation, auxiliary and defective verbs, prepositions and con- 
 junctions, and many common words of one or even two 
 syllables, are English of pure descent. 
 
 The Latin influence entered again when the English were 
 Christianized. The people began using, with modifications, 
 the words that now appear as altar, bishop, candle, church, 
 creed, devil, monk, nun, organ, priest, shrine, temple. 
 
 From the eighth century the Danes made attempts to 
 gain a foothold in England, and, in 1016, finally placed a 
 king on the throne. Though the Danes in general adopted 
 the speech of the English, by the natural association of 
 the two races, both Teutonic, many words were added to 
 English, and others were changed in form or meaning. 
 Danish had developed from Norse, just as English had 
 grown out of West Germanic. Both were descendants of 
 the Teutonic branch. Norse influence is shown in the pro- 
 nouns they, their (Old English hie, hi, hiera, etc.) and in 
 father (Old English feeder). Haven, husband, call, thrive, 
 fling, knife, take, wrong, are from the Norse. Probably 
 most words having sk as skin, skill, bask, words with hard 
 g or k, where English words would .have a softer sound, 
 as give, get, guest and those with ai or ei, where English 
 would have had a or ce, as bait, hail, raise, sleigh, swain, 
 their, wail, are of Norse origin, introduced by the Danes. 
 
 But a far greater change came after the Normans, who 
 had inhabited the province of Normandy in the northern 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 109 
 
 part of what is now France, conquered England in 1066. 
 The people of the territory now known as France, Spain, 
 and Portugal had, after the Roman Empire embraced 
 them, quickly adopted, as did the other Celts of Britain, 
 the speech of the conquering nation. Instead, however, 
 of taking the formal, highly inflected Latin which you 
 study, they naturally learned the speech of the common 
 people, known as Vulgar or Low Latin. This differed from 
 Classical Latin even more than the talk of the ignorant 
 people of secluded districts differs from the language of 
 the schools and the pulpit to-day. As the soldiers and 
 colonists went farther away from Rome, their speech 
 changed just as all speech naturally changes, because of 
 lack of old models, because of new pronunciations, the 
 modifications of people learning a new tongue, imitated by 
 those who introduced it, and because of the change of 
 vowel sounds, the dropping of case and verb endings, and 
 others. 
 
 So the various Romance languages grew up, until by 
 the tenth century there were many well-developed branches. 
 Below are a few lines from the great French poem of that 
 period, "Chanson de Roland." 
 
 Dist Oliviers: De go ne sai jo blasme. 
 Jo ai vedut les Sarrazins d'Espaigne : 
 Covert en sont li val e les montaignes 
 E le larriz e trestotes les plaines; 
 Granz sont les oz de cele gent estrange: 
 Nos i avoms molt petite compaigne. " 
 
 In different parts of the Gallic country various dialects 
 were spoken. But all had their chief descent from Latin 
 instead of from the Germanic languages. 
 In the reigns preceding the Norman Conquest there had 
 
110 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 been some French influence in England, for English nobles 
 had gone much to France, and Frenchmen had come to 
 England. When the Normans came, they continued to 
 speak their form of French. At the court and in legal 
 cases French was largely used. Scholars taught it in the 
 schools, along with Latin. As the people mingled more 
 and more, English with Norman, as they intermarried, as 
 they traded, each race adopted many words from the other. 
 Those who could, read French romances, of which great 
 numbers were brought to England; and some wrote in 
 French. No wonder there was a confusion of tongues. 
 
 We have some words that are part English and part 
 French, as over-power, falsehood, courtship, life-guard, 
 heir-loom. Among the words early assimilated are battle, 
 castle, assault, siege, banner, arms, peace, tower, countess, 
 court, justice, miracle, procession, treasure, treason. In 
 some instances it was most natural to call the unfamiliar 
 thing by the name previously unfamiliar. Such words as 
 master, servant, butler, banquet, supper, would of course 
 be repeated among the English who heard them in the 
 houses of the French. You may remember what Wamba 
 said about the change of name when food raised by the 
 Saxons appeared on the tables of the Normans. Some 
 words have two forms, that of the Norman, and that of 
 the Parisian French more common later: catch, chase; 
 warden, guardian; launch, lance; wage, gage. Though the 
 difference was first one of pronunciation, the meaning has 
 been differentiated also. Gaol, which we now spell, jail, 
 is an example of words whose meaning is the same still.* 
 
 For several centuries, people both wrote and spoke Eng- 
 lish, French, and Latin; for the scholars and priests, in 
 
 * Other examples may be found in History of the English Language, 
 Ch.8-10, O.F.Emerson. 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 111 
 
 common with their class in all countries at that time, 
 thought the vernacular vulgar and, therefore, beneath them 
 as a medium of written expression. Some thought it would 
 not last, but that Latin would be the language of learning 
 for all time. So we have ponderous Latin histories, re- 
 ligious, philosophic, and so-called scientific works, along 
 with the English moral directions, poems, and chronicles, 
 and the French romances and lays. Some of the Latin 
 words, too, became members of the common speech. 
 
 By the time of Chaucer, in the fourteenth century, Mid- 
 dle English had become very different from Old English, 
 but was not yet fixed in form. 
 
 A clerk ther was of Oxenford also, 
 
 That un-to logik hadde longe y-go. 
 
 As lene was his hors as is a rake, 
 
 And he nas nat right fat, I undertake; 
 
 But loked holwe, and ther-to soberly. 
 
 Ful thredbar was his overest courtepy, 
 
 For he had geten him yet no benefice, 
 
 Ne was so wordly for to have office. 
 
 For him was levere have at his beddes heed 
 
 Twenty bokes, clad in blak or reed 
 
 Of Aristotle and his philosophye, 
 
 Than robes riche, or fithele, or gay sautrye. 
 
 When these lines are read with the Chaucerian pronun- 
 ciation, few of you can understand many words. Yet most 
 of them are found in our language to-day, in modified 
 forms. In English, too, the leveling as well as the as- 
 similating process was going on. But from the time of 
 Chaucer, the language was more stable, especially after 
 various translations of the Bible, and the circulation of 
 Shakspere's plays. The invention of printing, the exten- 
 
112 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 sion of education and interest in literature, all tended to 
 the same end. So for three centuries, there have been few 
 changes in form. 
 
 But the English vocabulary has constantly increased. 
 The revival of learning in Elizabethan times, the travel of 
 educated people, the exploration of distant lands, the trade 
 with all nations, the immigration of people of foreign races, 
 have all added many words. Science made use of Latin 
 terms, for the sake of uniformity. Many of these came 
 into common use; for all men attained a smattering of 
 the knowledge once held sacred to priests and physicians. 
 Modern inventions, especially during the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, demanded new words for new things. Latin and 
 Greek, rich in roots that could be used as bases for many 
 words, were levied upon. The adoption of foreign fash- 
 ions, as well as of foods and fabrics from all parts of the 
 world, caused the adoption of the foreign names, until we 
 daily use language that is a medley of many tongues. Al- 
 gebra, chemistry, cuticle, telephone, automobile, electrician, 
 bazaar, polonaise, menu, coffee, are but a few examples. 
 
 Sometimes a new word, formed from a proper name, or 
 from elements hitherto not joined, springs into sudden use. 
 Slang may become classic in a half-century, if it fills a 
 need. 
 
 With such a language, formed from many elements, en- 
 riched by many nations, flexible, possessed of many vari- 
 ants, we have a marvelous instrument ready to our use. 
 Yet how poor is the speech of most of us! The average 
 pupil has a very small, weak vocabulary. Because of this, 
 he fails not only to understand what he reads, but to ex- 
 press himself with interest or power. Is it not worth while, 
 then, to learn a few more words, as well as to study the his- 
 tory of some already familiar? 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 113 
 
 Exercise XII. 
 
 With the aid of a good dictionary, such as the Century, 
 or Webster's Unabridged, look up the history and meaning 
 of each of the following words: 
 
 Agnostic, alchemy, alcohol, ambuscade, anarchist, arithmetic. 
 Bamboo, bamboozle, banana, bard, baste, bazaar, bicycle, bismuth, 
 
 bite, boycott, bungalow, buxom. 
 Cabal, Caesar, campaign, campus, caucus, chef, chemistry, circus, 
 
 citron, coffee, copper, cosmopolitan, cozen, cradle, crown. 
 Desperado, dock, dukedom, duchess, doubt, dubious. 
 Echo, eke, express, extradition, extricate, exult. 
 Fancy, fantasy, foreign, fresco, fruit, fumigate, fun, fusion. 
 Garage, gerrymander, geyser, gingham, gong, good-bye, gospel, 
 
 gossip, graduation, grill, guillotine, gymnasium, gumption. 
 Hippodrome, hobby, hobby-horse, hobo, hoodoo, horde, house-boat. 
 Imperialist, inch, influenza, interloper, item, itinerary. 
 Jiu-jitsu, jingo, judiciary, jungle, jury, justice, juxtaposition. 
 Kangaroo, khaki, kimono, kindergarten, kinetoscope, knight, 
 
 knout, knuckle, Ku Klux. 
 
 Laboratory, lady, library, limn, limousine, lobby, lord, loyal. 
 Macadamize, machine, marigold, mayonnaise, meander, megaphone, 
 
 minister, mob, moccasin, murderous, museum, muslin. 
 Nihilist, nitrogenous, nonsense, noodles, novel, November. 
 Occult, ocular, omnibus, opera, orient, orthodox, Oslerize. 
 Papa, pathos, phonograph, piazza (compare porch, stoop, verandah), 
 
 plaza, plum, plume, pongee, pope, protege*, pupil, purple. 
 Reconnoiter, regime, renegade, restaurant, romance, rural. 
 Shale, sloyd, stanza, stereotype, succotash, sweet, swoon, syphon. 
 Tattoo, tawdry, tea, teacher, tin, tory, totem, tungsten, tunic. 
 Vandalism, vaudeville, vendetta, vengeance, vigilant, vulgar. 
 Wampum, weird, Whig, whimsical, wife, wisdom, wit, worth. 
 Yam, yak, yawl, yodel, yokel, yuletide. 
 Zealot, zebra, zephyr, zinc, Zion, zither, zoology, zwieback. 
 
 Exercise XIII. 
 
 With the aid of an unabridged dictionary, find how the 
 following words are formed from roots or stems, with pre- 
 
114 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 fixes and suffixes. [Halsey's Etymology of Latin and 
 Greek is a valuable reference book for this exercise.] 
 
 Accede, admiration, animate, antivivisection, anarchy, architect, 
 autonomy, bibliophile, biography, coagulate, centenary, chrono- 
 logical, circumference, consensus, confidential, cyclone, diameter, 
 diversion, effulgent, eloquent, emigrant, expansibility, fraternal, 
 fortitude, gratify, gratitude, homicidal, homonym, ignorant, incul- 
 cate, indomitable, induction, incite, indicative, intercede, judicial, 
 jurisdiction, library, locomotive, magnanimous, manipulate, manu- 
 facture, mediaeval, meridian, noxious, omnipotent, persecution, 
 philanthropy, physiology, politics, profundity, propitious, relin- 
 quish, reprehensible, repulsive, reference, solstice, spectacular, 
 subterfuge, subtraction, supercilious, synonym, telegraph, telephone, 
 transference, transparency, utilitarian, undeveloped, uneducated, 
 veracious, voracious, vocabulary, voluble, voluntary, vulnerable. 
 
 Exercise XIV. 
 
 Form five words from the stem of each word above. 
 
 Since the English language is so rich, there is no excuse 
 for poverty of vocabulary. Yet, if you notice the speech 
 of people as they converse, you will find that the same 
 words and phrases are used again and again. "Of course," 
 and "don't you know," are only examples of the monot- 
 onous repetitions in our talk. The best way to overcome 
 this fault is to hunt for substitutes, whenever a word seems 
 to have become too much a favorite. A school principal 
 was in the habit of using the word "absolutely" whenever 
 he wanted to express the superlative degree. That was 
 because he did not stop to think of a variation, until he 
 found the habit too strong to break. Study of the speeches 
 or writings of great men will help much in finding new 
 words and making them personal property. If a word that 
 comes to mind frequently seems the only one that fits, look 
 up the synonyms in the dictionary. Above all, consulta- 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 115 
 
 tion of the dictionary for the meaning of unfamiliar words 
 will fix these in the memory, so that they will be ready for 
 use. 
 
 This does not mean that hard, long, unusual words should 
 be sought. There is no occasion for emulating the young 
 instructor in a large university, who, when the sound of a 
 lawn-mower outside made hearing difficult, said, "We will 
 suspend operations until the bucolic implement of industry 
 has ceased perambulating beneath the window." Nor, on 
 the other hand, does it mean that we are to choose only 
 words of one syllable, that can be understood by small 
 children. Most audiences consist of people fairly intelligent, 
 though not prigs nor pedants. The best speakers use a 
 variety of long and short words, familiar and striking, of 
 Anglo-Saxon or of Latin origin. 
 
 Study the paragraphs on pages 67-69, 74-75, 378-384, or 
 any others the teacher may designate, for the vocabulary. 
 Is there enough variety? Are the words euphonious? Are 
 they simple or labored in effect? Do they make the mean- 
 ing clear? Could you find better ones? 
 
 Since we have such a heritage in the English language, 
 we should guard it zealously. It is in danger, in many 
 ways. In various sections of this country, as in provinces 
 of all countries, there are tendencies to localize the speech, 
 resulting in dialectic forms. This shows most in pronuncia- 
 tion, which we shall consider later. But it also affects the 
 use of words. Southern and western people, as well as New 
 Englanders, can be recognized by peculiar usages. The 
 dialect used by the "Pennsylvania Dutch" is the imperfect 
 English used by their immigrant ancestors. In many sec- 
 tions of the land there is a great population of foreign birth. 
 In the Northwest the Germans and Swedes have settled. 
 In northern New York and New England are many 
 
116 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 French-Canadians. In New York City there is such a 
 confusion of tongues that the descendant of the Pilgrim 
 Fathers scarcely recognizes his own, but may well think 
 himself set down in the streets of a foreign city. The ef- 
 fects of this influx of people speaking various languages 
 is shown in the mixture of words from several, such as 
 Plattdeutsch, High German, and English; or French, Swiss 
 German, and English; or Yiddish, Hebrew, German, and 
 English. Not only have foreign words been introduced, 
 but verb and pronominal forms, the use of adverbs such 
 as "already," the use of tenses, the order of words in the 
 sentence, and the idiom, show the influence. Unless stren- 
 uous efforts are made in the schools and by individuals, 
 the speech of many cities and of some country districts 
 will, in fifty years, be unrecognizable as English. 
 
 Sectional and foreign influences are not, however, the 
 only disintegrating forces. The writers of books, of maga- 
 zine articles, and especially of newspaper reports, are try- 
 ing to use startling language, without regard to its purity. 
 An account of a baseball game is unintelligible to one who 
 is not an enthusiast and a regular attendant. The columns 
 of the newspapers are full of words such as sleuth, gunman, 
 gangster, fan, airman, plainclothes man, bluecoat, and 
 others not commonly found in classic literature. Some of 
 these words may be valuable additions to the language, 
 but few of them have increased the variety of expression. 
 
 After all, the future of English rests with us as indi- 
 viduals. Shall we interlard our conversation with the 
 latest slang, good or bad, or imitate, "for fun," the chil- 
 dren of Myra Kelly's tales, who "borrow a penny off her," 
 or "bring the book to teacher in the next room"? Shall we 
 continue to mix the tenses so that our meaning is con- 
 fused? Shall we carelessly use words without regard to 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 117 
 
 the real meaning, or clip them in a slovenly manner? Aside 
 from the preservation of our mother tongue, should we not 
 have some care for the habits we form or neglect to form? 
 The people who speak carefully and with precision are 
 the ones who do things the same way. As we talk, so we 
 form personality and character. There is no more reason 
 why we should be slovenly in speech than in dress. 
 
 Of course, correct speaking requires some effort on the 
 part of most of us. Fortunate is the boy or girl brought 
 up in a home where he hears only good English. He is 
 not likely to fall into errors if he is careful. Some never 
 hear any but a foreign tongue at home. Others associate 
 only with children whose sentences are as broken as their 
 own. Still others come from homes where ignorance or 
 carelessness has prevailed. To all comes the temptation 
 to imitate the slang of newspapers and street boys. 
 
 The best guides are good writers and speakers, those who 
 are careful and are accepted as authority. Most educated 
 people talk fairly well, though far too many are careless 
 of their responsibility. Culture always stands revealed in 
 the speech. If, then, we imitate the best within our reach, 
 much may be gained. But only constant vigilance will 
 win. If there is doubt, a good dictionary will always help. 
 Such books as those by Arlo Bates and R. G. White, on 
 the use of words, may be a considerable aid. An enlarged 
 vocabulary is indispensable, for it is poverty of expression 
 that opens the way for inexact and slangy speech. If we 
 really have a good many words at our command, we need 
 not worry much about finding the right ones. 
 
 The science that treats of the selection and right use 
 of words is called diction, from the Latin verb dico, say. 
 The divisions of it are named PURITY, PROPRIETY and PRE- 
 CISION. 
 
118 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 PURITY of diction consists in the use of such words 
 only as have present national use by the best writers and 
 speakers. A violation of purity is called a barbarism, since 
 it is thought that the people really belonging to our nation 
 will not put themselves intentionally outside the pale by 
 failing to meet, so far as possible, our standards. Bar- 
 barisms are of several classes: 
 
 Misformed words are those that are hybrids, or put 
 together in defiance of accepted custom, as impossible, sing- 
 ist, misfortunate. Some of these have, however, been long 
 accepted, as photographer. Very often such a word is 
 started by someone who does not know the origin of the 
 stem, and others are too careless to inform themselves till 
 the majority of people have taken it up. 
 
 Obsolete words are those that were in good use in earlier 
 times, but have been dropped by common consent. Many 
 of these are still retained in poetry, as kine, yclept. 
 
 Newly coined words are those that someone has recently 
 introduced, that may be current in the newspapers and 
 among a few people, but have not yet been generally 
 adopted, and have not been used to any extent in formal 
 writing. In our day, such words are made very frequently, 
 and many are found useful. Marconigram seems too long, 
 but a word is needed for that kind of message. A good 
 one must be found. A viator is not likely to be used by 
 the common people. Will birdman or airman gain favor, 
 or will another be found, better than any of these? Pope 
 gave us a very good rule: 
 
 "In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold; 
 Alike fantastic if too new or old." 
 
 Partly because Americans have traveled much, partly 
 because Continental people came here, but more because 
 we have adopted so many articles and usages from Europe, 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 119 
 
 there has been a tendency to use foreign words. Some have 
 become ours because we had no equivalent. But others 
 are unnecessary. Even though we may consent to use 
 chef, and possibly menu, there is no reason for saying chef 
 d'ceuvre, when we have the good old word masterpiece. 
 
 A colloquialism is a word used in ordinary conversation 
 by most people, but not admitted to the dignity of a place 
 in formal articles or speeches, as can't, guess for think, 
 cute. 
 
 Slang has been well characterized by Richard Grant 
 White: 
 
 "Slang is a vocabulary of genuine words or unmeaning 
 jargon, used always with an arbitrary and conventional 
 significance, and generally with humorous intent. It is 
 mostly coarse, low and foolish, although in some cases, 
 owing to circumstances of the time, it is pungent and preg- 
 nant of meaning." 
 
 In some countries of the English-speaking world, the 
 divisions are called provinces. So the words used only in 
 some one section are known as provincialisms. The south- 
 erner "reckons" when he thinks. He also uses the word 
 like as a conjunction. 
 
 Although technical words limited in use to one or two 
 trades or professions are necessary for use among the 
 people of those occupations, they are not always clear to 
 others, and should therefore be avoided. The word two- 
 throw, for instance, though commonly used by mechanics, 
 would not be understood by most people. 
 
 Exercise XV. 
 
 Test the words listed on the next page as to good present 
 use. If they are not good words, why? If they are, how 
 did they become so? Use a good unabridged dictionary, in- 
 cluding the supplement if there is one. 
 
120 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Aeronaut, a la mode, ambitiousness, apropos, au fait, beastly, 
 bifocal, bifurcated, biograph, bioscope, biplane, boom, bore, 
 boost, boycott, Bull Moose, Bohemian, camaraderie, chauffeur, 
 cheap, chic, cinch, some class, claque, clerk, clip, clique, collo- 
 type, conceitedness, confliction, co-op, coop, cop, cram (study), 
 crank (person), crank up, crook, crush, cut (used of absenting one- 
 self from classes and of refusal to recognize acquaintances), dago, 
 deadhead, depot, dessert, developer, dinky, dope, duck (person), 
 drunk (person), eftsoons, electrocute, electrometer, exam, erst- 
 while, fad, fan (baseball enthusiast), faux pas, fire up, fluke, flunk, 
 fume, fuss, fresh, freshman, garage, gas, gerrymander, graft, grind 
 (study), grill, guess, gym, Harveyize, hobby, hobo, ilk, intellects, 
 interestingly, it (noun), jar (verb), jolly (adj., verb), joy (adj.), 
 juice (electricity), kid, kidding, killing, land, law, loafer, looker, 
 massage, mixer, modernist, motor, motorman, mugwump, mux, 
 nickel, nifty, nixie, orate, ornery, outing, peeler, peach, phone, phono- 
 plex, phony, pole (verb), protege", pshaw, queer, quietness, quit, 
 quiz, quondam, quoth, radiator, restaurant, cafe", hash-house, 
 referendum, register, resignment, rooter, rum, rusty, rut, saleslady, 
 saloon, sawbuck, scab, scamp, shack, skimp, skin, smart, snack, 
 snide, soda, sometime, strike, strike-breaker, suffragette, sure, 
 swell, tasty, taxi, tramp, treat, tripodic, trolley, trust, typewriter, 
 typist, two-step, two-way, unexcusable, unharmful, unloyal, un- 
 proper, vamoose, via, whilom, wire (verb, noun), wireless, wrinkle, 
 zoo. 
 
 PROPRIETY of diction consists in choosing words that 
 properly express the intended meaning. A violation may 
 not always render the meaning vague, though it often does, 
 but it brands the speaker as careless, inexact, or ignorant. 
 
 A solecism is that form which is a violation of an ac- 
 cepted rule of grammar. 
 
 Some people incorrectly use verbs for nouns, as recom- 
 mend for recommendation. 
 
 Others speak of things as real good, meaning really or 
 very good. A like mistake is the use of badly for bad, after 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 121 
 
 the verb feel. Both these illustrate the interchanging of 
 adjectives and adverbs. 
 
 Verb forms are frequently misused. Shall and will are 
 confused (see page 87), come is used for came, or done for 
 did, or don't for doesn't. Verbs are invented that never 
 found place in a dictionary, as enthuse. 
 
 An impropriety is the use of a word in a sense likely 
 to be misunderstood, or in a sense not sanctioned by good 
 usage. 
 
 Exercise XVI. 
 Criticise the following: 
 
 Run quick, most all, proven, worked up, quite some, different 
 than, being I was there, can I have this book? I feel like I would 
 faint, near all, alright, took sick, burglarize, can't hardly. 
 
 Exercise XVII. 
 
 Use the following correctly in sentences: 
 
 Audience, spectators, crowd, mob; awful; funny; quite; while, 
 during; emigrant, immigrant; believe, think, guess; balance, 
 remainder; affect, effect; accept, except; expect, suppose, presume; 
 learn, teach, study; borrow, lend; perception; likely, liable, apt; 
 rather; kind, sort; lot, quantity, number, sum, amount; lovely, 
 perfectly, sweet, dear; simply, only, just; pertinent, impertinent; 
 beside, besides; in, into; without, unless; horrid, terrible, deadly; 
 great, splendid, gorgeous, grand; may, can; common, mutual; 
 respectfully, respectively; admit, permit; transpire, happen; bring, 
 take, carry; insight, foresight, nearsighted; socialist, sociologist; 
 luxurious, luxuriant; sociably, socially; afflict, inflict; statue, 
 statute, stature; leave, let; elevator, elevated; vocation, avocation; 
 biography, autobiography; healthy, healthful; exceptional, excep- 
 tionable. 
 
122 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 PRECISION consists in using the exact word which, of 
 several, most nearly expresses the meaning of the writer 
 or speaker. In order to speak with precision, observe the 
 following: 
 
 Note the slight differences among synonyms words of 
 similar though not identical meaning. Several words may 
 express the same general idea, but not the specific one you 
 want to convey: Continual means at frequent intervals; 
 continuous, without a break. 
 
 Distinguish between general and specific terms: blue, 
 azure; fiction, novel. 
 
 Distinguish between negative and privative terms: unbe- 
 lief, disbelief. 
 
 Distinguish between active and passive meanings: force, 
 strength. 
 
 Distinguish between degrees of intensity, to avoid over- 
 or understatement: noise, crash, uproar. 
 
 Avoid ambiguity. People were talking about (around) 
 her. 
 
 Exercise XVIII. 
 
 Use the following correctly in sentences: 
 
 Discover, invent; description, narrative, account, recital; oppor- 
 tunity, occasion; occupation, business, profession; tornado, cyclone, 
 storm, blizzard; plant, flower; principal, principle; scholar, pupil, 
 student; quite, rather, somewhat, very; among, between; aged, 
 ancient, antiquated, antique, old, obsolete, venerable; criticise, 
 discuss, consider; exist, live, dwell, reside; fitting, suitable, perti- 
 nent, right; weak-minded, narrow-minded, bigoted; impractical, 
 idealistic, unworldly; say, speak, affirm, assert, state, protest; 
 confess, admit, acknowledge; adore, revere, venerate, esteem, 
 admire, regard, respect; like, love; advantage, benefit; kill, murder, 
 assassinate, execute; noble, honest, upright, honorable, good, 
 
EXPRESSION AS CONDITIONED BY THOUGHT 123 
 
 righteous; gaze, look, glance, peer; control, govern, rule, boss, 
 command; adhere, cling; tell, advise, counsel, explain, speak; noted, 
 famous, notorious, renowned, celebrated; ceremony, performance, 
 event, occasion; cordial, sincere, friendly, faithful, loyal, true; 
 able, capable, efficient, powerful, brilliant, keen, clever, smart; 
 crisis, climax; kind, gentle, tender, affable, amiable, mild, gracious; 
 sacred, holy, saintly, sanctimonious, religious; religion, church, 
 sect, denomination, faith; belief, faith, creed, doctrine, dogma; 
 stern, severe, rigorous, inexorable, harsh, strict, stringent; angry, 
 mad, indignant, wrathful; brave, bold, daring, fearless, dauntless, 
 reckless; firm, consistent, unswerving, steady, constant, unbending, 
 single-minded, purposeful, determined; little, small, tiny; creature, 
 animal, brute; clothes, clothing; regret, pity, sympathy, compassion; 
 inspire, incite, arouse, excite; mix, mingle; medley, muddle, mixture, 
 composition; usually, generally, commonly, ordinarily; standards, 
 idea, ideal, principle, theory; help, assist, aid, relieve, support, 
 maintain. 
 
 We have considered the conditions of good speaking so 
 far as they relate to the mental side of it. We have found 
 that the speaker must have something to say, that he must 
 know how to plan his material so that he can make the 
 hearer grasp it and remember it, that he must be careful in 
 the expression of it by the formal, but necessary, arrange- 
 ment of paragraphs and sentences, and that he should 
 know how to use the English words that have been formed 
 through centuries to help bring minds into contact. No 
 effort is too great for him who would master the methods 
 found good by those of other times. Nor will the full 
 reward be lacking to him who perseveres in his at- 
 tempts to gain that elusive, intangible, but increasingly 
 valuable asset, "style." Moreover, that style musfe be such 
 as shows the improvements made as a result of experience 
 and changing conditions. The present demands a style of 
 its own, suited to the requirements and to the necessities 
 
124 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 of the age. It must be simple, concise, but, above all, clear. 
 People of the twentieth century have no time to waste. 
 They must have the essentials, without the frills, yet they 
 have risen above the stage where crude, rough statement 
 will serve. It must show as high a finish as their mechani- 
 cal products, must serve its purpose fully, yet be of suf- 
 ficient beauty to attract. 
 
 But the speaker must go even farther. He uses more 
 tools than does the writer. We have seen what an advan- 
 tage he has because of them, but he must know how to 
 use them or he will spoil his work, the product of his brain. 
 So he must learn how to handle his body, which conveys 
 his thought, interprets it, clinches the contact of mind with 
 mind. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 ACTUAL SPEAKING 
 
 THE USE OF THE BODY 
 
 The position of the speaker is important. If the room is 
 large, a platform is undoubtedly an advantage, though 
 many do not care for it ordinarily. It places the speaker in 
 sight of the audience, and gives the voice greater range. 
 Far more necessary is the right choice of relative position. 
 The speaker should always, if possible, face his hearers. 
 He may at first be embarrassed by having so many eyes 
 turned toward him, but he will soon find that this embar- 
 rassment is far overbalanced by the inspiration gained from 
 the faces, by the opportunity for gauging the attitude, the 
 understanding, and the responsiveness of the assembly. The 
 story is told of a humorous lecturer who saw one man un- 
 smiling after several stories. He bent his energies to mak- 
 ing that man laugh, and made a great success with the entire 
 audience. There is not often any reason, in a quiet room, 
 for a speaker's going among the listeners, so that some are 
 behind him. It is scarcely courteous to those, and deprives 
 him of part of the audience. There is, however, advantage, 
 in many instances, in a position directly in front, very near, 
 as a feeling of equality, even intimacy, is aroused. Stand- 
 ing at one side is not good, since it forces half the audience 
 to turn uncomfortably. A person with a stiff, aching neck 
 is not a good listener. 
 
 The chief reason for facing the hearers is the opportunity 
 
 125 
 
126 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 it gives to use the eyes. Yet some, in the best possible 
 position, fail to make use of it. They gaze at the ceiling, 
 the walls, or at a window. This is, in the first place, dis- 
 courteous. It gives the impression of wandering attention 
 and a lack of personal interest. Moreover, it lessens power 
 over the audience. Keeping the eye-hold secures attention, 
 gives an impression of personal interest, arouses answer- 
 ing interest and sympathy, and gives full scope to whatever 
 magnetism the speaker possesses. To disregard these is, 
 to say the least, unwise. 
 
 The bearing of the whole person has great effect, for 
 good or bad. A natural attitude is always desirable. The 
 best actors are those who seem like real people, not those 
 who affect a conventional walk, manner, or speech. Wen- 
 dell Phillips, said by John Bright to be "the most eloquent 
 voice which spoke the English tongue," adapted, according 
 to Dr. Buckley, "the dignified colloquial to every style of 
 address from the lecture in academic halls to scathing in- 
 vective or solemn appeal in popular assemblies." 
 
 A good bearing, if not natural, may be acquired by in- 
 telligent effort. A speaker who habitually leans on any- 
 thing, a pulpit or a chair, or who supports himself by a 
 desk, or constantly fingers a piece of furniture, lacks dig- 
 nity and fails to gain full attention. The writer once saw 
 a college professor, addressing a body of teachers, go sev- 
 eral rows down into a crowded room, and stand on one foot, 
 with his hands constantly shifting on a chair which he kept 
 moving. The best bearing, in general, is the erect one, with 
 chest up, thighs back, knees straight, both feet firmly on the 
 floor, but one slightly in advance of the other. This gives 
 animation, and need not be awkward. Nor is it necessary to 
 keep the same position throughout. Occasional change is 
 restful to both speaker and hearer. A step or two back- 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 127 
 
 ward, forward, or to one side, to mark the pause after a 
 paragraph, is advisable. The same foot need not always be 
 foremost. 
 
 Moreover, different ideas require different attitudes. The 
 passive is the more natural. The active shows intensity. 
 The head is more firmly set, the chest more expanded, the 
 limbs more energized. Scmetimes, the bearing may be ac- 
 tually retiring, to suit the words. 
 
 Exercise I. 
 
 Express the following, taking the attitude that seems most 
 natural for each: 
 
 1. Gentlemen, we have met here to-night to consider a measure 
 of the utmost importance to our citizens. We all know how many 
 people are shut up, most of the time, in close, dimly lighted factories 
 and stores, even in dark homes. It has been proposed to give these, 
 less fortunate than those who can go to the country for air and quiet, 
 the opportunity to spend a few hours, whenever they have leisure, 
 in God's out of doors, in a public park. 
 
 2. Why, then, should we defer the Declaration? Is any man so 
 weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with England, which shall 
 leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or safety to his 
 own life and his own honor? Are not you, Sir, who sit in that 
 chair, is not he, our venerable colleague near you, are you not 
 both already the proscribed and predestined objects of punishment 
 and of vengeance? 
 
 3. Shall we not take the banner of righteousness in hand, hold 
 it aloft, and bear it into the dark continent? Shall we not take to 
 those heathen peoples the blessing of our freedom, the fruits of 
 our civilization? 
 
 4. I grant, gentlemen, that all my opponent has said as to the 
 necessities of this campaign is true. Though I had looked forward 
 to being your candidate, I withdraw in favor of a compromise choice. 
 
128 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 The facial expression naturally indicates the feeling. 
 When, in talking, one wants to give an idea of another's 
 speech and acts, he often reproduces the expression. Facial 
 changes are among the simplest, easiest forms of empha- 
 sis, yet many people when talking in public try to keep 
 their faces utterly vacant and expressionless. They try, in 
 fact, to be just as unnatural as possible. This apparent 
 apathy defeats the object of speaking, since it decreases 
 effectiveness by boring and annoying the hearers. 
 
 There is no reason why, when a person has good news 
 or something pleasant to say, or wants to show courtesy or 
 good-will, he should put on a pained, tired, sad look. On 
 the contrary, he will follow his inclinations, if wise, and 
 allow the features to relax into a smile. If he wishes to 
 express anger or defiance, he is likely, if he does what he 
 would do in ordinary intercourse, to frown slightly and 
 to thrust the head forward with a steady look. The scorn- 
 ful girl tilts her nose and raises the lip, throwing her head 
 slightly back. Boys are entirely capable of the same thing, 
 and do not refrain from it among their fellows. A disap- 
 pointed child has a dejected, softened look. Older people 
 have not forgotten how to express sorrow, but practice re- 
 straint more. There is no reason why people should not 
 avail themselves of every change of countenance that will 
 aid them in speaking. Whether praying or asking a favor, 
 we naturally look upward with hope, just as when ashamed 
 we look down or away. After all, we merely utilize the 
 instinctive forms of facial expression when we allow our 
 features full play. We need most to get over the idea that, 
 when we are before others on more or less formal occasions, 
 we should be other than ourselves or should make blocks 
 of wood of our flexible, responsive human forms. Life is 
 what we want to show, not petrification. Why should we 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 129 
 
 make an artificial thing out of the first and simplest way 
 we all had of making ourselves understood? The eigh- 
 teenth century cry of "back to nature" might be used now 
 for speakers, because many have forgotten the natural ways 
 of revealing mind through the body. 
 
 This applies also to the use of various parts of the body. 
 The use of hands and arms appeals to the eye, but it also 
 aids the ear of the listener. It emphasizes the voice of the 
 speaker, and should harmonize with it. Gesture is the sim- 
 plest kind of sign language, growing out of feeling. The 
 baby wants a bright object, grabs it, and holds it tight. 
 He may even throw his whole body forward. He draws 
 back in fear, or pulls his hand away from a stranger. Deaf 
 mutes use signs to denote many things. People of dif- 
 ferent nationalities often make each other understand by 
 using hands and fingers, or moving the head in various 
 ways. 
 
 The reason gesture is so hard for young people is that 
 they make it so. They think they cannot use their hands, 
 when other people are looking at them. Yet they all use 
 any number of gestures in ordinary talk, when they forget 
 themselves. If speakers would think of the message they 
 want to give, and of the hearers, they would not be em- 
 barrassed as to how to act. If women, before speaking, 
 would remove hat and gloves, they would be more free in 
 expression. 
 
 The best rule for gesture is to use the body as feeling 
 and instinct suggest. If you can't help using your hands 
 while talking, you probably have all the gestures you need, 
 and use them most effectively. If you are not strongly im- 
 pelled to use your hands, just let the inclination or in- 
 stinctive suggestion have full play. If you really get into 
 the spirit of what you have to say, you can't help feeling 
 
130 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 some sort of impulse, however faint, to emphasize it in 
 other ways than by voice. 
 
 It is true that natural movements of this kind are not 
 always graceful. A well-known lecturer said, in a series of 
 addresses to students on extemporaneous speaking, that his 
 gestures were all unstudied, and that he never made an 
 ungraceful one. But the people who heard him thought 
 that it was neither graceful nor effective for him to raise 
 his hand to the tip of his nose every few minutes. Through 
 his neglect to distinguish between useful and useless mo- 
 tions, he had formed a disagreeable habit. 
 
 You will readily think of some of the most common ges- 
 tures. A nod, a shake or a toss of the head indicates a 
 special feeling. The pointing of the finger, the laying of 
 the finger on the lips, the doubled fist, the clenched hand, 
 the outstretched one, the palm turned outward as if to ward 
 off a blow, the raising of the hand, the "sawing" motion, 
 the measuring one, all express definite ideas. You could 
 interpret a person's general meaning without words by any 
 one of these. Accompanying words, they make the thought 
 clearer, bear out the words, make a double impression. 
 
 Gesture includes the use of various parts of the body, 
 especially the head, arms, and hands. When a person 
 holds his head erect, the attitude denotes a sense of power, 
 of self-confidence, dignity, and earnestness. If he lowers 
 it, he may be sad, ashamed, thoughtful, or desirous of show- 
 ing courtesy, attention, or deference. If he raises it above 
 the usual level, he is probably moved by joy, pride, or 
 triumph. 
 
 One naturally turns away his head if he feels distrust or 
 dislike. If he thrusts it forward, he wants or expects some- 
 thing, is eager for it. But he will draw back from that 
 which he fears or hates, or from a person who arouses his 
 anger. 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 131 
 
 In ordinary conversation, the arms are moved at the 
 elbow, about on a level with the waist. When a speaker 
 wants to be very impressive, and exaggerates manner for 
 the sake of effect, he moves his arms from the shoulder with 
 a broader sweep, and raises them sometimes to shoulder 
 level. This is sometimes called the oratorical gesture. 
 Dramatic emphasis is more intense than either of the 
 others. 
 
 The arm may be extended straight, as in denunciation 
 or vigorous emphasis, or curved and gradually straight- 
 ened without stiffness to indicate location or extent. The 
 arms may also be bent or folded, if the thought would 
 naturally be accompanied by such a movement. Both arms 
 may be used, but they must be kept in harmony, expressing 
 the same emotion strongly, indicating opposites in mean- 
 ing or position, or expressing different phases of some idea. 
 
 The hand is most important in gesture, because most 
 used. There are many ways of using it, but a few have 
 become generally accepted as denoting certain meanings. 
 
 When the hand is supine, it is outstretched with the palm 
 slightly up. This is the most common of all positions and 
 signifies assertion or emphasis in explanation, affirmation, 
 command, demand, concession, welcome, as well as appre- 
 ciation of the beautiful. 
 
 When the hand is prone, it is extended straight with 
 the palm down and with the fingers closer together than 
 in the supine position. It is sometimes used to denote the 
 addition of successive facts or points, but more for con- 
 cealment, repression, prohibition, or compulsion. 
 
 The hand may be raised to call attention or to keep out 
 disturbance. This is a perfectly natural gesture, without 
 stiffening of arm or hand. 
 
 The vertical position is that of the hand raised sharply 
 
132 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 at the wrist, palm vertical, turned outward, with muscles 
 tense. This expresses aversion, repulsion, depreciation, 
 scattering. 
 
 The clenched hand indicates anger, defiance, emphatic 
 declaration, denunciation, desperation, resolve. 
 
 The first finger is used to point out, to enforce or em- 
 phasize, to distinguish, to warn, threaten, and ridicule. 
 
 It may not be amiss to caution against some annoying 
 mannerisms that are too frequent, even with noted speak- 
 ers. The audience is not impressed, only disgusted, when 
 a man jumps up and down, hurries nervously from one 
 side of the platform to the other, pounds on the desk with 
 a book, bends far over and glares at the hearers, or shouts 
 raucously. Affected, insincere laughter tends to lessen con- 
 fidence in what is said. Wrinkling the forehead and scowl- 
 ing become habits all too soon, habits from which there 
 is no escape. It is disagreeable to see one compress the lips 
 frequently, or wipe the face often, or use any one move- 
 ment constantly. In fact, all mannerisms become faults 
 in a very short time. 
 
 Exercise II. 
 
 Tell what feeling or idea you would think the speaker had 
 if he used the following gestures : 
 
 1. Both arms raised, palms facing, head turned upward. 
 
 2. Arms folded, head down. 
 
 3. Hand vertical, head turned away. 
 
 4. Head erect, arms on level with waist, slowly spreading. 
 
 5. Head thrust forward, index finger pointing. 
 
 6. Hand supine, but tense, moving up and down, the downward 
 motions quick. 
 
 7. Hand prone, but slightly to one side, and tense. 
 
 8. Hand supine, arm raised almost to level of shoulder, head 
 slightly raised. 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 133 
 
 9. Arm extended, fingers curved, head forward. 
 
 10. Both arms slightly extended, straight, hands with palms 
 facing, fingers straight. 
 
 11. Arm slightly extended, hand between prone and vertical 
 positions, not tense. 
 
 12. Hand on forehead, head not bent. 
 
 13. Arm extended, curved, palm toward body, fingers loose. 
 
 14. Hands slightly raised, palms facing, or clasped, head upward. 
 
 Exercise III. 
 
 How do you think the following could be expressed by 
 the body? 
 
 1. Come, little one, tell me about your game. 
 
 2. Hence, idle creature, hence! 
 
 3. I tell you, the next two years will see a marked change in the 
 attitude of the people toward the trusts. 
 
 4. My client has been the victim of one of the vilest conspiracies 
 ever known hi this county. 
 
 5. Gentlemen of the jury, I appeal to you to consider the youth 
 of the prisoner, to remember his poor old mother, waiting here 
 patiently day after day, sure of her son's innocence, trusting hi his 
 final release. 
 
 6. There on the horizon rose a tiny cloud of dust. Two specks 
 appeared. Swiftly they drew nearer, till the watcher could dis- 
 tinguish the forms of a man and a boy on horseback. At a distance 
 of a few hundred yards, both turned, and galloped away hi opposite 
 directions, till they were lost, one in the brush, and the other over 
 the hill. 
 
 7. I wonder whether I shall ever see that little village again. I 
 remember how the boys used to gather at the station when the train 
 came in, how they ran out as if to greet it, and watched it puffing 
 along the platform. 
 
 8. There he goes! quick! after him! You'll catch him yet! 
 Hurry! 
 
 9. The lonely woman sat in the gloaming, by a low window, 
 
134 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 rocking slowly, as she looked out across the darkening fields, strain- 
 ing her eyes to see the new-made grave on yonder hillside. 
 
 10. Shall we let this man go free, dangerous maniac as he has 
 been shown to be? Shall we allow him to be a menace to other 
 lives? No! a thousand times no! Put him away from among the 
 unsuspecting, the carefree. Put him behind the bars of a madhouse. 
 Bind him, if need be, to keep him from violence and crime. 
 
 11. It is a privilege, ladies and gentlemen, to be here to-day. 
 It is a pleasure to join in doing honor to one who is so well known, 
 so universally beloved, as the distinguished guest who sits beside 
 me here. 
 
 12. Can we live longer in the past? No. Can we look into the 
 future and say what time shall bring to us? No. Let us, then, 
 live while it is yet to-day, do the work set before us, and hour by 
 hour build for what may be. 
 
 13. You thief! You scoundrel! You contemptible villain! 
 Give me back my money, or I'll put you in jail! 
 
 14. Not one step farther! If you dare try to take advantage of 
 that boy, I'll see that you get your deserts. 
 
 15. Please, Mamma, let me go just this once! I won't ask again 
 this whole year! Just this once! 
 
 16. What under heavens made you think of that? Didn't you 
 know that such a course would be rank folly, and spoil the chances 
 of all of us for the next ten years? I did think you had some sense! 
 
 17. Oh Jenny, I'm so glad to see you. Don't you want to go to 
 the opening at Wanamaker's with me? They have the loveliest 
 things, just imported. And there are yards and yards of stuff at 
 the most ridiculous prices. Do come! 
 
 18. Why, certainly, take all you want of it. I shan't want any 
 more. I'm afraid it isn't worth much, but you're perfectly wel- 
 come to all you want to carry. 
 
 19. Death came to him in the twilight, among his books, where 
 he used to sit and commune with the great minds around him. 
 Perhaps his spirit, in some other realm, is now in still closer touch 
 with theirs. Perhaps the truth toward which he blindly groped 
 is now clear to him. 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 135 
 
 THE USE OP THE VOICE 
 
 Many people of insignificant presence, and others who 
 seldom gesture, have held thousands spellbound by the 
 use of the voice. A very large part of Mr. Bryan's great 
 success as an orator is due to a wonderful voice, rich, flexi- 
 ble, of exceptional range and carrying quality. Some are 
 gifted with good voices, others have to develop them. For- 
 tunately, the weakest, most disagreeable voice can be 
 greatly improved by even a little faithful practice. 
 
 Many young speakers fail to talk so that they can 
 be heard more than a few feet away. This fault is not usu- 
 ally due to any defect or weakness in the voice, since the 
 same boys and girls playing games or talking at recess 
 can be heard a long distance away without the slightest 
 difficulty. When they stand up to say anything really 
 worth while, they are very demure and subdued, in voice 
 as well as manner. A fairer division of the exercise of lung 
 power is "a consummation devoutly to be wished." A 
 speaker is likely to think he is talking much louder than 
 he is. If he will breathe deep, throw out his chest, open his 
 mouth wide, and then throw his voice out into space, the 
 probability is that he can be heard in the back of the 
 room. This does not mean screaming, shrillness, nor rau- 
 cousness. It means letting out the natural voice. 
 
 The first essential is right breathing. Not only do 
 the fullest use and the preservation of the voice depend 
 on this, but quiet, deep breathing is the surest cure, ac- 
 cording to those who have studied its effects thoroughly, 
 for nervousness. He who would speak or sing must first 
 breathe, not only that he may live, but that he may be 
 heard. Although instruction is best gained from a teacher 
 
136 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 who illustrates his precepts, a few exercises may be prac- 
 ticed without aid. Careful practice of the exercises in the 
 calisthenic period will also help in voice production. 
 
 Exercise IV* 
 
 Have good circulation of air. It is important that the 
 nose be used in breathing. Otherwise, when one speaks, 
 the mouth will become dry, rendering speech difficult. The 
 exercises may be accompanied by raising the arms while 
 inhaling, lowering them while exhaling. 
 
 These exercises should not all be taken at first, but in- 
 creased gradually. After some time, try to lengthen the 
 period of retaining the breath. 
 
 Take position standing, body erect, chin in, chest out, 
 thighs back, front of ear in line with ball of foot, front of 
 shoulder with front of hip. 
 
 1. Inhale slowly and smoothly, naturally but with thought con- 
 trol, counting 10 mentally; exhale, counting 10. Repeat 10 times. 
 
 2. Inhale 10 counts, hold breath 5, exhale 10. Repeat 10 times. 
 
 3. Inhale, hold breath counts 5-10, continue inhalation 11-15, 
 exhale 1-5, hold 6-10, continue 11-15. Repeat 10 times. 
 
 4. Inhale counts 1-5, hold 6-10, continue 11-15, hold 5, exhale 
 1-5, hold 6-10, continue 11-15. Repeat 10 times. 
 
 5. Inhale 10 counts, hold 10; exhale 10. Repeat 10 times. 
 
 6. Inhale 10, hold 20, exhale 10. Repeat 10 times. 
 
 7. After the above have been perfected without any strain, 
 practice taking longer, deeper breaths, and holding the breath 
 longer, increasing very gradually. 
 
 *The instructor should give preparatory muscular exercises, for 
 expanding just above the waist: forward, to the sides, at the back, then 
 all around, as if bursting a tight band. These should be muscular 
 movements only until easily taken. Then deep inhalation should be 
 practiced at the same time. 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 137 
 
 8. Practice above exercises, lying flat on the back. 
 
 9. Practice the same ones, sitting erect, the spine vertical, hips 
 back. 
 
 EXPRESSIVENESS THROUGH VARIATION 
 
 No matter how good a person's voice may be, even 
 though it be clear, resonant, even musical, it must be di- 
 rected and controlled by the mind. Unless the voice is 
 in coordination with the thought, it is impossible to ex- 
 press just what the speaker wants to convey. You may 
 illustrate this for yourself by saying "oh" in as many ways, 
 with as many meanings, as you can. The same words 
 spoken by different persons or by the same ones with dis- 
 similar expression may mean opposite things. The voice 
 is the most flexible, expressive medium. We have certain 
 feelings. These we express through the voice, which is 
 modulated, if we allow it to be, in accordance with the 
 emotions. If we have a definite purpose, we use the voice 
 to attain it. Therefore, we must keep the voice in har- 
 mony with the idea. Most of us do this unconsciously in 
 ordinary conversation. We command, plead, flatter, en- 
 courage, inspire, frighten, please, or convince, without any 
 thought of difficulty in the manipulation of the voice. But 
 some of us, when talking to eight or ten people, about 
 something worth while, forget the instinctive method of 
 obtaining a hold on our hearers, and, keeping all expression 
 out of our voices, let them become no better than wooden 
 instruments, ill fitted to their use! The result is a pain- 
 ful artificiality, valueless instead of highly effective. 
 
 Why should we not take advantage of that with which 
 nature has so richly endowed us, instead of blindly render- 
 ing it of no avail by a stiff, forbidding manner and a life- 
 less, unnatural speech? However, the exaggerated ora- 
 
138 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 torical style is almost as bad. What we need is natural 
 simplicity. But this requires practice, strange as it may 
 seem. "The highest art is in the concealment of art." 
 
 Monotony tires, variety enlivens. The man who does the 
 same thing,, in the same way, day after day, year after 
 year, not only loses interest in his work, but becomes a 
 machine incapable of original work. Constant repetition 
 of sounds has been known to destroy mentality. The dron- 
 ing of a prosy preacher sends the listener to sleep. So 
 the good speaker varies or modulates his voice to give ex- 
 pression. These variations are usually found in the kind or 
 QUALITY OF TONE used, in the FORCE or INTENSITY, in the 
 PITCH, and in the RATE OF SPEED of the flow of words. 
 
 QUALITY may be classified in five varieties: The ordi- 
 nary, unemotional tone used in commonplace statements 
 is the normal, or most natural. No effort need be made to 
 make an unusual impression, for that is not desired. To 
 attempt to make it would be affectation, and consequently 
 unendurable in the greater part of ordinary intercourse. 
 
 1. They say coal is going up. I think perhaps we ought to order 
 this week. 
 
 2. The first part of the reign of Louis XVI, close to the Terror 
 as it was, probably did not seem likely to usher in a revolution of 
 all Europe. 
 
 3. The natural surroundings were beautiful; yet, in the midst of 
 a paradise, she longed for other lands, other scenes. 
 
 The orotund tone is used when deep or lofty feeling, 
 under control, is expressed. It is full and resonant, used 
 with dignity and a full sense of values to denote religious 
 fervor, patriotic enthusiasm, moral sense, or any high, no- 
 ble feeling. Of course, it should be used with care. Other- 
 wise it becomes ridiculous. A pupil standing before his 
 mates has little occasion for the oratorical style. If he is 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 139 
 
 really interested in what he has to say, he is likely to reveal 
 his feeling about the importance of it without effort. 
 
 1. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll! BYRON. 
 
 2. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of 
 our God, in the mountain of his holiness. The Bible. 
 
 3. Surely it is an awful subject; or there is none so on this 
 side of the grave. BURKE. 
 
 The guttural or throat tone is, on the other hand, the 
 natural one for expression of the opposite feelings, the 
 lower ones, of malice, envy, contempt, hate, revenge, any 
 emotion which is disagreeable or selfish. Instead of throw- 
 ing out the full voice, the speaker shrinks, and cramps the 
 organs, as if he longs to do injury to someone, but dares not. 
 
 1. I hate you! I loath the very sight of you! I wish I never 
 had to think of you again! 
 
 2. Oh, you will, will you? Well, I guess not! 
 
 3. How like a fawning publican he looks! 
 I hate him for he is a Christian, 
 
 But more for that in low simplicity 
 
 He lends out money gratis and brings down 
 
 The rate of usance here with us in Venice. 
 
 If I can catch him once upon the hip, 
 
 I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. 
 
 Merchant of Venice. 
 
 4. You showed your teeth like apes, and fawned like hounds. 
 
 The pectoral quality is a chest product, deeper, less con- 
 strained than the guttural. Emotion bursts forth, no longer 
 controllable, the outpouring of pity, remorse, horror, dread. 
 It is solemn and slow, not excited. 
 
 1. O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts, 
 And men have lost their reason. Bear with me; 
 My heart is hi the coffin there with Caesar, 
 And I must pause till it come back to me. Julius Ccesar, 
 
140 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 2. Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia 
 will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh! 
 
 Macbeth. 
 
 3. Don't come near me! I can't bear to see it! Oh, I can't 
 stand it any longer! 
 
 The aspirate is a higher tone, indicating intense feeling, 
 difficult of expression and reluctantly brought forth. It 
 has some of the characteristics of the whisper. Frequently 
 it denotes caution, secrecy, or fear, but sometimes weak- 
 ness, awe, or surprise. 
 
 Lady M. Alack, I am afraid they have awaked, 
 
 And 'tis not done. The attempt and not the deed 
 Confounds us. Hark! I laid their daggers ready; 
 He could not miss 'em. 
 
 Macbeth. I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise? 
 
 Lady M. I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. 
 Did you not speak? 
 
 Macbeth. 
 
 The falsetto is used in imitating children and old people. 
 It is somewhat shrill and high, often quavering, unsteady, 
 as if there were no strong mentality governing it. 
 
 Shan't we go to-morrow, Mamma? Don't you just hope Uncle 
 Don'll be there to meet us? 
 
 We have found that emphasis depends partly on the use 
 of material, through apportionment of time to the different 
 phases of the subject, and through arrangement with regard 
 to climax, partly on the bodily attitude and use of ges- 
 tures and facial expression. But the use of the voice is no 
 less important. Emphasis may be distorted, the effective- 
 ness decreased, and the meaning changed, by wrong vocal 
 emphasis. 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 141 
 
 The right application to words of power or energy in 
 various degrees of intensity is called FORCE. 
 
 Ordinary remarks are made with a natural amount of 
 force. Only such words as need to be brought out because 
 of the meaning, or their relation to other words, or their 
 introduction of a new thought, or their office in pointing 
 out something are given greater emphasis. Read aloud any 
 explanatory sentence in this book, or make up any ordinary 
 conversation or talk, to illustrate this. 
 
 The use of full force, strong and energetic, is necessary 
 in attracting sharp attention, in driving home an idea, in 
 firing the hearer with enthusiasm, in carrying him along 
 with the speaker's thought or feeling. 
 
 1. Give me liberty, or give me death! PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 2. Do we mean to submit to the measures of Parliament, Boston 
 Port Bill and all? Do we mean to submit, and consent that we 
 ourselves shall be ground to powder, and our country and its rights 
 trodden down in the dust? I know we do not mean to submit. 
 We never shall submit. PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 3. Make the goal, boys! Don't let 'em hold you back! 
 
 The weak, or subdued force is used when an impression 
 of earnestness, sympathy, calmness, or forced control over 
 emotion is to be conveyed. 
 
 1. As we entered the room, not a sound was heard. The curtains 
 moved gently to and fro, as the soft wind caressed them. Peering 
 into the dusk, we could see her there in her accustomed chair her 
 head resting on her breast quiet, forever. 
 
 2. My heart is in the coffin there, with Csesar, 
 
 And I must pause, till it come back to me. Julius Caesar. 
 
 There are possible degrees between the natural and full 
 force, and between the natural and subdued. Great care 
 
142 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 must be taken not to use any to excess. Mere loudness 
 does not impress anyone. Continued exertion not only 
 exhausts the speaker but wearies the audience, and makes 
 impossible real emphasis because there is nothing left to 
 use. Moreover, straining after effect is always distasteful. 
 But to refrain always from exerting energy gives the im- 
 pression of lack of it, of weak ideas and a poor cause, 
 and deadens interest. There should always be an impres- 
 sion of intense vitality, of reserve force, of strength that 
 is not often asserted, but may be whenever occasion arises. 
 A good way is to begin naturally, and work up to what- 
 ever degree is needed to bring out the thought. But there 
 should always be the effect of mental control, of balance. 
 Bishop Hughes is a master of the art of increasing empha- 
 sis. He begins as though talking in an ordinary room, 
 but, if the subject is a vital one, he is electrified before the 
 end, and has magnetized his audience. 
 
 Though some orators still deliver sentence after sen- 
 tence at about the same level, most talking and public 
 speaking has infinite shading of emphasis, resulting partly 
 from distribution of force within the sentence, partly from 
 the internal stressing of words or syllables. 
 
 In poetry there is a regular recurrence of stress. This 
 makes rhythm. 
 
 The melting voice through mazes running, 
 
 Untwisting all the chains that tie 
 
 The hidden soul of harmony. MIUTON. 
 
 In prose the stress is more variable, both in position and 
 strength. But it can be as easily marked. 
 
 There is, and always has been, a real alliance between the two 
 extreme parties in this country. They play into each other's 
 hands. They live by each other. Neither would have any in- 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 143 
 
 fluence if the other were taken away. . . I see, and glad I am to 
 see, that the nation perfectly understands and justly appreciates 
 this coalition between those who hate all liberty and those who hate 
 all order. England has spoken, and spoken out. From her most 
 opulent seaports, from her manufacturing towns, from her capital 
 and its gigantic suburbs, from almost every one of her counties, 
 has gone forth a voice, answering in no doubtful or faltering accent 
 to that truly royal voice which appealed on the twenty-second of 
 last April to the sense of the nation. 
 
 MACAULAY. Speech on Parliamentary Reform. 
 
 You will note that no one part of speech is stressed 
 especially, apart from the desired emphasis or clear ex- 
 pression of meaning. You will also note that the amount 
 of stress varies greatly. 
 
 Sometimes stress is applied to only one syllable. The 
 position of it may vary according to feeling, even within 
 the syllable. Practice the selections given to illustrate 
 quality of tone, and those to illustrate pitch, to note the 
 possible variations. Practice saying the same thing so that 
 it has different meanings. 
 
 In simple musical compositions there is a melody which 
 consists of a succession of notes of varying pitch. The 
 tune is fitted to the words. There is a setting of Brown- 
 ing's song ending 
 
 "God's in his heaven 
 
 All's right with the world!" 
 
 in which there is not only a crescendo, but a swift rise in 
 pitch at the end, producing a tremendous effect of the glad 
 burst of joy and confidence. 
 
 So in speech PITCH is used along with force to give vari- 
 ety and expression. In fact, some use it almost to the ex- 
 clusion of the stress accent. This is rare, especially in 
 men, and is likely to become disagreeable and wearisome. 
 
144 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 But sameness of pitch would make the best speech dull 
 and ineffective. 
 
 Most voices have a considerable range of pitch. Some 
 speakers consider that at least eight grades may be dis- 
 tinguished, but five will be sufficient for us to consider, 
 though the variations and combinations of these are in- 
 finite. 
 
 The middle, ordinary, or normal pitch is that used most 
 naturally when making a commonplace statement with no 
 effort at expressiveness. "It may rain to-morrow." "That 
 battle occurred fifty years ago to-day." 
 
 As the speaker becomes less calm and gives way to emo- 
 tions of some intensity such as joy, enthusiasm, anxiety, 
 anger or any other passion, he experiences more rapid vi- 
 brations of the vocal cords, resulting in high pitch. If 
 the excitement is great, the pitch is very high. The ideas 
 of command or of rapid motion even may result in the 
 heightening of pitch. One unaccustomed to command, or 
 to self-control, is most likely to raise the pitch. 
 
 1. Get off the steps! Get out of my way! 
 
 2. Oh nurse, you hurt when you pull my hair! 
 
 3. Help, help! the house is on fire! 
 
 4. Cassius. When Caesar lived, he durst not thus have moved me. 
 Brutus. Peace, peace! You durst not so have tempted him. 
 Cassius. I durst not? 
 
 Brutus. No. 
 
 Cassius. What? Durst not tempt him? 
 
 Brutus. For your life you durst not. 
 
 Cassius. Do not presume too much upon my love; 
 
 I may do that I shall be sorry for. Julius Ccesar. 
 
 Low pitch is used for serious, grave, impressive remarks. 
 If they are very solemn, show deep reflection or sadness, 
 very low pitch may be used. 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 145 
 
 Brutus. It must be by his death: and, for my part, 
 I know no personal cause to spurn at him, 
 But for the general. He would be crowned: 
 How that might change his nature, there's the question. 
 
 Julius CcBsar. 
 
 Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Many a young 
 hand dropped in its little wreath, many a stifled sob was heard. 
 Some and they were not a few knelt down. All were sincere 
 and truthful in their sorrow. DICKENS. Old Curiosity Shop. 
 
 You must have noticed that most of these selections 
 change pitch. That is, there is frequent variation from 
 the general level. In a few instances, there is sustained 
 emphasis or pitch, often rising slightly toward the end. 
 
 You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things 
 
 you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome. 
 
 Knew you not Pompey? Julius Coesar. 
 
 Sometimes several sentences are spoken with a steadily 
 rising inflection. 
 
 1 wake where was I do I see 
 A human face look down on me? 
 And doth a roof above me close? 
 Do these limbs on a couch repose? 
 Is this a chamber where I lie? 
 And is it mortal, yon bright eye, 
 That watches me with gentle glance? 
 
 BYRON. Mazeppa. 
 
 Questions in expectation of the answer "yes" or "no" 
 require rising pitch, unless they are expressed in the declar- 
 ative form: 
 
 Are you going to-morrow if it rains? 
 You are not going to-morrow if it ranis ? 
 Will you accept? 
 Of course you will accept? 
 
146 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Ordinary declarative sentences and rhetorical questions 
 fall in pitch at the end. 
 
 So clearly, indeed, has the sense of the nation been expressed, 
 that scarcely any person now ventures to declare himself hostile 
 to all reform. 
 
 For who can answer plain arithmetical demonstration? 
 
 MACAULAT. 
 
 Sometimes inflection rises and falls several times in the 
 course of a sentence. 
 
 For myself, having, twelve months ago, hi this place, moved you 
 that George Washington be appointed commander of the forces 
 raised, or to be raised, for defense of American liberty, may my 
 right hand forget her cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of 
 my mouth, if I hesitate or waver hi the support I give him. 
 
 WEBSTER. 
 
 One should be careful not to use high pitch too much. 
 Low pitch gives a sense of power, control, reserve. It 
 leaves opportunity for raising toward the end with good 
 effect though this should not involve ranting nor rasping. 
 Low pitch saves the voice, too, and is more pleasing for 
 long-continued speech. Usually, it is more impressive. 
 
 Ordinarily, RATE, or SPEED OF UTTERING WORDS, corre- 
 sponds to force, and often to pitch. The normal rate is 
 that of calm, natural speech, with words clearly distinct. 
 When aroused, one is likely, from enthusiasm, earnestness, 
 excitement, to speak fast or even very fast. 
 
 1. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand 
 and my heart to this vote. WEBSTER. Adams and Jefferson. 
 
 2. Tear him for his bad verses, tear him for his bad verses. 
 
 Jtditts Ccesar. 
 
 3. Pell-mell, helter-skelter they came, rushing out as if the doors 
 of a jail had been opened, and they were all eager to get a taste 
 of long-desired freedom. 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 147 
 
 The slow rate denotes serenity, seriousness, caution, and 
 self-control. When there is reverence, deep thought, or 
 reflection, the very slow may be used. 
 
 1. With solemnities suited to the occasion, with prayers to Al- 
 mighty God for his blessing, and in the midst of this cloud of 
 witnesses, we have begun the work. . . . All is peace; and God 
 has granted you this sight of your country's happiness, ere you 
 slumber in the grave forever. WEBSTER. Bunker Hill Oration. 
 
 2. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. 
 
 3. What? thou speak'st drowsily? 
 
 Poor knave, I blame thee not; thou art o'erwatched. 
 
 It was well done; and thou shalt sleep again; 
 
 I will not hold thee long; if I do live, 
 
 I will be good to thee. 
 
 This is a sleepy tune. Julius Ccesar. 
 
 4. To be or not to be, that is the question. Hamlet. 
 
 It is better to speak slowly at first. If the initial rate 
 is normal the rate naturally increases until it becomes too 
 rapid for clear enunciation. If words are spoken rapidly 
 in a large room, they become confused, and are indistin- 
 guishable in the rear. Deliberation aids clearness and 
 emphasis. 
 
 Whatever the rate at which words are uttered, there 
 must be pauses. No one can keep up continuous expres- 
 sion, nor should he if he could. Pauses have two uses. 
 Those that are the result of grammatical structure are 
 to help make the speaker's meaning clear. If you will 
 read any article or speech without regard to punctuation, 
 you will see this. Punctuation is just as necessary in speech 
 as in writing; indeed, it is more so, for the longer pauses 
 indicate the paragraphs and the longest the general divisions 
 of the outline. To rest both speaker and hearer, then, and 
 
148 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 to make sentences and structure clear, one must pause, how- 
 ever slightly. 
 
 The short pauses correspond to phrasing in music, and 
 to the caesura in scansion of poetry. Rhythm, as neces- 
 sary in prose as in poetry, does not mean monotony, or 
 tedious regularity. Just as there must be variety in tone, 
 increase and decrease of force, rising and falling of pitch, 
 there must be change of rate and frequent pauses. 
 
 Some of the most needful yet neglected pauses are those 
 after the vocative, or direct address, before participial 
 phrases, and before but when it introduces a contrasting 
 idea. 
 
 Notice how necessary pauses are, in the following, to 
 make the meaning clear: 
 
 I have his father's letter in which he informs me his son is set 
 out and that he intends to follow himself shortly after. 
 
 She Stoops to Conquer. 
 
 ENUNCIATION 
 
 Clear speaking is perhaps the most essential attainment 
 for all who talk, anywhere, under any circumstances. You 
 all know how annoying it is to be unable to "catch" what 
 is said. You do not like to ask your friends to repeat the 
 names of those to whom they introduce you, but it is often 
 necessary. You do not like to ask people constantly to 
 say again what has once been said, or risk appearing stupid 
 because you cannot answer intelligently, or to render your- 
 self liable to serious mistake in attempting to follow di- 
 rections only partly heard, yet the common habit, indis- 
 tinct articulation, makes one of these inevitable. A large 
 proportion of the American people is of foreign birth or 
 parentage. Many more are careless and slovenly in enun- 
 ciation, even more than in the use of words. Care in clear 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 149 
 
 articulation is as much a mark of culture as is care in dress 
 and manner. 
 
 Although a few people have natural defects, most can 
 overcome these, and all who are normal can by practice 
 improve their speech to such an extent that they can make 
 themselves heard and understood at considerable dis- 
 tances. John Fox, a famous preacher of South Place 
 Chapel, London, "whose voice was neither loud nor strong, 
 was heard in every part and all over Covent Garden Thea- 
 tre, when he made anti-corn-law orations, by the clear- 
 ness with which he pronounced the final consonants of the 
 words he spoke." (G. J. Holyoake, Public Speaking and 
 Debate.) After Colonel Roosevelt had been wounded, in 
 the campaign of 1912, he spoke in Madison Square Garden, 
 New York City, to more than sixteen thousand people. 
 Though weakened and under a severe strain, he made him- 
 self heard through that great building, an arena rather 
 than an auditorium, by the clearness of his enunciation. 
 
 In this, as in other things, "practice makes perfect." The 
 first necessity is to open your mouth, and open it wide 
 enough for the sound to get out. Try talking with the 
 mouth shut and note the effect. The next thing is to use 
 the organs of speech the way they were meant to be used 
 to produce certain sounds. This requires some intentness 
 when learning how, but soon becomes natural, as the primal 
 nature of speech is allowed to assert itself. 
 
 Some of you have been taught in the elementary schools 
 how the sounds are made. But many have not yet learned 
 that various organs, with different functions, have their 
 parts in producing sound. You probably do not think of 
 the palate except when it becomes elongated and causes a 
 cough. Yet the palate is used every time you say skate, 
 game, or yard. (Hard k, g, and y.) 
 
150 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Pronounce name and sing, and notice how, because the 
 mouth passage is stopped, the sound is forced through the 
 nose. 
 
 The tongue is used in the sounds of I and r, as you can 
 readily tell. But it is used also in forming s, d, n, z, and 
 others, since it must have such a position as enables the 
 other organs to do their work. 
 
 The lips are necessary for p, b, f, v, m, w. You may 
 have heard someone with a harelip try to talk. The lips 
 cannot come together, and therefore such sounds cannot 
 be made. 
 
 The teeth are almost as important in speaking as in 
 eating. In the word dentist there are three distinct "den- 
 tal" sounds, d, t, s. The position of the teeth must be 
 changed for each of the others. In the sounds soft c, s, 
 cent, sent, ch, child; soft g, j, gem, jam; s, z, measles, zeal; 
 and sh, zh, th, ship, derision, tooth, the teeth are used. 
 
 You have noticed, when pronouncing some of these words, 
 that the breath is important. Vowel sounds are pure tone 
 sounds, the voice meeting no obstruction, but being modi- 
 fied by the degree and manner of opening the mouth. Some 
 consonants are voice sounds that meet obstructions, as I, r, 
 m, n, b, d, z, th, zh, v, w, y, g, j. These require breath to 
 help them out of the mouth. Others are sent out by breath 
 alone, through different parts of the mouth. They are /, p, 
 s, t, k, h, th, sh, wh, ch. 
 
 Before taking Exercises V-VIII, practice the breathing 
 exercises on page 136, or others given by your teacher. 
 Place yourself where you have space enough to let out 
 your voice. Provide yourself with a hand mirror, so 
 that you can watch every movement of the organs of speech. 
 Use your fingers to feel, and your mind to coordinate 
 the movements. Remember that deaf and blind mutes 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 151 
 
 have been taught to speak. Why should you fail to profit 
 by their experience, in training and perfecting your own 
 good gifts? 
 
 Do not be afraid to "talk out loud," or to make queer 
 noises. The neighbors and the family can stand it as well 
 as they endure the running of the scales and the practice 
 of finger exercises. The ability to make yourself heard will 
 really be of more use to you than playing the piano. 
 
 Exercise V. 
 
 Practice all the vowels with "long" quantity. Prolong 
 the sound. Make it full and deep, a, e, i, 6, u. 
 
 Practice all the vowels with "short" quantity, a, e, i, 6, u. 
 
 Practice every vowel with every quantity and variation 
 you can think of and can produce. Note the different posi- 
 tions of the mouth, the extent to which it is opened, the 
 position of lips, teeth, tongue. 
 
 Practice rapid change, a e, a o, e a, e o, i o, o a, o e, u a, 
 u o. 
 
 Practice regular diphthong sounds oi, ou. 
 
 Exercise VI. 
 
 Pronounce every consonant, in turn, and such combina- 
 tions as ch, qw, sh, zh, wh, th. 
 
 Watch the action of the organs. What ones are used? 
 How? Are they primary or auxiliary? What is their posi- 
 tion? How does it differ from that in similar sounds? 
 
 Note. The f ollowing exercises have been worked out independently 
 by the author, who does not, however, claim that they are j different 
 from many to be found elsewhere. Some were, in fact, found in other 
 books after the writer had herself arranged them. Invaluable exer- 
 cises may be found in a book, Illustrated Phonics, by M.I. IVEB. 
 
152 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Exercise VII. 
 
 Use vowels before consonants, with different vowel 
 quantities. 
 
 Ab, ad, af, ag, aj, ak, al, am, an, ap, ar, as, at, av, az. 
 Eb, ed, ef, eg, ej, ek, el, em, en, ep, er, es, et, ev, ez. 
 Ib, id, if, ig, ij, ik, il, im, in, ip, ir, is, it, iv, iz. 
 Ob, od, of, og, oj, ok, ol, om, on, op, or, os, ot, ov, oz. 
 Ub, ud, uf, ug, uj, uk, ul, urn, un, up, ur, us, ut, uv, ui. 
 
 Use consonants before vowels, with different vowel quan- 
 tities. 
 
 Ba, da, fa, ga, ha, ja, ka, la, ma, na, pa, ra, sa, ta, va, wa, ya, za. 
 Be, de, fe, ge, he, je, ke, le, me, ne, pe, re, se, te, ve, we, ye, ze. 
 Bi, di, fi, gi, hi, ji, ki, li, mi, ni, pi, ri, si, ti, vi, wi, yi, zi. 
 Bo, do, fo, go, ho, jo, ko, lo, mo, no, po, ro, so, to, vo, wo, yo, zo. 
 Bu, du, fu, gu, hu, ju, ku, lu, mu, nu, pu, ru, su, tu, vu, wu, yu, zu. 
 
 Use vowels in all quantities in these combinations: 
 
 Bla, bra, cha, cla, dra, fla. gla, gna, gra, kla, kra, kwa, pla, pra, sha, 
 
 ska, sla, spa, sna, spla, sra, sta, stra, skra, tha, thra, tra, thwa, zha. 
 
 Ble, bre, che, dre, fle, fre, gle, gne, gre, kle, kre, kwe, pie, pre, she, 
 
 ske, sle, sme, sne, spe, skre, sple, sre, ste, stre, the, thre, thwe, tre, 
 
 zhe. 
 
 Bli, bri, chi, dri, fli, fri, gli, gni, gri, kli, kri, pli, pri, kwi, ski, skri, 
 
 sli, smi, sni, spi, spli, sri, sti, stri, thri, tri, zhi. 
 
 Bio, bro, cho, dro, flo, fro, glo, gno, gro, klo, kro, kwo, plo, pro, sho, 
 
 sko, slo, smo, sno, skro, splo, sro, sto, stro, thro, thwo, sho. 
 
 Blu, bru, chu, dru, flu, fru, glu, gnu, gru, klu, kru, kwu, plu, pru, 
 
 shu, sku, slu, skru, smu, snu, splu, spru, sro, sru, stu, stru, tho, 
 
 thu, thru, tru. 
 
 Use all vowels, with different quantities, in these com- 
 binations, and enunciate words in which they occur. 
 Abd aft, ags, aks, akt, aid, alt, alv, amb, amp, ampt, amd, and, 
 ang ank, ankt, ans, ant, apt, arb, ard, arg, ark, arm, am, arp, ars, 
 art, ash, ask, asm, asn, ast, asp, ath, azh. 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 153 
 
 Ebd, eft, egs, eks, ekt, eld, elm, els, elt, elv, emb, emd, emp, empt, 
 
 enk, end, eng, ens, ent, env, ept, erb, erd, erg, erk, erm, ern, erp, 
 
 ers, ert, esh, esk, esm, esn, esp, est, eth. 
 
 Ibd, ift, igs, iks, ikt, ild, ilm, Us, ill, ilv, imb, imd, imp, ind, ink, 
 
 inkt, ing, ingd, ins, int, ipt, irb, ird, irg, irk, inn, irn, irp, irs, irt, ish, 
 
 isk, ism, isn, ist, izh, isp, ith. 
 
 Obd, oft, ogs, oks, okt, old, olm, ols, olt, olv, omb, omd, omp, ond, 
 
 ong, ons, ont, opt, orb, ord, org, orj, ork, orm, orn, orp, ors, ort, osh, 
 
 osk, osm, ost, oth. 
 
 Ubd, uft, ugs, uks, ukt, ukts, uld, ulm, uls, ult, ulv, umb, umd, ump, 
 
 umpt, und, ung, ungd, unkt, uns, unt, upt, urb, urd, urg, urj, urk, 
 
 urm, urn, urp, urs, urt, ush, usk, usm, usp, uth. 
 
 Dr. J. M. Buckley, noted as preacher, lecturer, and de- 
 bater, quotes Regnier, "master of masters," as giving "a 
 prescription as simple as it is effective for perfecting the 
 articulation. It is based upon what one would do if he 
 wished to confide a secret to a friend and was fearful of 
 being overheard. 'You face your friend exactly, and pro- 
 nouncing your words distinctly, but in an underbreath, 
 you command your articulation to convey them to your 
 friend's eyes rather than his ears, for he is as carefully 
 watching how you speak as he is intently listening to what 
 you say. Articulation having here a double duty to per- 
 form, that of sound as well as its own peculiar function, 
 is compelled, as it were, to dwell strongly on each sylla- 
 ble, so as to land it safely within the intelligence of your 
 hearer.' " 
 
 The same idea is shown in the practice of speaking to 
 deaf persons in an ordinary tone, but distinctly enough 
 so that they can read the lips and facial movements. 
 
 Exercise VIII. 
 
 The following words are selected with a view to practice 
 in clear, distinct enunciation. Although there is some 
 
154 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 grouping, many of the words are included because they give 
 practice in several difficult combinations. Each word, then, 
 should be considered in all its parts, not for one sound alone : 
 
 Aerial, aviation, aerate, aorta, valuation, altar, all, animate, ask, 
 care, chasm, abysmal, amalgamation, large. 
 
 Eden, ebony, elegant, elevated, eligible, err, early, origin, infinitesi- 
 mal, infirmary, invalid, machine. 
 
 Coordinate, cooperate, zoology, oblige, odoriferous, euphony. 
 Formulate, duty, blue, albumen, cuticle, hue, jury, ludicrous, mural. 
 Linear, stellar, parallel, lily, lull, allow. 
 
 Cram, crux, drum, grumble, border, modulate, march, wrestle, 
 purr, corroborate, rabid, glare, rubber. 
 
 Blubber, brother, blatant, blooming, globular, grub, disturb, 
 trouble, dribble. 
 
 Plebeian, inexplicable, pluperfect, perspicacity, opportunity, plump, 
 split, supplant, support, purport, perplexed, reptile, chirp, emperor, 
 empty, peremptory, decrepit, clipped, cramped, crisp, spunk. 
 Fame, frame, flame, effort, deficient, physical, nymph, conflict, 
 whiff. 
 
 Vain, venerable, avenue, reverent, divine, dive, vivid, velvet, ever, 
 vehement, clover. 
 
 Mammal, memorable, mummy, murmur, mumble, emblem, prism, 
 stormy, clumsy, strum, romantic, rhythm, rhyme. 
 No, on, knowledge, dungeon, clink, now and then, going on, lungs, 
 hang, gangrene, tinkle, surcingle, entwine, instinctively. 
 Curse, accredited, credulous, cracked, tact, click, chick, crackle, 
 sepulchral, succinct, coruscate, lectern, king, kettle, accentuate. 
 Choir, quarrelsome, question, querulous, squirrel, unique, piqued, 
 exquisite, articulate, curious. 
 
 Glib, gloaming, grave, glutinous, granular, giggle, gurgle, gargoyle, 
 signature, glowing, grim, grill, augment, dogmatic, congregation, 
 agate, egg, keg, grog, jug. 
 
 Judge, jugular, dirigible, liturgical, incorrigible, prejudiced, frigid, 
 edge, ridge, bludgeon. 
 
 Complexion, mixture, excellent, luxury, exaggerate, eggs, exactly. 
 Dumb, dome, gladden, Armageddon, maddening, drowned, crowd, 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 155 
 
 mouldering, drastic, compound, dreadnought, deadly, diatribe, 
 disaster, blessed. 
 
 Teeming, trained, wished, utter, splutter, glitter, gluttony, Latin, 
 watch, optative, abrupt, perpetuity. 
 
 Sum, small, smartly, seismic, slur, strike, spur, sprint, splint, stand, 
 straight, strenuous, distrustful, misspent, misspelled, mist, gossip, 
 godsend, assign, assimilate, stress, fuss, torts, smokeless, sissy, 
 spasmodic, scratch, scorn, scoff. 
 Rise, tease, quiz, ozone, dizzy, zealot. 
 
 Reminiscent, corpuscle, fresco, resuscitate, necessary, susceptible, 
 surcharged, etching, church, effervescent, evanescent, renascence, 
 renaissance. 
 
 Shawl, shine, shrink, slush, rush, clash, shrub. 
 Azure, measure, leisure, seizure, news, views. 
 Precious, capricious, mendacious. 
 
 Association, sectional, nation, function, declension, decision. 
 Hero, horror, hate, help, humid, hunt, hold, comprehend, adhesion, 
 mishap, unholy, abhorrent, hypodermic, hypocrite, exhume, pos- 
 thumous. 
 
 Whimper, whip, wheat, whether, wheedle, whisper, whine, whimsi- 
 cal, whinny, whist, erstwhile. 
 
 Thermometer, throes, threnody, thwart, athwart, through, throne, 
 athletics, mathematics, enthrone, enthusiastic, wreath, wrath, 
 wraith. 
 
 With, booth, soothe, tithe, blithe, writhe, thither, hither, whither, 
 withering, though, although, this, thine. 
 
 Distinguish carefully the pronunciation of the following 
 words, some sounds of which are confused by pupils in 
 rapid or careless speech. 
 
 Abstract, obstruct; came, come; affect, effect; futile, fertile; certain, 
 subtle; separate, suppurate; ah*, are; our, ere; there, then*; sit, sat, 
 set; then, thin; and, end; speak, spick; real, reel; principle, principal; 
 complement, compliment; despair, disparage; describe, discredit; 
 dissipate, disappear; engine, enjoin, jibe; quite, quiet; cereal, 
 serial; series, serious, serous; elusion, illusion, allusion; alliterate, 
 
156 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 illiterate; tell, till; sense, since; ten, tin; division, diversion; divers, 
 diverse; council, counsel, consul, conceal; costume, custom; ache, 
 ague; figure, finger, linger, singer; anger, hanger; partner, pardoner; 
 suppose, surprise; sowing, soaring; percept, precept; perhaps, 
 prevent; pervious, previous; proffer, professor; poplar, popular; race, 
 raise; rice, rise; dice, dies; decease, disease; cease, seize; assure, azure; 
 thief, thieve; handkerchief, handkerchieves; leaf, leave; deaf, leaf; 
 pelf, puff; pillow, pillar, cellar, seller; debt, debit; creek, crick; 
 beseech, besiege; pitcher, picture; archangel, archbishop; scheme, 
 scene, schism; thing, think, sing, sink; ton, turn; guile, gull, girl, 
 gill; statue, statute; problem, probably; luxury, luggage; library, 
 liberally; laboratory, Labrador; persecute, prosecute; irrelevant, 
 irreverent; Calvary, cavalry. 
 
 PRONUNCIATION 
 
 A wrong or unusual pronunciation offends or distracts 
 the hearer. If wrong, it lessens his respect for the author- 
 ity of the speaker, and therefore detracts from the im- 
 pression made. If unusual, it causes him to wonder 
 whether his own usage or the speaker's is right, and there- 
 fore takes his mind from the thought of the speaker. Use 
 of words about which there is a marked difference of 
 opinion may sometimes be avoided. If in conversation 
 another has just used a pronunciation which you cannot 
 accept, it is more courteous to avoid thrusting your own 
 forward in the next sentence. In public speaking, if a word 
 is used in an unfamiliar way, the audience may think it 
 wrong, whether it is or not. Usually, however, one usage 
 is considered preferable by some good authority. Affecta- 
 tion should be avoided in this as in other things. To many, 
 the use of ither and nither seems affected, because, in the 
 effort to appear cultured, some people whose grammatical 
 usage and diction are very bad have adopted it, though a 
 large proportion of educated people use ether and nether. 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 157 
 
 Vase is given the preference in good dictionaries, but some 
 persist in saying v az, though their associates use vase. 
 
 The best guides to pronunciation are dictionaries, such 
 as the Century and Webster's Unabridged. When two 
 forms are given, adopt the first, unless most of the people 
 with whom you associate prefer the other. Never try to 
 be different in this just to attract attention. Note the 
 usage of good speakers, and, if you hear some word spoken 
 in a different way from that which you or your friends 
 and teachers use, consult the dictionary. Do not depend 
 on what someone tells you. He may be wrong. 
 
 The following lists contain some words often mispro- 
 nounced. The teacher may add others which his own 
 pupils use. 
 
 Wrong pronunciation frequently results from failure to 
 sound the vowel distinctly, to give it the right quantity. 
 
 Exercise IX. 
 
 Find from the dictionary, noting carefully the diacritical 
 marks, the accepted pronunciation of these words: 
 
 Affect, after, branch, ambassador, aviator, dahlia, apparatus, 
 irascible, algebra, Canada, national, Colorado, Danish, was, because, 
 said, again, adequate, vivacious, ay, forbade, squalor, patronage, 
 patriotism, chastening, any, stamp, haunt, launch, staunch, gauge, 
 class, plait. 
 
 Effect, get, legend, deleterious, amenable, penal, anemia, fete, 
 creek, pretty, thresh, very, were, then, there, their, leisure, dis- 
 cretion, heinous, deaf, hearth, clerk, heiress, seismic, sergeant, 
 mystery, cemetery, newspaper, economic, kerosene, merit, experi- 
 ment, presentation, terrible, err, heroic, yet, been, specific, bases, 
 inherent. 
 
 Biography, alumni, alumnae, fragile, genuine, Italian, hostile, 
 isolate, Palestine, Marseilles, servile, Philippi, appendicitis, writhe, 
 grimy, irksome, engine, girl, pianist. 
 
158 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Of, office, coffee, God, log, on, history, polls, phonograph, good, food, 
 fool, Roosevelt, zoology, splendor, wound, bomb, foreign, diplomacy, 
 pathos, chaos, moral, join, oyster, route. 
 
 Constitute, argument, deluge, figure, introduce, duly, duty, beauty, 
 nuisance, opportune, puissant, stupid, congratulate, column, 
 volume, emolument, enumerate, Russia, luscious, destitute, viru- 
 lent, future. 
 Bicycle, cyclic, psychic. 
 
 The lack of vowel clearness may result even in loss of 
 syllables. 
 
 Burglar, burial, cemetery, correct, cruel, different, history, interest, 
 Latin, memory, monastery, mystery, particularly, poem, poetry, 
 ordinance, probably, regularly, tragedy, trial, prosperous, generally, 
 dangerous, privilege, laborer, vigorous, factory. 
 
 Indistinct or wrong articulation of consonants is some- 
 times the fault. 
 
 Health, throat, and thin, should have a different sound 
 from the th of with, soothe, booth, blithe, urrithe. 
 
 D, t, p, are often slurred or left out, when they should not 
 be. 
 
 Attract, attacked, kept, shiftless, glutton, contempt, corrupt, 
 written, distinctly, just, probably, dreadful, certain. 
 
 C, g, and k meet the same fate. 
 
 Benignant, arctic, ask, recognize, distinctly, suggest, going, doing, 
 finger, anger. 
 
 H is ignored by some Americans as well as by some 
 Englishmen. 
 
 Forehead, perhaps, what, which, when, while, wheel. 
 
 L, especially when used double, fails to get its rights, or 
 is misplaced. 
 Finally, collapse, parallel, lull, golf, irrelevant, Calvary. 
 
ACTUAL SPEAKING 159 
 
 N is not recognized. 
 Government, strengthen, lengthen. 
 
 R is either passed over, or interchanged with some other 
 sounds, as in 
 
 Children, February, formerly, geography, hundred, laboratory, 
 library, pretend, surprise, sturdy, morning, force, sport, third, word. 
 
 R is substituted for a final W, as in 
 To-morrow, sorrow, pillow. 
 
 A mistake more likely to be made by careful people, 
 because of their good intentions, but inexact knowledge, is 
 the sounding of letters that should be silent. 
 
 Business, buoy, extraordinary, quay, mosquito, subtile, edge, 
 humble, alms, almond, salmon, psalm, limn, psyche, corps, rasp- 
 berry, apostle, epistle, hasten, glisten, often, mortgage, debris, 
 sword. 
 
 Cultured people have adopted the slurring of parts of 
 some words to such an extent that it is generally recog- 
 nized as good usage. 
 Program, graduate, Newfoundland. 
 
 Final ate should usually be slurred, as in 
 Intimate, estimate, delegate, syndicate. 
 
 Ignorant people often insert sounds, or change them. 
 
 Atheletics (athletics), grievious (grievous), statute (statue), mush- 
 aroon (mushroom), stupenjous (stupendous), tremenjous (tremen- 
 dous), Injun (Indian), immejate (immediate). 
 
 Many people in some sections add the letter R, as in 
 Lawr (law), sawr (saw), idear (idea). 
 
160 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Care must be taken in the pronunciation of syllables 
 that run together, or take a sound different from the spell- 
 ing. As the diacritical marks of dictionaries differ for some 
 of these, students often fall into error as a result of study. 
 
 Ameliorate, association, celestial, cordial, courtesy, ambitious, 
 capricious, omniscient, pronunciation, social, nature, literature, 
 punctuate, azure, treasure, decision, rouge, protege*, dbut. 
 
 Misplaced accent is a common fault. 
 
 Abdomen, access, acclimated, acumen, adept, address, adult, 
 adversary, advertisement, affluence, alias, alibi, annex, applicable, 
 automobile, cement, chauffeur, clandestine, clematis, cocaine, com- 
 bine, compromise, compensate, confiscate, conserve, consummate, 
 contrary, contrast (noun), contrast (verb), contumely, conversely, 
 contemplate, decade, decrease, deficit, demonstration, demonstrative, 
 dessert, desultory, detail, disreputable, effete, elegiac, enfranchise- 
 ment, envelope, exquisite, fanatic, finance, formidable, gallant, 
 gasoline, grimace, highway, horizon, hospitable, hospital, illustrate, 
 illustrative, impotent, incline, incomparable, incorrigible, indis- 
 putable, inevitable, inexplicable, inquiry, irreparable, impudent, 
 indigent, kerosene, ludicrous, maintenance, mamma, memoir, 
 mischievous, mustache, offertory, opponent, overture, pariah, 
 perquisite, portray, portiere, precedence, prestige, pretense, pretext, 
 primeval, profligate, protege*, proteetant, quinine, recess, recluse, 
 recruit, renaissance, requisite, research, respite, restaurant, romance, 
 sonorous, strategic, superfluous, theater, tribunal, tribune, triune, 
 vehement, vehicle. 
 
PKOPEITYOF 
 DEPARTMENT OF DRAMATIC ART 
 
 PART II 
 KINDS OF WRITING AND SPEAKING 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 NARRATION 
 
 Although speech preceded writing as a method of ex- 
 pression, the practice of writing has done much to bring 
 form of discourse to a high standard. It is easier to classify 
 and arrange one's thoughts on paper than to keep the plan 
 in mind by an effort of memory. Just as the habit of 
 thinking in an orderly fashion is cultivated by the prepara- 
 tion of full plans for speaking, so the expression is made 
 more sure and smooth by "practice in writing." 
 
 Formerly, writing was the pastime or the profession of 
 a few gifted persons; now, it has become an art that can 
 be studied by all with the possibility of becoming excellent 
 workmen, even artists to some degree. In order that be- 
 ginners may become skilled without making all the mis- 
 takes that unguided writers must learn by experience to 
 avoid, principles and rules have been formulated from 
 good examples. Certain forms of discourse, adapted to the 
 purpose of the writer or speaker, have been defined, and 
 their nature and characteristics distinguished. These forms 
 are called Narration, Description, Exposition, and Argumen- 
 tation. 
 
 We found in Chapter I that the speaker, even more than 
 the writer, is called upon to give expression to his thoughts 
 on many different occasions, before all sorts of people. 
 Surely, then, he needs every variety of form to bring him 
 into touch with his hearers, who cannot turn back for re- 
 perusal. The speaker appeals to the mind, but also to the 
 
 163 
 
164 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 feelings. He must be able to state clearly and reason con- 
 vincingly, but he must be able also to appeal to the senses 
 and the emotions, that his experience and feelings may be 
 reproduced in others. Let us, then, see how the speaker may 
 learn to use various forms, as occasion requires, separately 
 or with swift change from one to another. 
 
 Probably the most natural, spontaneous, and, in some 
 respects, simple form of expression is narration. The word 
 itself comes from narratio, the verb being narrare, probably 
 from gnarigare, to know. Narration causes others to know 
 what happened, by telling them about the occurrence. It 
 is the telling of a story so vividly and clearly that the 
 hearer realizes just what took place, as if he had seen or 
 experienced it himself. 
 
 We all use this form constantly. The child comes crying 
 to his mother, and says, "I fell down and hurt myself." 
 The mother soothes him and, to divert his mind, says, "Oh, 
 you can't guess what I saw on the street. A man came 
 along with a monkey and a hand-organ. The children all 
 crowded around to listen. In a few minutes the monkey 
 took off its cap and started out to gather in pennies. A 
 woman opened a window across the street and held out a 
 penny. The monkey ran across, up the trellis where the 
 woodbine grows, and took the penny right out of her hand!" 
 
 The boy on the street, when he meets his boon com- 
 panion, greets him with, "Say, did you hear what Jack 
 did last night?" and tells the story with gusto. The man 
 coming home from business tells his wife an incident of 
 the office or the train, and the wife relates the latest mistake 
 or escapade of the cook, or tells what the baby did. When 
 the student comes back from a week's vacation, or the 
 mother from a visit to her old home, or the traveler from 
 a trip to Europe, each tells the interested family all about 
 
NARRATION 165 
 
 the trip, with bright touches here and there that increase 
 the interest. 
 
 We are all children in some respects, and like to hear 
 what took place in the past. Just as, when small, we lis- 
 tened to grandmother's stories of when she was a little 
 girl, we now listen to tales of the Civil or Spanish War, 
 to recitals of brave deeds, or to the narrative of how great 
 feats were accomplished. We would rather hear Peary tell 
 how he reached the pole, or Dewey how he took Manila, 
 then read a book on the same subject. Sometimes the story 
 of a man's rise from poverty to wealth has all the fascina- 
 tion of the tales of the Arabian Nights. 
 
 Nor have we outgrown that heritage of all children, the 
 weaving of possible stories about ourselves and others. 
 Every one of us has spent blissful hours, day after day, 
 when all alone, tracing his fortunes through strange ad- 
 ventures, and holding animated conversations with phan- 
 tom beings real to him. Sorry the day when we forget 
 how to set ourselves apart for a while to build castles in 
 Spain! But we revel, too, in the fancy of others, which 
 has perhaps risen to greater heights than ours, and is 
 colored with the glamour of the unfamiliar. There has prob- 
 ably never lived a child who didn't like to hear a story, 
 and I am inclined to think that most of us have hoped 
 that we, too, might some day be able to tell stories just 
 as good as any we ever heard. Why should we not? We 
 all have something to tell, and we can all learn how to tell 
 it, some of us, perhaps, as we used to think only the fairies 
 
 could. 
 
 CLASSIFICATION 
 
 There are so many kinds of stories, the true ones and 
 those that we almost believe to be true, that it may be 
 helpful to have an outline showing how they may be clas- 
 
166 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 sified. Perhaps you can work out a diagram that will be 
 easier for you to keep in mind. 
 
 I. A vast amount of narrative is based on fact. 
 
 A. Collective or general. 
 
 1. Historical happenings. 
 
 a. Movements. 
 
 b. Conflicts. 
 
 (1) Progress. 
 
 (2) Battles. 
 
 2. Current events. 
 
 a. Accidents. 
 
 b. Political acts. 
 
 c. Industrial happenings. 
 
 d. Social events. 
 
 B. Individual. 
 
 1. Lives. 
 
 a. Autobiographic. 
 
 b. Biographic. 
 
 2. Accounts of personal experiences. 
 
 a. Travels. 
 
 b. Adventures. 
 
 c. Slight incidents or anecdotes. 
 
 II. There is a variety of fictional narrative. 
 
 A. Novel. 
 
 1. Romantic. 
 
 2. Historical. 
 
 3. Ethical. 
 
 4. Social Novel of manners. 
 
 B. Short story. 
 
 C. Romance. 
 
 D. Tale. 
 
 1. Realistic. 
 
 2. Comic. 
 
 3. Moral often animal fables. 
 
 4. Religious legends. 
 
 E. Allegory. 
 
NARRATION 167 
 
 Exercise I. 
 
 Classify each of the following, according to the table 
 given on page 166. 
 
 1. Newspaper account of a fire. 
 
 2. Nineteen Beautiful Years. 
 
 3. Pilgrim's Progress. 
 
 4. A White Umbrella in Mexico. 
 
 5. Rip Van Winkle. 
 
 6. The Making of an American. 
 
 7. Silas Marner. 
 
 8. Miracles of Our Lady. 
 
 9. Treasure Island. 
 
 10. Farthest North. 
 
 11. jEsop's Fables. 
 
 12. Holinshed's Chronicles. 
 
 13. The Building of the Panama Canal. 
 
 14. The Story of the Lawrence Strike. 
 
 15. A Motor Flight through France. 
 
 16. The Charity Ball. 
 
 17. The Nomination of Taft. 
 
 18. A joke on me. 
 
 19. The Boyhood of Lincoln. 
 
 20. The Battle of Agincourt. 
 
 21. How I met Jack. 
 
 Though other forms may convince and sway the reason 
 more, none is more powerful in its general effect than nar- 
 rative. People laugh irresistibly at a funny story, and 
 cry as inevitably at a pathetic one. A weird tale may 
 cause a sleepless night or a gruesome one may cause a 
 nervous attack lasting for hours. Is it any wonder, then, 
 that nurses frighten children, that lawyers sway juries, that 
 orators move legislatures, and that preachers win to repen- 
 tance, by stories? Surely skill in this art is worth while. 
 
168 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 PURPOSE 
 
 The purpose of story-telling is diverse, depending on the 
 speaker, his aim, and the circumstances. Perhaps most of 
 us think of stories as a source of amusement or entertain- 
 ment. A good story-teller is likely to be popular. Who 
 has not heard the oft-repeated request from a child, "Tell 
 me a story!" The restless one becomes quiet, the pouter 
 forgets his grievance, and the wakeful one approaches 
 dreamland more quickly. It often enlivens conversation, 
 and makes us more agreeable companions, as guests or as 
 travelers, if we have a store of good anecdotes. Whoever 
 addresses an audience finds it easier to obtain a hold if he 
 has a story that will "take." Perhaps the speaker of the 
 evening is late. The chairman must keep the waiting audi- 
 ence in good humor. Mr. Bryan once kept fifteen hundred 
 people waiting two hours; but none left, for someone else 
 entertained them. A speaker may find an apathetic or hos- 
 tile body of hearers. A funny story, well told, will estab- 
 lish a mutual tolerance and interest that hold. If the 
 discourse is serious or heavy, many hearers begin to grow 
 restless or even sleepy. But a story will make them laugh 
 and will revive the tired brain. After-dinner speakers some- 
 times do little else but tell stories, for they realize that their 
 hearers are in the mood for relaxation, and will welcome 
 the opportunity. Whatever the situation, a bit of apt, 
 lively narrative makes a good beginning. 
 
 Though the first purpose may be entertainment, a deeper 
 one is instruction. An illustrative story makes the mean- 
 ing of a point clear, because it makes the idea vivid and 
 concrete. The working of some rule may be shown. For 
 instance, the story of a poor family who had saved money 
 for years, only to be halted at Ellis Island, even though 
 
NARRATION 169 
 
 the father had become a citizen, because a child had goiter, 
 shows how a regulation just in the abstract may bring 
 tragedy to some. The evils of conditions in factories or 
 mines may be most forcibly brought home to the people 
 ignorant of them by illustrative stories of individuals. The 
 application of a principle may be made through an anec- 
 dote. Manners and customs of another country or a former 
 age become far more vivid through a story of a Japa- 
 nese or Eskimo boy, or a tale of Robin Hood. The reli- 
 gious or political feeling of a race or a period can be under- 
 stood only through a concrete illustration of what real 
 beings did and said and suffered. When we hear how 
 thousands of Jews were massacred on the accusation of 
 poisoning wells, how a child of the Ghetto was persecuted 
 as was Mary Antin, how a slave mother was separated from 
 her children and sent to New Orleans, how, in the Civil 
 War, two brothers fought, one falling a victim to the other's 
 sword, we understand situations otherwise incomprehen- 
 sible. 
 
 In addition to illustration of conditions in various phases 
 of life, narrative is important to convey fact knowledge. 
 It is often necessary to tell clearly and concisely just what 
 happened at a given time. An account of an accident or 
 a fire or a crime must be put before the public ungarbled. 
 The policeman, if he makes an arrest, must tell what he 
 saw. The prisoner must be able to give the facts, if he is 
 innocent, by telling what actually happened as he knows 
 it. A witness in a trial is under oath to furnish an accu- 
 rate account. At other times, the story of a mart's life is 
 important, to establish certain facts, or to form part of 
 a record, or to support statements about what has been 
 done or can be done. The chronicle of events is necessary 
 to history, for history is being made all the time. And the 
 
170 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 only way of informing succeeding generations of what their 
 ancestors did, that they may avoid the mistakes and emu- 
 late the brave and worthy deeds, is to tell the stories of past 
 ages, and of great lives. 
 
 Another purpose is that of arousing feeling, sometimes 
 to create a favorable atmosphere, often to sway action. 
 The keen lawyer knows the value of a pathetic story in 
 securing acquittal, or, if told from another point of view, 
 conviction. Speakers before a conference or legislative as- 
 sembly may obtain the passage of a regulation or law by 
 narrating the story of a child stunted, perhaps driven to 
 crime, by bad working conditions. Preachers, too, can 
 bring tears of pity or repentance by stories. 
 
 Henry Van Dyke, in the foreword to "The Ruling Pas- 
 sion," wrote, "Lord, let me never tag a moral to a story, 
 nor tell a story without a meaning." Often, a simple, brief 
 narrative will show better than many pages of moralizing 
 what one's duty is under similar circumstances, or what re- 
 ward or punishment must inevitably follow certain courses 
 of action. In short, a good story is a record of life, whether 
 it be told of a ruler of the people, of a child in the slums, 
 of a petty incident on the street, or evolved from the brain 
 of one who has seen life broadly and penetrated its inner 
 secrets. 
 
 Since the most effective stories are often the simplest 
 and most straightforward, you may wonder why we should 
 study narration so carefully. As in every line of endeavor, 
 "practice makes perfect." We do not become able to tell 
 good stories, even if the material is the best, just on the 
 impulse or at the need. You have all heard people spoil 
 their stories and tire the listeners, only because they did 
 not know how to tell them. 
 
NARRATION 171 
 
 ELEMENTS 
 
 Whatever may be the kind of story, whatever the cir- 
 cumstances of its telling, there are certain elements that 
 it must have, in some degree. It must have a setting, a 
 plot, or series of connected happenings, unless it is of but 
 one occurrence, incident, characters, movement, interest, 
 and, sometimes, conversation. 
 
 By setting we mean the background of the action. This 
 consists of the time, the places, and the circumstances. It 
 is helpful to know the time for the sake of clearness, 
 and for assistance in visualizing the characters. The 
 knowledge of the place in which the action occurs also aids 
 in completing the picture, and in preparing us for the inci- 
 dents and the outcome. A story, the scenes of which are in 
 California in the days of the gold discovery, is likely to 
 have characters and incidents very different from those of 
 a story of Newport in the first decade of the twentieth 
 century. A story of Palestine in the first century must dif- 
 fer likewise from one of England in the time of Queen 
 Elizabeth. Circumstances of great importance in determin- 
 ing the course of action or development of character may 
 have existed before the opening of the story or at its be- 
 ginning, or significant events may have occurred just pre- 
 viously. The fact that the Normans and Saxons were 
 dwelling in England as peoples scarcely assimilated, the 
 breach between Cedric and his son, and the crusade in 
 which Wilfred had taken part, all contribute indispensable 
 elements to the story of Ivanhoe. All of these, as they 
 help in action, also give atmosphere, that intangible, vague 
 something that envelops and harmonizes. 
 
 There are various methods of revealing the setting. 
 Some prefer to state the exact year and town, in the open- 
 
172 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 ing paragraph. Others mention events or scenes that give 
 the clue. Characters may be introduced in conversation, 
 telling what is necessary to an understanding of the situa- 
 tion. It is usually possible to put in touches here and there 
 which, without blunt statements, indicate the background. 
 
 Exercise II. 
 
 Study the following examples, and also the beginning of 
 each story on pages 178, 180, 182 to find out how the set- 
 ting is indicated. 
 
 1. In the course of a December tour in Yorkshire, I rode for a 
 long distance in one of the public coaches, on the day preceding 
 Christmas. IRVING. The Stage Coach. 
 
 2. One day last summer, my cousin and I started to walk to a 
 neighboring vilkge in the edge of the Catskills. We hadn't any 
 real idea of the distance, but supposed it was just an ordinary after- 
 noon walk. Student's Anecdote. 
 
 3. One of the few incidents of Indian warfare naturally suscep- 
 tible of the moonlight of romance was that expedition undertaken 
 for the defense of the frontiers in the year 1725 which resulted in 
 a well-remembered "Lovell's Fight." Imagination, by casting 
 certain circumstances judicially into the shade, may see much to 
 admire in the heroism of a little band who gave battle to twice their 
 number in the heart of the enemy's country. HAWTHORNE. Roger 
 Malvin's Burial. 
 
 4. The sexton stood in the porch of Milford Meeting-House, 
 pulling busily at the bell-rope. The old people of the village came 
 stooping along the street. Children, with bright faces, tripped 
 merrily beside their parents, or mimicked a graver gait, in the con- 
 scious dignity of their Sunday clothes. HAWTHORNE. The Minis- 
 ter's Black Veil. 
 
 5. The neighborhood of San Lorenzo, near Santa Orsa, in Flor- 
 ence, was the favorite haunt of certain blind mendicants, who were in 
 
NARRATION 173 
 
 the habit of rising early to take their respective rounds. Some took 
 their station at the church of the Nunziata, some in St. Michael's 
 Gardens, while others sang songs in the suburbs; all, however, 
 agreeing to meet at St. Laurence's Bell to dine, after having made 
 their morning calls; for the host of the said inn devoted himself 
 wholly to the entertainment of gentlemen of their cloth. It hap- 
 pened that two of the party were sitting together one morning after 
 taking some refreshment, talking over the state of their affairs. 
 FRANCO SACHETTI. Novella CXL. Trans, by Roscoe. 
 
 6. Edna is, you know, a public school teacher in an East Side 
 school. The other day her class was restless, especially one mis- 
 chievous little girl, Dora. Finally she gave them each a piece of 
 drawing paper, and told them to draw what they wanted to. Stu- 
 dent's Anecdote. 
 
 7. After breakfast the first morning I was in Bethlehem, I 
 thought I would take a pleasant walk, so I strolled off alone, first 
 up one street, then down another, eager to explore this quiet little 
 town. (The anecdote tells how she was lost, and unable to tell 
 where she was staying, or what the house looked like.) Student's 
 Anecdote. 
 
 8. I suppose the New York papers told it all I mean the accident 
 to the Pennsylvania Limited. But of course you didn't know that 
 I was on that tram. It took us a long tune to get near New York, 
 because of the washouts, but toward the end we found matters 
 improved. We were making fairly good time when, about dawn, 
 the train slid down an embankment. Student's Narrative of Ex- 
 perience. 
 
 Every narrative has a theme, or subject, which is the 
 central idea of the story. If a child tells about something 
 which frightened him, his theme is the fright which he 
 received. A parent may tell a story with the theme of re- 
 ward, in which the incidents and outcome show how some 
 person gained through doing certain things. A striker 
 speaking in a public meeting may tell the story of the hard 
 
174 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 experiences of some fellow workman, which has as its theme 
 the wrong of unjust wages or conditions. A teacher may 
 give an account of some incident which has for its theme 
 the opposition of the colonists to the Stamp Tax, or the 
 feeling of the northerners or southerners in regard to 
 slavery. Mrs. Stowe took the abuses of slavery as the 
 theme of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The principal theme of 
 "Ivanhoe" may be considered the feud between Wilfred 
 and the Templar, but some think the theme is the love 
 story of Wilfred and Rowena, and others, that it is the 
 overthrow of John's faction by Richard, or the relations 
 between Saxons and Normans. In many novels there are 
 several themes, but in most such cases one is the princi- 
 pal, and the others are subordinate to it. 
 
 The working out of the theme is the plot, or thread of 
 action, which holds the interest. It consists, in a story of 
 length sufficient to have a plot, of a series of incidents re- 
 lated by cause and result, though each incident may be a 
 unit in itself. There must be a beginning, a crisis, or turn- 
 ing-point, and an ending. 
 
 The beginning is called the initial incident. Although 
 this may depend on something that existed when the story 
 opens, or that took place before, it is the first thing, actu- 
 ally happening after the scene is laid and the characters 
 appear, which influences causally any later events. If 
 there is a recital of something happening earlier, it is for 
 introduction or greater clearness. Should a friend of yours, 
 in telling you how he narrowly escaped burning to death, 
 say, "I had fallen on the ice the week before, and sprained 
 my ankle," you would understand at once that this was an 
 explanation of circumstances that caused him to be in dan- 
 ger, but that it was not a part of the story he wanted to 
 tell you. 
 
NARRATION 175 
 
 From the initial incident there is an upward movement 
 till one is reached that determines the outcome. Before 
 that one, several endings might have been possible. But 
 some little thing turns the scale so that the following in- 
 cidents all tend to the inevitable. This point is called by 
 some the climax; it must, as the structural climax, be 
 distinguished from the emotional climax, or point of highest 
 interest. Sometimes the two coincide. 
 
 After the turning point, the action continues through a 
 less lengthy series of incidents to the outcome,, sometimes 
 called the denouement, or, in the case of a tragic story, the 
 catastrophe. We feel no special interest in what may hap- 
 pen later. The theme has been fully worked out, and it 
 only remains to shuffle the mannikins off the stage. 
 
 A good plot has the great essentials of all composition. 
 It has unity. There should be no digressions sufficient to 
 distract from the central theme. If there are several plots, 
 they should be so subordinated and interwoven as to form 
 a unified whole. There should be coherence, obtained by 
 a series of incidents without gaps in the causal connection, 
 arranged in the natural order. Emphasis is necessar to 
 vital interest and clear impression. Essential happenings 
 must be selected for recital, not the everyday routine. The 
 lives of people are determined by the moments, few and far 
 between, when currents cross. Though character is built up 
 or destroyed day by day, in the most ordinary circum- 
 stances, there are certain times when traits are revealed 
 and long-cultivated principles are tested. These are the 
 ones that must be recorded, and not hidden in a mass of ir- 
 relevant detail. 
 
 Exercise III. 
 
 Draw an equilateral triangle. Selecting any story or 
 novel you have studied in class or read recently, write the 
 
176 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 statement of the theme along the base. Indicate by short 
 horizontal lines; naming the points on the other sides of the 
 triangle, the initial incident, the incidents in the rising 
 action, the turning point at the apex, the incidents of the 
 falling action, and the outcome. 
 
 If there are several plots, draw waving lines, indicating 
 the points of intersection, or connection. 
 
 Exercise IV. 
 
 Read a short story, such as Maupassant's Diamond Neck- 
 lace, or one by Hawthorne, or Kipling, or O. Henry, or a 
 magazine story suggested by the instructor. Tell the story 
 of this in class, being careful to give setting and points 
 necessary for clearness, and the incidents vital to the plot, 
 without distorting the proportion or emphasis. Be prepared 
 to state the initial incident, the turning point, and the out- 
 come. 
 
 Exercise V. 
 
 Select some book or play that has several plot stories, 
 such as Ivanhoe, Silas Marner, the Merchant of Venice, or 
 As You Like It; tell the story of each plot separately; then 
 tell the story of the whole, weaving the plots together. 
 
 Exercise VI. 
 
 Tell in about three minutes the plot of some novel you 
 have recently read, making the setting, theme, and series of 
 vital points clear. 
 
 Exercise VII. 
 
 Let the hearers be prepared to state as they understood 
 them, the setting, theme, and vital points of the plots told 
 as Exercise VI, and to point out where clearness or connec- 
 tion was lacking in the student's summary. 
 
 We have found that incidents are necessary to plot, since 
 taken in connection they make up plot. Each incident, 
 
NARRATION 177 
 
 though a link in a long chain, is complete in itself. It 
 has setting, has a central idea, and has beginning, climax, 
 and ending. It must have "point" to be interesting. A 
 great many things happen that have no interest, that are 
 not distinct from the ordinary routine, and that have no 
 bearing on anything of importance. You do not want to 
 weary people by telling these. One difference between a 
 bore and a social success is that the latter has cultivated 
 the power of selection. 
 
 Exercise VIII. 
 
 Reproduce an incident from a novel you have read in 
 class. 
 
 Exercise IX. 
 
 Tell clearly the story of one of the following, with "The 
 Treaty of Zanjon," given on page 178, as a model. 
 
 1. The Boston riot. 
 
 2. The Boston tea-party. 
 
 3. Paul Revere's ride. 
 
 4. The capture of Nathan Hale. 
 
 5. The capture of Major Andre". 
 
 6. The launching of the Clermont. 
 
 7. The arrest of John Brown. 
 
 8. Sheridan's ride. 
 
 9. The assassination of Lincoln. 
 
 10. The assassination of Garfield. 
 
 11. The assassination of McKinley. 
 
 12. The sinking of the Merrimac. 
 
 13. The killing of Becket. 
 
 14. How Bruce was saved by a spider. 
 
 15. The escape of Richard I. from prison. 
 
 16. The seizure of the Five Members. 
 
 17. The expulsion of the Long Parliament. 
 
178 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 18. Some story from Roman history. 
 
 19. Some story of the Abolition movement in America. 
 
 20. A story of some incident of the suffrage movement in 
 England. 
 
 21. Some story of a recent political campaign. 
 
 22. An incident of the Balkan war. 
 
 23. An incident of the Boer war. 
 
 24. A story of one of the Indian campaigns. 
 
 25. How some noted criminal was caught. 
 
 26. A story of the guerilla warfare in the Philippines. 
 
 27. A story of Clive in India. 
 
 THE TREATY OF ZANJON. 
 
 After Maceo became a major-general and Campos became Cap- 
 tain-General, and while preliminaries were being discussed at 
 Zanjon, a meeting between them was arranged. Campos was very 
 desirous of a conference with Maceo. He sent word that he was 
 coming, and they met on the plain of Barragua. There were two 
 royal palms of extraordinary size on this plain, landmarks through- 
 out the country, well known to everybody. It was agreed the two 
 generals should meet in the shade of these palms at noon, accom- 
 panied by their staffs. The place of meeting was selected by 
 Maceo, at the request of the Captain-General. 
 
 Maceo's army was only a few miles away. The mulatto general 
 arrived beneath the palm trees at noon, with an escort of thirty 
 men. Raising his field glass he scanned the horizon, but could 
 see nobody. Surprised that Campos did not keep his word, he 
 dismounted and found the Captain-General seated and propped 
 against one of the palms, fast asleep. Before this discovery Maceo 
 had seen a horse tethered in a clump of bushes 200 yards away. 
 It had borne Campos to the rendezvous. When the Spanish gen- 
 eral opened his eyes, Maceo said: "Why, General, where is your 
 staff?" 
 
 "Between gentlemen, on occasions like this," Campos gravely 
 replied, "there is no need of witnesses. " 
 
 It is possible that the Captain-General did not desire the pres- 
 
NARRATION 179 
 
 ence of his staff, preferring that the conversation should be strictly 
 confidential. Strangers are not the only ones dogged by Spanish 
 spies. The Government itself maintains an espionage on all of 
 its officers. 
 
 Describing the interview afterwards, Maceo said that never in 
 his life did he feel more ashamed than when Campos remarked 
 that gentlemen on occasions like this needed no witnesses. In re- 
 ply the patriot said: "General, pardon me," and turning to his 
 staff ordered them back several hundred yards. Among them was 
 the noted negro commander, Flor Crombet, whose inflexible pa- 
 triotism was sometimes sullied by atrocious acts. Maceo might 
 justly be termed the Toussaint 1'Ouverture of the insurrection and 
 Crombet its Dessalines. Saluting Maceo previous to retiring, 
 Crombet said: "General, I hope you know your duty." 
 
 To this remark Maceo responded: "Retire, and return at 3 
 o'clock." 
 
 Crombet referred to a law enacted by the Cuban government 
 similar to the one now in force in Cuba. It provided for the shoot- 
 ing of any Spanish officer who approached a patriot general to 
 treat for a surrender. In telling the story afterwards, Maceo said 
 that he saw the devil in Crombet's eyes, and feared trouble. 
 
 At 3 o'clock the escort returned, but without Crombet. Quintin 
 Bandera, the well-known negro general of the present war, came 
 back with the escort and reported that on reaching the camp 
 Flor Crombet had mustered his forces and departed. This reduced 
 Maceo's army at least one-third. Fearful that Crombet meant 
 mischief, and knowing his savage disposition, Maceo was afraid 
 that Campos might be attacked on his return to his headquarters. 
 He offered to escort him back to his staff, and the offer was accepted. 
 
 Crombet had really gone to ambuscade Campos and his escort. 
 He planted the ambuscade at a point called Los Infiernos (Hell's 
 Steps). When Campos reached his escort, Maceo shook hands with 
 him and departed. He warily followed the Captain-General, how- 
 ever, until long after sunset. About 8 o'clock at night Campos 
 was fiercely attacked by Crombet. The attack was stoutly resisted. 
 Maceo closed up, on hearing the first shot, and vigorously defended 
 
180 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Campos, much to the astonishment of the latter. The assault 
 was repelled, and the Captain-General returned to Alto Songo, 
 Maceo accompanying him as far as Jarajuica. 
 
 Flor Crombet never rejoined Maceo. He afterwards disbanded 
 his forces, reached the southern coast, and escaped to Jamaica. 
 This story was told by Maceo to a friend while seated on a log on 
 the plain of Barragua, near the two royal palms where Martinez 
 Campos took his nap. 
 
 AMOS J. CUMMINGS. "Congressional Record." 
 
 Exercise X. 
 
 Note carefully the following incidents, as to setting, char- 
 acters, interest. Good examples may be found in Mark 
 Twain's Speeches. 
 
 1. Immediately after dinner last evening, a friend came to ask 
 me to spend the evening at her home, as she was left alone. 
 
 While we were hi the midst of a game of checkers, and the house 
 was all in stillness, we heard a noise in her parents' bedroom. We 
 slowly and carefully crept in, and there, in the dim light, saw a man 
 standing behind the screen. Frightened dumb, we ran out into 
 the hall just as my friend's father was returning, and repeated to 
 him what we had seen. We all went noiselessly back into the room, 
 our rescuer armed with a revolver. 
 
 Still a deathly silence prevailed. Through a half-open window 
 a breeze blew the curtains back and forth and caused the light to 
 flicker. 
 
 As we stood in the doorway, our hero murmured, " Where, where? " 
 
 " Behind the screen, " we whispered, together. 
 
 To our astonishment, he burst into laughter, and removing the 
 screen showed us a pair of shoes, which we had seen below the 
 screen, and a hat hanging on a peg just high enough to show above. 
 
 Incident told by student. 
 
 2. One evening I was invited to a dinner out of town somewhere. 
 The toastmaster introduced me as a paragon of wit and eloquence. 
 He said I was the brightest and ablest orator America had produced; 
 
NARRATION 181 
 
 that I was known from the Atlantic to the Pacific and that I was 
 the most sought after public speaker since Demosthenes. 
 
 I knew I had to stop that quick. A hush fell over the audience 
 that was appalling. The people stared with serious eyes and open 
 mouths. But there was a fat, good-natured looking chap who sat 
 near the guests' table. I marked him. 
 
 "Gentlemen," I said in a most serious tone, "I have attended 
 many banquets. I have heard many toastmasters bestow un- 
 merited encomiums upon speakers. I have heard fulsome flattery 
 heaped upon undeserving heads, but I am glad to say that, at last, 
 it is my pleasure to find a toastmaster who tells the absolute truth. " 
 
 Not a smile greeted my remarks. There was a moment of dead 
 silence. I knew all was lost unless something happened. An 
 inspiration came to me and I gave a most terrific wink to my open- 
 mouthed fat friend. His response was instantaneous. He ex- 
 ploded with a loud laugh. He was so pleased that I had taken him 
 into my confidence that to him alone I had revealed that I was 
 only 'kidding,' that he roared. The crowd took his lead and all 
 went well after that. JOB HEDGES. 
 
 Exercise XL 
 
 After reading The Sinking of the Titanic, on page 182, 
 tell an incident based on one of the following. Give setting, 
 lead up to the point of interest, make it clear, be concise. 
 Do not give away the point at the beginning. If it is 
 pathetic or comic, give the right atmosphere. Stop when 
 you are through. 
 
 An incident you witnessed on the way to or from school. 
 
 An incident you saw on a train. 
 
 Something that happened during your vacation. 
 
 An interesting happening during your childhood. 
 
 An incident connected with your learning to skate, or to ride a 
 wheel, or to run a motor car, or to sail a boat. 
 
 An incident in which some child of your family or acquaintance 
 was the chief actor. 
 
 An incident involving your pet horse or dog or cat. 
 
182 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC. 
 
 I was on the deck. It was a clear night, and the stars were 
 shining. It was very cold, although I saw no icebergs, and soon 
 after 10 o'clock I went below to sleep. 
 
 A little before 12 o'clock I was awakened by a crash, although 
 it did not seem a severe one. I jumped out of the berth, and soon 
 heard one of the stewards calling out that there had been an acci- 
 dent; that it probably was not serious, but that the passengers as 
 soon as possible should come on deck. I put on a fur coat over my 
 night clothes and hurried out. 
 
 When I got to the top deck many people were there, but there 
 was no panic, no confusion, no shouting. They were getting ready 
 to launch the boats and there was some delay. The lifeboats 
 were covered with canvas, and there were no knives to cut the lacing 
 cords. So men took out their pen-knives and helped cut them away. 
 The first boat, in which my sisters, Mrs. Cornell and Mrs. Apple ton, 
 were placed, was lowered with only fifteen or twenty in it. Then 
 came the other boats. They were lowered somewhat below the 
 deck level, the women were lifted over the rail, and then the men 
 threw or dropped them into the bottom of the boats. The women 
 did as they were told, for the most part, but some of them absolutely 
 refused to leave their husbands. The men, lying magnificently, 
 reasoned with them, saying there were other boats and that they 
 would probably be as safe on the ship as in the lifeboats. The men 
 were heroes, passengers as well as officers, and if there was cowardice 
 I did not see it. 
 
 I remember particularly the behavior of John Jacob Astor. He 
 was calm and intrepid, doing his full share in comforting and assist- 
 ing. 
 
 But it was not only the men who were brave. I owe my life 
 to a sacrifice made by Miss Elizabeth Evans, who is among the lost. 
 When my turn was about to come in the boat that proved to be the 
 last to leave, it was rapidly filled with more than fifty. Some one 
 said that only one more could be taken. Miss Evans had the better 
 claim, but she turned and said to me : ' You go; you are the mother 
 
NARRATION 183 
 
 of children and I am not. ' Then one of the sailors said there would 
 be another boat, and I was carried over the rail and dropped in a 
 heap in the boat's bottom. Miss Evans, I believe, did get in the 
 next boat, but it was capsized in launching and shewas not picked up. 
 
 The boat that followed, as I said, capsized, but a number of 
 those aboard managed to reach us and were pulled in. There was 
 an officer, and a stewardess whom I well remember for what she did 
 afterward. A steerage passenger jumped in as we were going down 
 to the water. There was no manning of the boat with a crew, and 
 there were but three oars. Some one shouted to get away from the 
 sinking ship or the suction would draw us down, but only one man, 
 a cook, knew how to row until the stewardess began to help. 
 
 The water began to spurt in around the plugs in the bottom of 
 the boat. It looked as if we should swamp, for with nearly sixty 
 we were overloaded. The stewardess got us women to take off 
 stockings and help plug the leaky places. 
 
 The most solemn thing that occurred was after we had left 
 the ship and were away a little distance. The water had mounted 
 so that it was well up beyond the first line of port holes. I looked 
 back, and on the upper deck the band was playing. The stewards 
 in their white clothes were along the rail, and they were singing 
 hymns. The sight will never leave me, and I have heard that 
 singing ever since. 
 
 After the boat went down came the greatest horror. For an 
 hour and a half I think it was that long we heard agonized cries 
 in the darkness from those that were trying to save themselves on 
 wreckage. At first there were many voices, but gradually they les- 
 sened in number, and then there was stillness. 
 
 At dawn we saw the Carpathia approaching, and our boat was 
 one of the first to be picked up. I watched the boats unload and 
 it was not until the fifteenth that I knew that my sisters were saved. 
 
 Told by MRS. J. M. BROWN to a New York "Globe" Reporter. 
 
 Sometimes a narrative tells about the occurrences of a 
 day, or of some trip. Someone may give an account of his 
 doings during an absence. In order that the recital may 
 
184 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 be interesting, an incident may be told with some detail. 
 It is desirable to tell briefly about the start, relate rapidly 
 the course followed, make the chief incident the center of 
 interest, and conclude with the impression left on the mind. 
 The chief thing to be avoided is the recital without climax 
 of commonplace, uninteresting detail. 
 
 Exercise XII. 
 
 Give an account of one of the following. Be sure that it 
 is worth telling: 
 
 A vacation journey. 
 
 A mountain climb. 
 
 An exciting ride. 
 
 A trip to the city. 
 
 How I went to my first circus. 
 
 How we spent Christmas at grandmother's. 
 
 A visit to a coal-mine. 
 
 A journey in the air. 
 
 Down the in a canoe. 
 
 A daring act. 
 A heroic rescue. 
 
 Exercise XIII. 
 
 Let others criticize the accounts given for Exercise XII, 
 keeping the following questions in mind: 
 
 Was it interesting or not? Why? 
 Was it clear or vague? Why? 
 Were the order and emphasis good? 
 
 When things happen, there must be characters involved, 
 who are affected by the events, or who are the actors in 
 them. The story must therefore make clear who the per- 
 sons are, and what kind of people they are. In order to 
 make others understand why people act as they do, and 
 
NARRATION 185 
 
 how they are likely to conduct themselves under certain 
 circumstances, it is necessary to introduce them so that 
 their acquaintance may be made, early in the story. If 
 you look at the paragraphs on pages 172-173, which give 
 setting, you will see that some also introduce character. 
 Not until a person actually takes part in the action, or talks, 
 just as he would on the stage, is he really made known to us, 
 although other characters may have given some idea of him 
 before. We have several ways of learning more about 
 him. What does he do? What is his manner of doing 
 things or of dealing with other people? What are the mo- 
 tives for his acts? So his own acts reveal him. But he is 
 likely to talk, too. What he says, his way of saying it, 
 and his purpose, all show what kind of man he is. Other 
 people, having formed an opinion from these sources, often 
 tell what they think of him, or relate instances showing 
 his personality. Of course, the person who is telling a 
 story is supposed to know the people he introduces so well 
 that he can make comments showing the light in which he 
 wishes to present the character. 
 
 Exercise XIV. 
 
 From a novel or story that you have read in class, cite 
 good methods of introducing characters. 
 
 Give instances from short stories you have read in maga- 
 zines. 
 
 Tell how someone whom you heard tell a good story in- 
 troduced the characters. 
 
 Exercise XV. 
 
 In the same way cite instances which reveal character, 
 giving at least one example of each: act, conversation be- 
 tween or about characters, and writer's or speaker's com- 
 ment. 
 
186 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Exercise XVI. 
 
 Tell how you seek to give to an old friend or a member of 
 the family an idea of someone you meet, or how you 
 give a new acquaintance an idea of someone you wish him 
 or her to know. 
 
 Try to trace the cause of your admiration or dislike or 
 contempt for someone you know. When and how did it 
 start? Has further acquaintance increased or lessened your 
 first feeling? 
 
 Exercise XVII. 
 
 Tell an incident, either from your own experience in con- 
 tact with another person, or from something you have wit- 
 nessed, which clearly indicates some marked characteristic. 
 An incident on a street car, in a department store, or in 
 school, a street accident, and various others, may furnish 
 material. Sometimes an anecdote of a child or a servant 
 shows some trait. 
 
 Note the following examples. What traits are revealed? 
 How? 
 
 1. This afternoon, just after I was seated in a pay-as-you-enter 
 car on Eighth Avenue, a large, aggressive-looking colored woman 
 boarded the car, and offered the conductor a bill. 
 
 "I can't change a five dollar bill," he exclaimed harshly. "Let 
 the people in!" 
 
 Several crowded past, at the next corner. Then the woman 
 returned to the siege. "You got to give me change," she urged, 
 glaring at him. 
 
 "I tell you I won't," he persisted, with an oath. "You give me 
 something smaller or get off the car!" 
 
 But the woman stood her ground, crowded into a corner of the 
 platform while more people entered. As the conductor gave the 
 starting bell a vicious jerk, she stepped toward him, shouting, 
 "You're too fresh, you are," adding, with an abusive epithet, "I'll 
 let you know I'm as good as you are, if my face is black. I'm a 
 lady, I am." By this time everybody in the car was looking at 
 
NARRATION 187 
 
 her. " Til report you, I will. I guess you'll learn how to treat a 
 lady!" 
 
 The conductor collected fares from another group of people, then, 
 as he vehemently stamped the lever recording fares, drew change 
 from several pockets and counted it into the woman's hand. She 
 triumphantly marched to the front of the car, regardless of stares. 
 
 2. On the outskirts of Louisiana, Missouri, stand four immense 
 sugar trees, which, if the Druidical religion were in vogue in the 
 Mississippi Valley, would be set aside as objects of worship by Demo- 
 crats. They form the corners of a rectangle about large enough for 
 a speaker's platform. Beneath their grateful shadow, with the 
 Father of Waters behind him, and the eternal hills in front of him, 
 the blue sky above his head, in the presence of a great and curious 
 concourse of people, Frank Blah- made the first Democratic speech in 
 Missouri after the close of the Civil War. Excitement was intense, 
 and men of all shades of opinion abounded on every hand. When 
 Blair arose to speak he unbuckled his pistol belt and coolly laid two 
 navy revolvers on the table. He prefaced his remarks as follows. 
 
 " Fellow citizens, I understand that I am to be killed here to-day. 
 I have just come out of four years of that sort of business. If 
 there is to be any of it here, it had better be attended to before the 
 speaking begins." 
 
 That calm but pregnant exordium has perhaps no counterpart in 
 the entire range of oratory. 
 
 "There was silence deep as death, 
 And the boldest held his breath, 
 For a tune." 
 
 He then proceeded with his speech, but had not been going more 
 than five minutes when a man of gigantic proportions started 
 toward him, shaking his huge fist and shouting: "He's an arrant 
 rebel! Take him out. Take him out ! " Blair stopped, looked the 
 man in the face, crooked his finger at him, and said: "You come 
 and take me out!" which put an end to that episode, for the man 
 who was yelling "Take him out!" suddenly realized that Blair's 
 index finger which was beckoning him on would soon be pressing 
 
188 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 the trigger of one of those pistols if he did go on, and he prudently 
 declined Blair's invitation. 
 
 From address by CHAMP CLARK at presentation of bust of 
 Blair to the United States by Missouri. "World's Best Orations." 
 Copyright by Ferd. P. Kaiser Publishing Company. 
 
 TECHNIQUE 
 
 When nine-volume novels were popular, possibly people 
 were willing to listen to long stories, as they were to read 
 them. But now, just as we all read the hundred-page novel 
 and the short story, we want our friends to avoid long- 
 windedness, and tell us a story rapidly. You doubtless 
 know elderly people who start to tell something and then 
 "get side-tracked" by trying to straighten out some doubt- 
 ful point that really hasn't any connection with the story 
 itself. A neighbor comes in and begins to tell something 
 that happened to another neighbor. 
 
 "It was last Wednesday or was it Tuesday? that John came 
 home. Yes, it must have been Tuesday, because I was baking my 
 bread, and I had just opened the oven door to look at it, and I saw 
 that I hadn't put the grate down as I always do, and the bread had 
 burned. Well, as I was saying, it was Tuesday, and Maria came 
 over to borrow my crepe veil to wear to a funeral. Her brother- 
 in-law over to Milton Center had died very unexpectedly, and she 
 knew her sister would be offended if she didn't wear black. Well, 
 she said she had heard that John was coming home that day," etc. 
 
 Naturally, the hearer is somewhat bewildered, and has 
 lost interest in what did happen to John or his family. 
 
 A good story has movement. Things happen. The action 
 proceeds swiftly, "gets somewhere." Most of the incidents 
 must advance the plot, though some may be useful in show- 
 ing character or atmosphere. The movement must be well 
 proportioned, too, so that there is no lagging in one part 
 
NARRATION 189 
 
 and crowding in another. Usually the latter part should 
 move more swiftly than the first. People dislike to have the 
 outcome held off too long. 
 
 In order to obtain smooth, steady movement, it is helpful 
 to keep the same point of view, as far as possible. If this 
 is not done it is difficult to keep the hearer's mind on the 
 development. It is necessary to keep the central idea al- 
 ways in mind, allowing nothing that distracts from it, but 
 causing every element to help in some way in the unfolding 
 of the plot. It is easier to do this in biography, because 
 one person is the center of interest, and others are brought 
 in only as they affect his life and work. In history it is 
 more difficult to keep all phases clearly before the hearer 
 without the effect of jerkiness. Adherence to the natural 
 time order helps in avoiding this in ordinary narrative. 
 
 Exercise XVIII. 
 
 Tell the story of some play that you have seen or read. 
 Try to keep the same relative movement. 
 
 Exercise XIX. 
 Tell the story of one of the following: 
 
 1. The coining of the Armada to England. 
 
 2. One of the crusades. 
 
 3. Napoleon's return from exile. 
 
 4. Whitman's journey to Oregon. 
 
 5. How Stanley found Livingstone. 
 
 6. A journey overland to California in '49 (see "Century," 1892). 
 
 7. Peary's, or Amundsen's, or Scott's dash for the Pole. 
 
 Give an account of a fire. 
 
 Give an account of a game between your school and an- 
 other. 
 
190 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Exercise XX. 
 
 Tell the story of a life, based on one of the following 
 books, or some similar one that you have read. Make the 
 narrative perfectly clear, as to subject, setting, and course 
 of life. Observe proportion and keep the person who is the 
 center of interest clearly before the hearer. Pass over un- 
 important details lightly, but emphasize critical points in 
 the career. 
 
 Life of Alice Freeman Palmer. G. H. PALMER. 
 
 Glimpses of Fifty Years. FRANCES E. WILLARD. 
 
 Life of Samuel Johnson. T. B. MACAULAY. 
 
 Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay. G. O. TREVELYAN. 
 
 Life and Letters of Louisa M. Alcott. EDNA CHENEY. 
 
 Oliver Cromwell. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 
 
 Life of Walter Scott A. LANG. 
 
 Life of Goldsmith. W. IRVING. 
 
 Ccssar. J. A. FROUDE. 
 
 Autobiography. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 
 
 Story of My Life. HELEN KELLER. 
 
 Life of Nelson. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 
 
 Whittier: Life and Letters S. T. PICKABD. 
 
 Nathaniel Hawthorne. HENRY JAMES. 
 
 The Making of an American. JACOB Rus. 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt. JACOB Rus. 
 
 Life of Lincoln. IDA M. TARBELL. 
 
 Up from Slavery. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 
 
 The Promised Land. MARY ANTIN. 
 
 Exercise XXI. 
 
 Give in class, in a two-minute talk, a sketch of the life of 
 the author whose work you are now reading, or of one whose 
 work you especially like, or of some statesman or ruler 
 about whom you are reading in history, or of some scientist 
 whose discoveries you are studying. 
 
 Be careful to make clear the parentage, environment, edu- 
 cation, course of mature life, and important work. 
 
NARRATION 191 
 
 Exercise XXII. 
 
 Perhaps some prominent man has just come to this coun- 
 try to travel, to give lectures, or to attend a conference. 
 Possibly a noted man has just died, or is very ill. Some 
 scientist may have made an important discovery. A states- 
 man is much before the public because of some recent act 
 or office-seeking. Give, in chapel or before the class, an 
 account of his life, not more than five minutes in length. 
 See page 249, Exercise XVI, for a talk supplementary to 
 this. 
 
 Exercise XXIII. 
 
 Tell the life story of some boy or girl, or some person 
 known to you, but not to the class, whose life seems to you 
 of especial interest for some reason. Tell it so as to bring 
 out the points that make it worth telling. 
 
 If we wish to keep the attention of the hearer, and cause 
 him to want to hear the end, and then to look forward to 
 another story, we must interest him, in spite of himself. 
 The subject of the story should appeal to his previous in- 
 terests. A child likes a fairy story, or one of olden times. 
 The hero must loom large. The boy eagerly listens to 
 stories of adventure, of daring, of winning one's way against 
 odds. The girl may be more interested in stories of girl life 
 or sentiment. People who lead commonplace lives often 
 prefer tales of wealth and royalty. The student of history 
 or customs turns with delight to a narrative that makes 
 some remote period more vivid. The gay want bright, lively 
 stories that end happily, but the serious may revel in trag- 
 edy. 
 
 Everybody wants to know how the story comes out. But 
 there are developments to be awaited. The ending should 
 not be disclosed before it is reached. Suspense may be 
 kept up by various devices. There may be a mystery of 
 some kind. Possibly someone is in disguise. One character 
 
192 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 may be under a false impression. There may be several 
 possible outcomes. Each incident must have some interest 
 in itself, as to its outcome. It must look forward to another. 
 
 The environment, and the manners and customs of the 
 people, may be so portrayed as to be of great interest. The 
 place may be a quaint old town, or one in a strange land. 
 The inhabitants may be peculiar, or have ways unfamiliar 
 to most people. The individuals perhaps have some striking 
 characteristics. If you begin to tell the story of a miser or 
 a hermit or a mighty hunter or a sailor, it attracts atten- 
 tion, because these characters are unusual, unfamiliar to 
 everyday life. 
 
 The element of probability must be considered in modern 
 accounts. If a thing is regarded as impossible the hearers 
 scoff at it. There must be some analogy to what is already 
 known. The actions and events must be in harmony with 
 the rest of the story, and with the characters. It is impos- 
 sible for characters of strongly marked types to act in ways 
 foreign to their instincts and traditions. Preparation for 
 events, by suggestion of their possibility, or by emphasis on 
 traits of character, or by making a certain course possible, 
 leads the hearer to accept what might otherwise be rejected. 
 The narrator should work steadily toward the end, leading 
 to it carefully and surely. 
 
 Narrative appeals not so much to cold reason as to the 
 emotions. Some people want to laugh or cry over every 
 story. They want to be taken out of their ordinary 
 thoughts and associations, and to think of these beings as 
 real, as people whom they might see in the flesh at any 
 time. Humor and comedy may find a place even in the 
 saddest story. In Hamlet the grave-diggers' scene is comic. 
 In Macbeth the porter's scene, just after the murder, is 
 laughable. That is like human life. The comic and the 
 
NARRATION 193 
 
 pathetic are frequently mingled. A touch of pathos can be 
 introduced in almost any story, whether of a real person 
 or a creature of the brain. Sympathy leads to interest. So 
 an incident or the portrayal of a condition that shows in- 
 justice arouses feeling, and the hearer is anxious to know 
 whether it was overcome. Anything that arouses feeling 
 will increase interest. 
 
 Another element is vividness. People are most interested 
 in what they see. They must, then, be made to visualize 
 what is told them. Description of characters or scenes may 
 be introduced. Some explanation may help in affording 
 clearness. Lack of it does not always increase, but may 
 deaden, interest. Conversation often enlivens an otherwise 
 tedious tale. It also helps make the situation clear and 
 reveals character. It may advance the plot by inducing 
 action. 
 
 Exercise XXIV. 
 
 Give an account of some conversation heard in a public 
 place, which reveals character or tells a story. 
 
 Exercise XXV. 
 
 Let two girls or two boys engage in conversation before 
 the class, in such a way as to give the story, by question 
 and answer, of some happening. 
 
 See also topics for conversations on pages 332, 346, 351. 
 
 Exercise XXVI. 
 
 After reading and criticizing the outlines on pages 194- 
 196, plan a short story, to take five or six minutes or less, 
 on a theme similar to those suggested on page 197. Ask 
 yourself the following questions: Is the theme one that will 
 interest my audience? Is it not trivial? Is it too big? Can 
 I treat it adequately? 
 
194 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Has the plot interest? Has it sufficient body? Are the 
 incidents causally connected? What marks the beginning, 
 the turning-point, the ending? Are the incidents in them- 
 selves significant? Does the plot move? Is it probable? 
 Is there sufficient suspense? 
 
 What is the setting? What method shall I use to indicate 
 it? Can I tell the story better in the first or third person? 
 Which will give most vividness and verisimilitude? Which 
 will necessitate the least indirect statement? Which gives 
 widest range? 
 
 How shall characters be introduced? How portrayed? 
 How disposed of when not wanted? 
 
 What methods can I use to increase interest and sus- 
 pense? What devices may add interest or solve difficulties? 
 How can I prepare the hearer for a startling outcome? 
 
 OUTLINES FOR STORIES TOLD IN CLASS 
 
 THE ADVENTURE OF THE PERSONS BOYS 
 
 I. Setting. 
 
 A. Time: autumn, a few years ago. 
 
 B. Place: a farm in the prairie district of Kansas. 
 
 II. Theme. 
 
 The Adventure of the Persons boys with a pack of wolves. 
 
 III. Characters. 
 
 A. Major. 
 
 1. Mr. Persons. 
 
 2. His son, Will. 
 
 3. His son, Kane. 
 
 B. Minor. 
 
 1. Mrs. Persons. 
 
 2. Mike O'Brien, a neighbor. 
 
 3. Captain Vickory, a neighbor. 
 
 4. Ned Smith, the rural mail man. 
 
NARRATION 195 
 
 IV. Plot. 
 
 A. Introduction. 
 
 1. Antecedent incidents. 
 
 a. Mr. Persons promised the boys that they 
 could go to the circus if they finished cutting 
 the corn. 
 
 b. They failed to do this, owing to the fact 
 that the father had lent the large wagon 
 box to neighbor Vickory for a wolf trap. 
 
 2. Existing circumstances. 
 
 a. The boys have been kept at home. 
 
 b. The boys are angry and dissatisfied. 
 
 B. Initial incident : they set fire to the nut grove. 
 G. Rising action. 
 
 1. O'Brien's report to their father. 
 
 2. Their flight from home. 
 
 3. Hearing the wolves. 
 
 4. Flight through high com. 
 
 D. Turning point : Kane's fall against the wagon box. 
 
 E. Falling action. 
 
 1. Escape into overturned wagon box. 
 
 2. Discovery by hunters. 
 
 3. Return home. 
 
 F. Outcome. 
 
 1. Father's forgiveness. 
 
 2. Content restored. 
 
 3. Visit to circus next day. 
 
 Student's plan. 
 
 THE INTRUDERS 
 
 I. Setting. 
 
 A. Time: summer evening and morning following. 
 
 B. Place: country house with terrace, in woods. 
 
 II. Theme: adventure with intruders. 
 
196 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 III. Characters. 
 
 A. The young mistress, Lillian Young. 
 
 B. Her guests. 
 
 1. Jean. 
 
 2. Florence. 
 
 3. Edward. 
 
 C. The maid, Ida. 
 
 D. Officers. 
 
 1. Policeman. 
 
 2. Constable. 
 
 IV. Plot. 
 
 A. Introduction. 
 
 1. Lillian has been left alone. 
 
 2. She invites Jean and her brother, Edward, and 
 Florence, to spend the night. 
 
 B. Initial incident : on the way to Lillian's, the three meet 
 two suspicious looking men. 
 
 C. Rising action. 
 
 1. After dinner Lillian hears a noise in cellar. 
 
 2. In a short time Jean hears a box fall. 
 
 3. As Lillian calls Ida to question her, Edward hears 
 a low whistle. 
 
 4. Edward turns off lights. 
 
 5. Lillian and Florence run up-stairs for a revolver. 
 
 6. The maid and Jean get canes. 
 
 D. Climax: as they peer from the window, they see two 
 crouching figures at side of house. 
 
 E. Falling action. 
 
 1. Edward telephones to the police office in the vil- 
 lage. 
 
 2. After what seems a long wait, the policeman and 
 constable are seen coming up the road on bicycles. 
 
 3. As these approach, the two men run to rear ter- 
 race and slide down. 
 
 4. Girls beg policeman to remain on guard. 
 
NARRATION 197 
 
 F. Conclusion. 
 
 1. When the parents return next day, they search 
 and find case of wine in cellar upset and bottles 
 missing. Student's plan. 
 
 SUGGESTED TITLES 
 
 The Hunter hunted. An Unexpected Guest. 
 
 The Eagle's Nest. An Exciting Adventure. 
 
 Making the Goal. Our Encounter with a Burglar. 
 
 Filling the Captain's Place. Under Orders. 
 
 The Race against Time. Lost on the Mountain. 
 
 In the Path of the Flood. Adrift on the Bay. 
 
 At the Post of Danger. Captive on a Ship. 
 
 Loyal to serve. The Masquerader. 
 
 The Fire-signal. An Amateur Detective. 
 
 How Graham won the Block The Engineer's Last Trip. 
 
 Letter. How Tony was Inspected. 
 
 The Contest for the Medal. The Fate of an Easter Bonnet. 
 
 Following the Trail. How Mary adopted Parents. 
 
 Exercise XXVII. 
 
 Let the class discuss a number of the plans, as to good 
 and bad qualities. 
 
 Exercise XXVIII. 
 
 Let each pupil suggest two or three subjects. Let the 
 class discuss possibilities, as to setting, plot, and interest. 
 
 Exercise XXIX. 
 
 Let several tell before the class the stories based on the 
 plans of Exercise XXVI. Let all be prepared to answer the 
 following: How did you like the story? Why? Was it 
 interesting? Why? How was the interest kept up? Was 
 the setting effective? Was the theme made clear? Was the 
 plot clear, well put together, well proportioned? Could the 
 crucial points be distinguished? Was the order confused? 
 Was the ending forced or too abrupt or too long drawn out? 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 DESCRIPTION 
 PURPOSE 
 
 You have found that, in order to make narrative clear, 
 vivid, and interesting, it is sometimes necessary to tell how 
 people or places look. When we do this we tell such points 
 about the appearance as to cause the hearer to see with his 
 mind's eye what we saw with the physical eye: that is, we 
 present a word picture so vividly that the hearer gets the 
 same effect as if he saw a portrait or a photograph. 
 
 Description differs from narration in that it presents, not 
 a series of happenings continuing, but a view of some scene, 
 or some person or thing, at a given moment, as a photo- 
 graph, not a moving picture film, would record it. 
 
 CLASSIFICATION 
 
 There are two kinds of description, one according to 
 method and the other according to purpose. The exact or 
 scientific description gives minutely the details necessary 
 for recognition or classification of a person, animal, plant, 
 or object. Measurement, in feet and inches, color, exact 
 form and size of parts, must be given, as well as any char- 
 acteristics of appearance that will help in identification, 
 
 Exercise I. 
 
 Study the following to find out what is necessary in such 
 descriptions: 
 
 198 
 
DESCRIPTION 199 
 
 1. Reward For arrest of escaped convict, thirty-five years old, 
 five feet eight inches in height, left shoulder lower than right, 
 shuffling gait, short black hair, blue eyes, set far apart, low brow, 
 hands short and thick with bruised nails, speech halting and un- 
 grammatical. 
 
 2. The king or horseshoe crab, full grown, is two feet long. The 
 last segment of the abdomen forms a long, sharp spine. The 
 cephalothorax is broad, shaped like a horse's foot; the feet are 
 arranged about the mouth. The abdomen bears six pairs of broad 
 swimming feet, all except the first having on the under side a set of 
 about one hundred respiratory leaves or plates. 
 
 Exercise II. 
 
 Suppose that your small brother, your grown sister, or 
 your aged grandfather is lost. Describe him or her as you 
 would to the man in charge at the police station from which 
 you want an alarm sent out. 
 
 Exercise III. 
 
 You have seen an unfamiliar flower. Describe it so that 
 your teacher of botany or a classmate who is studying bot- 
 any can tell you what it is. A small animal or an insect 
 may be chosen instead. 
 
 Exercise IV. 
 
 You have seen, on a neighboring farm, some domestic 
 animal or fowl of a breed not known to you. Describe it so 
 that your father or some boy in your class can tell you to 
 what breed it belongs. Note carefully what differentiates it 
 from those familiar to you. 
 
 Exercise V. 
 
 A friend of yours, unknown to the rest of the family, is 
 to arrive by train. Describe the person so that your father, 
 who is to meet him, will recognize him. 
 
200 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Though the exact description is useful in tracing people 
 or in determining a class, the artistic description is most 
 used in ordinary speech. You wish to tell your parents or 
 friends how some building looks, where you spend much 
 time, or which you have recently seen. You want to tell 
 how a certain room pleased you, or why you were delighted 
 with a view, or why the place where you spent the summer 
 was so attractive. If your best friend is unknown to your 
 family or to some other friend, or you see a strange- looking 
 person on the street, you want to be able to give a good idea 
 of him. Should you take a trip, or go to a ball game, the 
 interest of your account will be heightened if you can de- 
 scribe some exciting scene. If you are speaking before a 
 body of people a vivid description will not only heighten 
 interest, but will arouse your audience to laughter, sym- 
 pathy, or indignation. So it may be used in a speech that 
 is, as a whole, narration, explanation, or argument. 
 
 In most instances we do not deliberately choose the sub- 
 ject, as does a painter, but find it ready to hand. Some- 
 times, however, we must select. Then there are several 
 things to consider. Do we know it well enough to repro- 
 duce the picture for another? Is it interesting, or will it 
 only bore the unfortunate hearer? Has it any unusual 
 features that would inevitably attract attention? Can it be 
 described in words? Is the subject suited to the purpose of 
 presentation? 
 
 METHOD 
 
 The first thing necessary is to give an idea of your own 
 position, as you saw the object. You could not see the 
 whole of it at once, so you must indicate your relation to it. 
 First, some idea of the general setting may be helpful. 
 Then your point of view may be briefly indicated. If you 
 
DESCRIPTION 201 
 
 stood at the front, or diagonally across the street, or on a 
 height near by, your position shows the angle at which you 
 saw the object or scene. The hearer is then able to visual- 
 ize it in the same relation. 
 
 It is then well to give a general idea of the object, so that 
 the hearer may have a basis for the structure he builds 
 mentally according to your details. This is called the fun- 
 damental image. What do you notice first about a building, 
 for instance? Probably its form or size, whichever differs 
 most from others near, will be stamped on your retina first. 
 The color is likely to make a vivid impression, too. After 
 these three distinguishing features others are gradually 
 made evident to the senses and by them to the mind. The 
 senses, although they record physically many things at once, 
 do not enable the mind to grasp all at the same instant. 
 
 Of course, you cannot see the interior from your point of 
 view. But you may, by entering, shift your point of view. 
 You will now become aware that you see a very different 
 picture, as to general outlines, from that seen by someone 
 already within the room. Moreover, you realize that the 
 other person has a mental attitude unlike yours. If you 
 enter a schoolroom, and take your seat with other pupils, 
 you find within your range of view a certain portion of a 
 rectangular room, with a desk in the foreground, at which 
 sits a teacher. Other details soon become clear. You think 
 of it as a place where you recite, or write at the board. The 
 teacher sees a portion of the room that has a different back- 
 ground, with windows in a different relative position, a room 
 full of animated boys and girls, to whom she is talking. To 
 her the room seems poorly equipped if it has few black- 
 boards a different mental point of view from yours. So 
 we must distinguish the physical and mental viewpoints. 
 An interior is likely to make a general impression on you 
 
202 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 of comfort or the opposite, of good taste, of luxury or plain- 
 ness, of spaciousness or stuffiness. 
 
 The contents of a room have definite relation to each 
 other. Which article strikes the attention first? Is it prom- 
 inent because of its nature or position? Because of the 
 multiplicity of objects a clear order must be observed in 
 mentioning them. 
 
 Exercise VI. 
 
 Study the following according to these suggestions: 
 What is the point of view? What makes up the first image? 
 What details complete the picture? Could any of them be 
 left out? 
 
 1. Through all this petty tumult, which kept beguiling one's 
 eyes and upper strata of thought, it was delightful to catch glimpses 
 of the grand old architecture that stood around the square. . . 
 On one side there was an immense edifice devoted to public pur- 
 poses, with an antique gallery, and a range of arched and stone- 
 mullioned windows, running along its front; and by way of entrance 
 it had a central Gothic arch, elaborately wreathed around with 
 sculptured semicircles, within which the spectator was aware of 
 a stately and impressive gloom. Though merely the municipal 
 councilhouse and exchange of a decayed country town, this structure 
 was worthy to have held in one portion of it the parliament-hall 
 of a nation, and, in the other, the state apartments of its ruler. 
 
 From The Marble Faun, by HAWTHORNE. 
 
 2. We turned down lanes bestrewn with bits of chips and little 
 hillocks of sand, and went past gas-works, rope-walks, boat- 
 builders' yards, shipwrights' yards, ship-breakers' yards, caulkers' 
 yards, riggers' lofts, smiths' forges, and a great litter of such places, 
 until we came out upon the dull waste I had already seen at a dis- 
 tance; when Ham said, "Yon's our house, Mas'r Davy!" 
 
 I looked in all directions, as far as I could stare over the wilder- 
 ness, and away at the sea, and away at the river, but no house could 
 
DESCRIPTION 203 
 
 7 make out. There was a black barge, or some other kind of super- 
 annuated boat, not far off, high and dry on the ground, with an 
 iron funnel sticking out of it for a chimney and smoking very cosily; 
 but nothing else in the way of a habitation that was visible to me. 
 
 "That's not it?" said I, "that ship-looking thing?" 
 
 "That's it, Mas'r Davy," returned Ham. 
 
 If it had been Aladdin's palace, roc's egg and all, I suppose I 
 could not have been more charmed with the romantic idea of living 
 in it. There was a delightful door cut in the side, and it was roofed 
 in, and there were little windows in it; but the wonderful charm of 
 it was, that it was a real boat which had no doubt been upon the 
 water hundreds of times. . . . 
 
 It was beautifully clean inside, and as tidy as possible. There 
 was a table, and a Dutch clock, and a chest of drawers, and on the 
 chest of drawers there was a tea-tray with a painting on it of a lady 
 with a parasol, taking a walk with a military-looking child who was 
 trundling a hoop. The tray was kept from tumbling down, by a 
 Bible; and the tray, if it had tumbled down, would have smashed a 
 quantity of cups and saucers and a teapot that were grouped around 
 the book. On the walls there were some common colored pictures, 
 framed and glazed. There were some hooks in the beams of the 
 ceiling, the use of which I did not divine then; and some lockers and 
 boxes and conveniences of that sort, which served for seats and 
 eked out the chairs. From David Copperfield, by DICKENS. 
 
 3. I visited one of these khans now standing, and looking just 
 as hi Christ's tune. We rode in under the arched entrance and dis- 
 mounted. We found the building of stone and around an open 
 square without roof. The building is more than two thousand 
 years old. It is two stories high. In the center are camels, horses, 
 and mules. Caravans halt here for the night or during a long storm. 
 The open square is large enough to accommodate a whole herd 
 of cattle, a flock of sheep, or caravan of camels. The neighboring 
 Bedouins here find market for their hay, straw, and meats. Off 
 from this center there are twelve rooms for human habitation. 
 The only light is from the door. I went into one of these rooms 
 and found a woman cooking the evening meal. There were six 
 
204 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 cows in the same room. On a little elevation there was some straw 
 where the people sat and slept when they wanted to rest. It was 
 in a room similar to this that our Lord was born. 
 
 From Sermons on the Holy Land, by T. DEWITT TALMAGE. 
 
 4. He moved through the dark room with perfect ease, struck a 
 match, lighted a taper and went swiftly and softly about. He 
 touched the taper to one candle after another, they seemed to be 
 everywhere, and won from the dark a faint twilight, that yielded 
 slowly to a growing mellow splendor of light. 
 
 The lines of the walls receded as the light increased, and the 
 raftered ceiling drew away, luring the eyes upward. I rose with a 
 smothered exclamation on my lips and stared about, snatching off 
 my hat in reverence as the spirit of the place wove its spell about 
 me. Everywhere there were books; they covered the walls to the 
 ceiling, with only long French windows and an enormous fireplace 
 breaking the line. Above the fireplace a massive dark oak chimney- 
 breast further emphasized the grand scale of the room. From every 
 conceivable place from shelves built for the purpose, from brackets 
 that thrust out long arms among the books, from a great crystal 
 chandelier suspended from the ceiling, and from the breast of the 
 chimney innumerable candles blazed with dazzling brilliancy. I 
 exclaimed in wonder and pleasure as Bates paused, his sorcerer's 
 wand in hand. 
 
 From The House of a Thousand Candles, by MEREDITH NICHOI^ 
 SON. Copyright, 1905. Used by special permission of the pub- 
 lishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Co. 
 
 Exercise VII. 
 
 Select one of the following, or one suggested by the in- 
 structor, or a notable building with which you are familiar. 
 Look at it carefully, from a fixed position, or study a pic- 
 ture of it. What do you notice first? When you have 
 formulated the fundamental image for yourself, decide 
 whether there is anything unusual about it. Look at it long 
 enough so that you feel you have a vivid mental picture. 
 Try closing your eyes and reviewing the points necessary 
 to make the picture clear, or turn your back and write down 
 
DESCRIPTION 205 
 
 the points in order. Then look again to verify your mem- 
 ory. If you do not have to change the points you can prob- 
 ably repeat them to another so that he will be able to repro- 
 duce your mental picture. Describe the building before the 
 class. 
 
 The school building. 
 
 A church. 
 
 The town hall, or courthouse. 
 
 The public library. 
 
 A notable mansion. 
 
 A peculiar house, perhaps very old. 
 
 A business building. The Flatiron, Woolworth, and Metropoli- 
 tan buildings in New York are excellent examples. 
 
 A bank. 
 
 A hospital. 
 
 The railway station. 
 
 Some public monument, such as Grant's Tomb, the Garfield 
 Memorial, The Bunker Hill Monument. 
 
 Some important building you have seen in another city. 
 
 Exercise VIII. 
 
 Let other members of the class try to reproduce the pic- 
 ture by drawing on the board or writing a description based 
 on the speaker's. 
 
 Exercise IX. 
 
 Describe an open interior or a room in the building you 
 took as your subject in Exercise VII on page 204. 
 
 Exercise X. 
 Describe clearly one of the following: 
 
 A piece of statuary in your school or in some public building. 
 A piece of machinery. Be careful to give a picture, not an account 
 of how it is constructed. 
 A clock. 
 
206 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 An antique table, cabinet, or other piece of furniture. 
 A large vase. 
 
 A dress displayed in one of the fashionable shops, or one of old 
 style, an heirloom or one exhibited hi a museum. 
 A suit of armor hi the museum. 
 
 Sometimes we see so many things from one position that 
 it is impossible to convey every detail to someone else in 
 words. Just as we select details in narrative, we must in 
 description. We pick out those that we have noticed 
 because we could not help it. We mention them in the 
 order in which they naturally appeared to us. In looking at 
 a large scene, we find that, though there is a first image 
 that includes altitudes, color, and the general nature of the 
 view, there is some center of attention, to which other fea- 
 tures are subordinate. We often see the background before 
 we see the part nearest. 
 
 Exercise XL 
 
 In the following, what is the fundamental image, the cen- 
 ter of interest, the background? What details are included? 
 What left to imagination? What impression is left? 
 
 The procession has now come to the brow of Olivet. Magnifi- 
 cent prospect! reaching out hi every direction vineyards, olive 
 groves, jutting rocks, silvery Siloam, and above all, rising on its 
 chain of hills, this most highly honored city of all the earth. Jesus 
 Christ, there hi the midst of the procession, looks off and sees here 
 fortressed gates, and yonder the circling wall, and here the towers 
 blazing hi the sun, Phaesaelus and Mariamne. Yonder is Hippion, 
 the king's castle. Looking along hi the range of the large branch of 
 that olive tree, you see the mansion of the merchant prince. 
 Through this cleft in the limestone rock you see the palace of the 
 richest trafficker hi all the earth. He has made his money by selling 
 Tyrian purple. Behold now the Temple! Clouds of smoke lifting 
 from the shimmering roof, while the building rises up beautiful, 
 
DESCRIPTION 207 
 
 grand, majestic, the architectural skill and glory of the earth, 
 lifting themselves there in one triumphant doxology of frozen prayer 
 of all the nations. 
 
 From Sermons on the Holy Land, by T. DEWiir TALMAGE. 
 
 Exercise XII. 
 
 Study the following for the difference between description 
 and exposition (see also page 224) : 
 
 1. From the top of Notre Dame, Montreal, is certainly to be had a 
 prospect upon which, but for his fluttered nerves and trembling 
 muscles and troubled perspiration, the traveler might well look with 
 delight, and, as it is, must behold with wonder. So far as the eye 
 reaches it dwells only upon what is magnificent. All the features 
 of that landscape are grand. Below you spreads the city, which has 
 less that is merely mean in it than any other city of our continent, 
 and which is everywhere ennobled by stately civic edifices, adorned 
 by tasteful churches, and skirted by full-foliaged avenues of man- 
 sions and villas. Beyond it rises a beautiful mountain, green with 
 woods and gardens to its crest, and flanked on the east by an endless 
 fertile plain, and on the weet by another expanse, through which 
 the Ontario rushes, turbid and dark, to its confluence with the St. 
 Lawrence. Then these two mighty streams, commingled, flow past 
 the city, lighting up the vast champaign country to the south, where 
 upon the utmost southern verge, as on the northern, rise the cloudy 
 summits of far-off mountains. 
 
 From Our Silver Wedding Journey, by WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS. 
 
 2. The Santa Fe" Railroad makes connections at Milano, Texas, 
 with the International, and that road passing through Austin and 
 San Antonio connects with the Mexican National at Laredo. The 
 Mexican National is the main line to Monterey, the most American 
 of the Mexican cities, situated only 168 miles from the Rio Grande. 
 Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila, one of the richest mining states, 
 San Luis Potosi, one of the richest cities of the republic, Toluca, 
 the progressive capital of the state of Mexico, these are the main 
 cities on this line between Monterey and the city of Mexico. The 
 
208 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 trip from the border to the capital traverses every variety of country 
 from plain to valley and mountain. Among the principal large 
 cities near the City of Mexico may be named Guadalajara, in the 
 west central portion, one of the prettiest cities to be found anywhere. 
 Aguas Calientes, named for the hot springs there; Guanajuato, 
 which is noted for having one of the largest silver mines, one of the 
 handsomest theaters and the largest collection of mummies to be 
 found on the continent, and Cuernavaca, just south of the City 
 of Mexico, always of interest to tourists because of the private 
 residence of Cortez, and now becoming famous as a health resort. 
 Popocatapetl, one of the tallest peaks on this hemisphere, is seen 
 to advantage from the Cuernavaca road. 
 
 From Second Visit to Mexico, by W. J. BRYAN. 
 
 Exercise XIII. 
 
 Describe one of the following, with care as to point of 
 view, first image, selection and arrangement of details, and 
 general impression. Do the first impression or any details 
 remind you of anything? How can you most clearly convey 
 to the audience your own mental picture? 
 
 A village hi which you have lived or which you have visited. 
 A view from the piazza of a summer hotel, or from a window. 
 View from the top of a high building or tower, or a high bridge. 
 View from a steamer coming into port. 
 View from a carriage on a country road. 
 View from a mountain-top. 
 
 Exercise XIV. 
 
 Describe some spot, such as a forest scene, a small lake 
 or bay, with surroundings, or brook or river scene, which 
 might attract a tired city dweller for a day. Some parts of 
 large city parks afford such scenes. 
 
 A few pages back you saw an exact description by which 
 a person might be recognized. But ordinarily you wish to 
 give an idea of someone in such a way that the hearer's 
 
DESCRIPTION 209 
 
 imagination is aroused and assisted. Nobody cares whether 
 your friend is exactly five feet six inches in height, but if 
 he is very small or unusually large, or has any general 
 characteristics of appearance that would attract immedi- 
 ate attention, those points should be given. Everyone looks 
 so different from most other people that he is at once recog- 
 nized by his acquaintances, even when suddenly met on 
 the other side of the globe, after several years. A traveler 
 on an ocean steamer heard a voice speak her name, and 
 turned to find a young woman whom she had not seen for 
 four years, and of whom she probably had not thought 
 half a dozen times in that period. Yet she called her 
 by name, and placed their former association at once. Like 
 recognitions have occurred after many years, when neither 
 had reason to suppose the other within many miles. Many 
 persons can recognize even in other places those whom they 
 have met but once. At a fancy dress ball many of the 
 guests can be recognized in spite of the change in clothes. 
 Noted criminals have been arrested when in complete dis- 
 guise, with hair dyed, scars simulated, gait studied, or de- 
 formity pretended. What peculiarities, modeling of fea- 
 tures, or traits of manner, expression, or speech make up 
 this marvelous individuality? 
 
 When you are introduced to someone, what do you no- 
 tice first? What do you recall an hour afterward? When 
 your attention is attracted by a person entering the car, 
 what is the cause? If you involuntarily turn to look after 
 a passer-by, why do you? Afterward, what details can you 
 easily remember? What left with you the impression of 
 culture or boorishness, of gaiety or suffering, of buoyancy 
 or weariness, of good nature or brutality, of good char- 
 acter or bad? Are you frightened, amused, or curious? 
 
 It is probably true, in the case of human beings, that 
 
210 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 first impressions are the most lasting. They may be mis- 
 taken ones, but sometimes a dislike acquired during the 
 first five minutes of association remains for many years. 
 How do we gain such impressions? Why did you resolve 
 at once that you did not want to sit with a certain 
 student, though you immediately tried to win the friend- 
 ship of another? One may be just as healthy, well fea- 
 tured, well dressed, and courteous as another; and yet there 
 may still be a repulsion from one. As we grow older, our 
 mental attitudes, our habits, and our characters become 
 more firmly and undisguisably stamped on our appearance. 
 But how? What reveals to us these things in others? 
 
 When we have answered these questions, perhaps we 
 shall see what is necessary for us to portray in order to give 
 a third person a picture. You may have read Hawthorne's 
 story of the Prophetic Pictures. The artist saw in the 
 faces something that others could not see. Yet it was 
 there, tending to the inevitable. To us, few things are 
 of more value than to be able to read the characters of 
 those we meet. With that power many lives would have 
 been saved misery and ruin. So may it not be worth while 
 to study the revelation of personality and character? 
 
 But, in describing people for others, we should be careful 
 not to confuse statements of our opinion of them with the 
 details of the picture. We should let the figure stand re- 
 vealed through itself, not through our comment based on 
 rumor or previous knowledge. 
 
 Exercise XV. 
 
 Study the following as to fundamental image, differen- 
 tiating points, order of details, details suggesting character, 
 and main impression. 
 
 1. And once looking out, I saw all up and down the street, in every 
 window I could see, just the same mass of eager faces behind the 
 
DESCRIPTION 211 
 
 windows. Those faces were all concentrated on a certain figure, 
 a farmerlike, sunburned man who stood, roughly clothed, with his 
 hands behind him, speaking to no one, looking nowhere hi particu- 
 lar; waiting, so far as I could see, for nothing, with broad shoulders 
 and heavy muscles, and the head of a hero above. Such a brow, 
 such massive formation, such magnificent black eyes, such straight 
 black eyebrows I had never seen before. 
 
 That man, it appeared, was Daniel Webster! I saw people go 
 along the street sidling past him, looking up at him as if he were 
 the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World hi New York harbor. 
 
 From a lecture on Oratory by T. W. HIGGINSON. " Public Speak- 
 ing," by Irvah L. Winter. 
 
 2. There were very few negroes among the reconcentrados. In- 
 deed, but one black in the throes of death from starvation was seen. 
 This was at Matanzas. The party was returning to the city from 
 a visit to a hospital in its outskirts. While crossing a stone bridge 
 over the river, we saw something like an overturned iron statue 
 below, on the sward of the bank. It was the skin and bone of a 
 gigantic negro, entirely nude. He was in the last agonies of starva- 
 tion. He lay partly upon his side hi the hot sun, with knees crooked 
 and head upon his left arm. When we leaned over the parapet and 
 addressed him, he made no reply and showed no sign of life. A 
 moment afterwards a buzzard swooped over him, fanning his 
 shrunken shank with its wings. And still no sign of life was shown. 
 Again we shouted from the parapet, but the figure remained motion- 
 less. Suddenly the head was raised and the long, bony right arm 
 moved in a feeble effort to scratch the naked thigh. 
 
 From speech on The Situation in Cuba by AMOS J. CUMMINGS. 
 "Congressional Record," July 13, 1898. 
 
 3. Tall and apparently endowed with much vigor of body, his 
 presence was noble and his appearance prepossessing. In later 
 years, the first peculiarity which caught the eye, as Burke walked 
 forward, as his custom was, to speak in the middle of the House, 
 were his spectacles, which, from shortness of sight, seemed never 
 absent from his face. His dress, though not slovenly, was by no 
 
212 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 means such as would have suited a leader of fashion. He had the 
 air of a man who was full of thought and care, and to whom his 
 outward appearance was not of the slightest consideration. But, as 
 a set-off to this disadvantage, there was in his whole deportment a 
 sense of personal dignity and habitual self-respect. They who knew 
 how amiable Burke was in his private life, and how warm and tender 
 was the heart within, might expect to see these softer qualities 
 depicted on his countenance. But they would have been disap- 
 pointed. It was not usual at any time to see his face mantling with 
 smiles; he decidedly looked like a great man, but not like a meek 
 or gentle one. All his troubles were impressed on his working fea- 
 tures, and gave them a somewhat severe expression, which deepened 
 as he advanced in years, until they became to some observers un- 
 pleasantly hard. The marks about the jaw, the firmness of the 
 lines about the mouth, the stern glance of the eye, and the furrows 
 on the expansive forehead, were all the sad ravages left by the diffi- 
 culties and sorrows of genius, and by the iron which had entered 
 the soul. MACKNIGHT. 
 
 4. A flying figure covered the little distance hi a dozen graceful 
 leaps, snatched the child from the young man's hands, and stood, one 
 foot advanced, breast heaving, a palpitating, wild thing, like a sym- 
 bol of defiance. 
 
 The girl belonged distinctly to the more attractive type; it re- 
 quired but little imagination to endow her with real beauty. Her 
 figure was straight and slim and well proportioned, her eyes large, 
 her face oval, and quite devoid of that broad, high-cheeked stupid- 
 ity so common in the northern races. At the moment she flashed 
 like a brand with quick-breathed anger and fear. 
 
 Dick looked at her first with amazement, then with mingled 
 admiration and mischief. 
 
 From The Silent Places by STEWART EDWARD WHITE. 
 
 Exercise XVI. 
 
 You have a friend or acquaintance not known to other 
 members of your family, or to the class. Tell how he or 
 she looks. 
 
DESCRIPTION 213 
 
 Exercise XVII. 
 
 You saw on the car, or met on the street, a person who 
 attracted your attention, and made a definite impression on 
 you. Describe this person to the class. 
 
 Exercise XVIII. 
 
 You cannot remember the name of some acquaintance 
 who is known to the person to whom you are talking. De- 
 scribe him or her in such a way that the hearer can dis- 
 tinguish the subject from others belonging to the same 
 circle. 
 
 Exercise XIX. 
 
 Describe without name some person known to some other 
 members of the class, and let someone identify the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 Sometimes a person belonging to a certain class is known 
 by the marks of the type as well as individual characteris- 
 tics. Some nationalities can be distinguished in an instant, 
 because the members all have certain likenesses. You see 
 a postman, a fireman, a policeman, and think of him as 
 one of a body, because of the common attire and manner. 
 Those who follow the same occupation or profession, though 
 extremely individual, may in some ways be typical. Most 
 people are able to recognize a clergyman, a physician, or 
 a teacher. 
 
 Exercise XX. 
 
 See whether you can pick out, on the cars, people who 
 apparently belong to certain classes: the prosperous busi- 
 ness man, the schoolgirl or boy, the teacher, the laboring 
 man. 
 
 Exercise XXI. 
 
 Describe such a person to the class, letting the members 
 name the type, or describe a soldier, sailor, policeman, post- 
 
214 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 man, fireman, nun, deaconess, nurse, priest, monk, subway 
 guard, conductor, beggar, or any other type, so that the 
 hearers can classify the person described. 
 
 Be careful not to make this a general, expository account, 
 but reproduce a picture of the person in a characteristic 
 position. 
 
 Animals, too, though they are more clearly classified 
 into species than are human beings, have, in many in- 
 stances, individuality. Several years ago a horse was stolen 
 from a hotel shed in Schenectady, New York. The police 
 failed to trace it. Some months afterward the owner was 
 sitting by a window and saw his horse driven past. He 
 followed, claimed the animal, and learned finally the cir- 
 cumstances of the theft and sale. If your dog were stolen 
 you could identify it among many. 
 
 Exercise XXII. 
 
 Make a list of the ways in which a horse, dog, cat, cow, 
 or other familiar animal may differ from another of the 
 same species, and from the same breed. 
 
 Exercise XXIII. 
 
 Describe one of your pets, or an animal on the farm, in 
 such a way that its individuality is shown. If it has dis- 
 tinctive habits or manners, show it in action. 
 
 Exercise XXIV. 
 
 Describe some animal you saw at a fair, a circus, or in 
 the zoological gardens. 
 
 You will easily see that the choice of effective words 
 has much to do with the vividness and effect of a descrip- 
 tion. You have probably all heard people talk "like a 
 book." You are annoyed with that kind of expression, be- 
 cause it seems formal, stilted, and unnatural. The effec- 
 
DESCRIPTION 215 
 
 tiveness of direct speech often depends on its entire 
 naturalness. Simple, short words are best. Sometimes 
 comparisons help to make an impression vivid, if they are 
 not long drawn out. The common expressions, "black as a 
 crow," "a face like a full moon," "bright as a dollar," have 
 become hackneyed, but they illustrate the method. If you 
 can introduce a concise comparison that is unusual, but 
 marked, you will make an impression. We have heard 
 quite enough about azure or violet eyes, but that is no rea- 
 son why we should cease to appeal to the sense of color. 
 Lowell, in his description of June, appeals to feeling and 
 hearing. Many words suggest touch or sound, such as 
 rough, sharp, corrugated, sizzling, gushing, titter, strident. 
 Even such words as lofty, dwarfed, lean call to mind whole 
 figures. It must be remembered that most words mean lit- 
 tle or much according as they have meager or vivid associa- 
 tions. Many words suggest effect, such as bedraggled, 
 decisive, breathless, calm, pitiful, desolate, gorgeous, spec- 
 tacular. Do not be afraid to use striking words. Although 
 florid, ornate language should not be affected, there is no 
 need of leaving your speech colorless and bare. Neverthe- 
 less discretion is desirable. Some words good in their right 
 places become ludicrous in the wrong ones. So context as 
 well as fitness must be considered. Words which might 
 well be used of a battle scene may not do for a quarrel 
 between kittens. 
 
 Often a description has one specific purpose. The speaker 
 wishes to give the impression of horror, of admiration, of 
 fear or of delight, of amusement or awe. The chief purpose 
 of picturing one scene may be to show the desolation; of 
 another, such as a scene on Broadway, to portray the life 
 and action. A description of a fire company on the way to 
 a fire may well be centered on the impression of haste, to 
 
216 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 such an extent that there is as much suspense as in a good 
 narrative. 
 
 In order to obtain the desired impression, as a whole, 
 only such details may be chosen ao will, in some way, aid 
 or be subordinate to the main idea. That must be kept 
 constantly in mind. The fewer the details, then, the more 
 likely the impression is to be clear cut. The words, too, 
 must be selected with a view to deepening this impression. 
 Motion words help to give life. Words denoting or sug- 
 gesting color or sound must be used to give the effect of 
 color or sound. Repetition of the effect in other words 
 emphasizes it. 
 
 Exercise XXV. 
 
 In one or two sentences describe a sound, a taste, a smell ; 
 a feeling, mental or physical, a color. Use words that give 
 effect. Try various comparisons to see if you can find any 
 that fit. Seek to adapt the word to the sense, so that the 
 sound of it suggests the thing. 
 
 1. One afternoon some summers ago I was in Wichita, in the 
 state in which I then lived, and about five o'clock in the evening 
 I took the south-bound Sante Fe" train for Wellington, a town some 
 thirty miles to the south. It was a southern Kansas afternoon in 
 late August. The early and the later rains had given the farmers 
 matured crops in abundance before the season of drought had come, 
 but now for days and days the hot winds like the breath from a super- 
 heated furnace had swept across the prairies, filling the baked and 
 hardened ground with wide fissures that gaped with repulsive 
 thirstiness. The grass, dried and browned by heat of sun, seemed 
 tinder-box-like to invite devouring flame. The corn blades wrinkled 
 and curled under the blast of heat until the gaunt stalks seemed 
 bereft of everything save drooping ears. 
 
 The sun had shone with increased brightness and burned with 
 increased fervor in a sky that seemed always to have been cloudless. 
 
DESCRIPTION 217 
 
 The very air danced with heat waves that brought tears to strained 
 eyes; the cattle on parched pastures sought in vain for the brooks, 
 creeks, springs and ponds long since licked up by the thirsty sun. 
 The barbed wire fences stretched miles and miles away like heated 
 lines of silver, glistening in the sunlight. The buildings in towns 
 and cities cast perspiring frowns; the very pavements reflected back 
 to the heavens the burning heat-rays they refused to absorb and 
 men almost lifeless began to inquire, "Will it ever rain again?" 
 From a sermon by DR. GUY POTTER BENTON. 
 
 2. Then as the sun rose higher in the sky the campus began to 
 fill to overflowing with a varied company of men and women. The 
 special train from New York at 10 o'clock brought hundreds to the 
 campus, and shortly after that the dormitories and clubhouses 
 gave forth their hosts of graduates and undergraduates. 
 
 There was color everywhere, the severe black of many robes of 
 much learning relieved and brightened with every variety of 
 academic insignia. The campus was rich with the greens and pur- 
 ples and yellows of scholastic distinction with here and there the 
 flaming gowns of Oxford men. On the outskirts of the crowd was 
 the light and color of Summer gowns and bright parasols tilted in 
 the warm May sunlight, for three of the clubs had given dances 
 the night before and the ceremonies had their quota of Princeton 
 girls. And hi and out of the crowd darted undergraduates innumer- 
 able, a profusion of white flannels. 
 
 It was a perfect day. They called it a Princeton day. The cam- 
 pus in its new green was a glory of sunshine. 
 
 Scene on Princeton campus, at inauguration of President Hibben. 
 "New York Times." 
 
 3. But in another five minutes the light shone pink on them, and 
 we saw they were icebergs, towering many feet in the air, huge 
 glistening masses, deadly white, still and peaked in a way that had 
 suggested a schooner. 
 
 From interview with Lawrence Beeseley, after Titanic disaster. 
 "New York Times." 
 
218 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 4. She was as dead an old woman as ever I saw: no more than 
 bone and parchment, curiously put together. Her eyes, with which 
 she interrogated mine, were vacant of sense. STEVENSON. 
 
 5. The inn bore the name of some woodland annual, stag, or 
 hart, or hind, I forget which. But I shall never forget how spacious 
 and how eminently habitable it looked as we drew near. The car- 
 riage entry was lighted up, not by intention, but from the mere 
 superfluity of fire and candle in the house. A rattle of many dishes 
 came to our ears; we sighted a great field of table-cloth, the kitchen 
 glowed like a forge and smelt like a garden of things to eat. 
 
 STEVENSON. 
 
 6. For league upon league the desert uniformity of the prospect 
 was almost unbroken, the hills were dotted with little tufts of shriv- 
 eled grass, but betwixt these the white sand was glaring in the 
 sun; and the channel of the river, almost on a level with the plain, 
 was but one great sand-bed, about half a mile wide. 
 
 FRANCIS PARKMAN. 
 
 7. The light of day is dying over the forests of the upper Missis- 
 sippi. The silence of high space falls upon the vast stream. On 
 a thunder-blasted tree-top near the western bank sits a lone, stern 
 figure waiting for its lordliest prey the eagle waiting for the swan. 
 
 JAMES LANE ALLEN. 
 
 8. But here was a turreted border castle, bristling at the head of 
 the gorge, like the fangs in a boar's throat. EDITH WHARTON. 
 
 9. Over the river, so still with its oily eddies and delicate wreaths 
 of foam, just below the falls they have in late years woven a web 
 of wire high in air, and hung a bridge from precipice to precipice. 
 Of all the bridges made with hands it seems the lightest, most 
 ethereal. HOWELLS. 
 
 10. He found the Abbot a man with a bland intriguing eye, and 
 centuries of pious leisure in his voice. 
 
 EDITH WHABTON. 
 
DESCRIPTION 219 
 
 11. The camel is a proud, mysterious, solemn, ancient, ungainly, 
 majestic and ridiculous shape, stalking out of the past. 
 
 T. DEWITT TALMAGE. 
 
 12. In our tent in Palestine to-night I hear something I have never 
 heard before and hope never to hear again. It is the voice of a 
 hyena amid the rocks nearby. When you may have seen this 
 monster putting his mouth between the iron bars of a menagerie, 
 he is a captive and he gives a humiliated and suppressed cry. But 
 yonder, in the midnight on a throne of rocks, he utters himself in 
 a loud, resounding, terrific, almost supernatural sound, splitting 
 up the dark into a deeper midnight. It begins hi a howl and ends 
 with a sound something like a horse's whinnying. In the hyena's 
 voice are defiance and strength and bloodthirstiness and crunching 
 of broken bones and death. T. DEWITT TALMAGE. 
 
 13. The massive trunks seemed like pillars set to uphold the level 
 roof of green. Great yellow birches, shaggy with age, stretched 
 their knotted arms high above us; sugar maples stood up straight 
 and proud under their leafy crowns; and smooth beeches the most 
 polished and park-like of all the forest trees offered opportunities 
 for the carving of lovers' names hi a place where few lovers ever 
 come. HENRY VAN DYKE. 
 
 14. But when we turned to the south and east, how wonderful 
 and different was the view! Here was no wide-spread and smiling 
 landscape with gleams of silver scattered through it, and soft blue 
 haze resting upon its fading verge, but a wild land of mountains, 
 stern, rugged, tumultuous, rising one behind another like the waves 
 of a stormy ocean Ossa piled upon Pelion, Mclntyre's sharp 
 peak, and the ragged crest of the Gothics, and, above all, Marcy's 
 dome-like head, raised just far enough above the others to assert 
 his royal right as monarch of the Adirondacks. 
 
 HENRY VAN DYKE. 
 
 We may have occasion to describe scenes in which people 
 fit into the picture. Sometimes the instant of highest tension 
 is caught, as in a photograph. Perhaps figures are moving 
 
220 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 about in swift, vital action. Here is opportunity to show 
 background, atmosphere, figures, motion, color, sound a 
 harmonious whole made up of many elements. There may 
 be bits of narrative, for the action may progress or change 
 in a moment. Here, too, contrast may be used. Every ele- 
 ment of good description enters. 
 
 1. I raised my eyes, and I shall never forget the spectacle that 
 I saw. The greater part of the smoke had risen, and hung in a 
 canopy about twenty feet above the redoubt. Through a bluish 
 haze I could see the Russian grenadiers behind their half-destroyed 
 parapet, with arms raised, motionless as statues. It seems to me 
 that I can see now each soldier, with his left eye fastened upon us, 
 the right hidden by the leveled musket. In an embrasure, a few 
 yards away, a man stood beside a cannon, holding a fuse. 
 
 I shuddered, and I thought that my last hour had come. 
 The Taking of the Redoubt, by PROSPER MERIMEE. Trans, by 
 Geo. B. Ives. "Little French Masterpieces Series." 
 
 2. As the day grew old and we passed rapidly up from the rear 
 to the head of the hurrying column, the roar of battle grew more 
 distinct, until at last we crowned a hill, and the contest broke upon 
 us. Across the deep valley, some two miles away, we could see 
 the white smoke of the bursting shells, while below the sharp 
 incessant rattle of the musketry told of the fierce struggle that was 
 going on. Before us ran a straight, white, dusty road, choked 
 with artillery, ambulances, caissons, ammunition trains, all pressing 
 forward to the field of battle, while mixed among them, their bay- 
 onets gleaming through the dust like wavelets on a river of steel, 
 tired, footsore, hungry, thirsty, begrimed with sweat and dust, the 
 gallant infantry of Sedgewick's corps hurried to the sound of the 
 cannon as men might have flocked to a feast. Moving rapidly 
 forward, we crossed the brook which lay so prominently across the 
 map of the field of battle, and halted on its farther side to await 
 our orders. Hardly had I dismounted from my horse, when look- 
 ing back I saw that the head of the column had reached the brook 
 and deployed and halted on its other bank, and already the stream 
 
DESCRIPTION 221 
 
 was filled with naked men shouting with pleasure as they washed 
 off the sweat of their long day's march. Even as I looked, the noise 
 of battle grew louder, and soon the symptoms of movement were 
 evident. The rappel was heard, the bathers hurriedly clad them- 
 selves, the ranks were formed, and the sharp, quick snap of the per- 
 cussion caps told us the men were preparing their weapons for action. 
 Almost immediately a general officer rode up to the front of the 
 line, addressed to it a few brief, energetic words, the short sharp 
 order to move by the flank was given, followed immediately by 
 the "double quick," the officer placed himself at the head of the 
 column, and that brave infantry which had marched almost forty 
 miles since the setting of yesterday's sun which during the day had 
 hardly known either sleep, or food, or rest, or shelter from the July 
 heat, now, as the shadows grew long, hurried forward on the run to 
 take its place in the front of battle and to bear up the reeling for- 
 tunes of the day. 
 
 From Oration on Battle of Gettysburg by CHARLES FRANCIS 
 ADAMS, Quincy, Mass., July 4, 1869. "World's Best Orations." 
 
 3. General Lee, after a cheery conversation, parted the window 
 curtains and invited his visitors to a tiny balcony overhanging the 
 street. The view was enlivening. The Prado was bathed in the 
 effulgence of electric lights, and the statue of Isabella adorning 
 the oblong park fronting the hotel looked like an alabaster figure. 
 All was life and activity. A cool breeze came from the ocean. 
 A stream of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen poured along the 
 Prado dark-eyed senoras and senoritas with coquettish veils, 
 volunteers, regulars, and civil guards, in tasty uniforms, and a cosmo- 
 politan sprinkling of Englishmen, Germans, French, Italians, and 
 other nationalities, Americans being conspicuous. Low-wheeled 
 carriages rattled over the pavements in scores, many filled with 
 ladies en masque, on their way to the ball. Occasionally the notes 
 of a bugle were heard, and anon the cries of negro newsboys, shout- 
 ing "La Lucha!" 
 
 Description of scene in Havana, by AMOS J. CUMMINGS. "Con- 
 gressional Record." 
 
222 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Exercise XXVI. 
 
 You have seen a production of some play, possibly one 
 that you are reading in class. Describe some scene in which 
 an important character appears at an exciting moment; for 
 instance, just after Orlando rushes in while the exiles are 
 eating, or where Orlando talks with Jaques while Celia and 
 Rosalind listen. Include background, important details, 
 and take care to show the relation of objects and persons. 
 Indicate bearing and expression of face. 
 
 Exercise XXVII. 
 
 Describe one of the following, showing action: 
 
 Skating scene. 
 
 Scene at village post-office at mail-time. 
 Scene at railway station as train comes in. 
 Scene after church service. 
 Scene on circus grounds, or at the zoo. 
 Ballroom during dance. 
 Scene just after a wreck, or at a fire. 
 
 Scene on steamer deck or on pier, as ship goes out, or enters. 
 Scene before or during or after some ball game. 
 Brooklyn Bridge at the rush hour. 
 
 Subway station in New York or Boston at 8 A. M. or 6 P. M. 
 Scene in a large store, during a bargain sale, or on Christmas Eve. 
 Street scene on a main street in a large city after the play. 
 Scene during a parade. 
 Scene at a country fair. 
 Scene before or after school, or at lunch time. 
 Scene on street at beginning of heavy shower (Read HAW- 
 THORNE'S Sights from a Steeple, in "Twice-Told Tales"). 
 
 The description of the scenes during the advance of 
 the army, given on pages 220-21, illustrates a kind of de- 
 scription that progresses, though it is not pure narrative. 
 A succession of pictures is given, without including any in- 
 cident. Often this is more vivid than a single picture. 
 
DESCRIPTION 223 
 
 It gives opportunity for movement, and therefore truly 
 presents a scene of action. 
 
 Exercise XXVIII. 
 
 Describe a race, or the rush to a fire, or the successive 
 scenes in a football game. 
 
 Describe the changing scene viewed from a moving train 
 or from a river boat. 
 
 In giving the general impression, in any of the exercises, 
 you have used description by effect. This method may be 
 used for entire descriptions. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 EXPOSITION 
 NATURE OF EXPOSITION 
 
 The word exposition means literally a setting out, or 
 laying open. Sometimes the term explanation is used in- 
 stead. It is that form of expression which makes some in- 
 formation or direction clear, which tells what or how. It 
 does not relate a series of happenings, or even give an 
 account of a single event with continued action, as does 
 narrative. It may, however, state what certain persons or 
 groups of persons are accustomed to do under specific cir- 
 cumstances, such as the Saturday afternoon dress parade at 
 West Point. Nor does exposition aim to reproduce in the 
 mind of the hearer a definite picture of an individual per- 
 son or place, though it may state what characteristics one 
 possesses. In other words, description gives a representation 
 of the individual as distinguished from pther members of 
 a class or type, but exposition states the general marks 
 common to all members of a class, or states what qualities 
 the individual has without showing the appearance. One 
 pupil may explain the plan or construction of the school 
 building. Another may describe it, showing it as he sees it, 
 without exact information as to dimensions. A political 
 speaker may state fully what the Republican party stands 
 for in that campaign, using exposition, not argument, as he 
 would in attempting to convince the voters that they should 
 elect the candidates who hold those principles. 
 
 224 
 
EXPOSITION 225 
 
 The purpose, then, of exposition, is to give information 
 of some kind in a clear, accurate way. One may find ex- 
 position necessary to make others understand the nature of 
 work to be done, how to plan or carry out the work, con- 
 ditions that exist, processes that others have followed, or 
 even the personal opinion of the one giving the information, 
 or theories that someone else holds. 
 
 Exercise I. 
 
 Read the examples on pages 207 and 259 to distinguish 
 description, exposition, and argument. Give reasons for 
 your classification. 
 
 CLASSIFICATION 
 
 There are various kinds of exposition. A simple defini- 
 tion is one. So is the explanation of what a museum in 
 all its varied departments is. One may state what an auto- 
 mobile is. Then he may give a long and detailed account 
 of how the machines are made and placed on the market. 
 He may state the characteristics or advantages of various 
 kinds. He may explain the workings of the parts to pro- 
 duce motion of the whole, and state the theory which the 
 inventors applied. If experienced in its use, he can show 
 someone else how to run it, and give directions for proper 
 care, or how to make repairs. The dealer has, possibly, 
 knowledge of the best methods of salesmanship, which he 
 communicates to his men. He also knows the conditions of 
 the trade, or production, or increased cost of making and 
 marketing, which he tells other dealers, or a prospective 
 purchaser. Of course, he should be able to give his own 
 opinions as to the good workmanship and superiority of 
 the car he sells. He should know its qualities of speed, en- 
 durance, and economy of fuel. It may be convenient for 
 him to be able to summarize briefly the statements in a 
 
226 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 large catalog. Moreover, he should be able to give sales- 
 men aid in selling to people known to him in the vicinity, 
 by giving character sketches that reveal personality, thus 
 enabling the agent to obtain the attention, the interest, and 
 the confidence of the possible purchaser. In fact, few 
 people, in any occupation, do not frequently have oppor- 
 tunity to use all kinds of exposition. 
 
 The conditions of its use are more varied, perhaps, than 
 for other forms of expression. The schoolboy is stopped on 
 the street, and tells a stranger how to reach the station or 
 the shopping district. He reaches school, and tells his com- 
 panions how to make a new kind of knot, or explains a 
 method of play he saw the day before. If accused of break- 
 ing an appointment, he states the facts which explain his 
 action. If another boy cannot understand the theory of 
 the steam engine, or the law of gravitation, he tries to 
 make it clear. Perhaps he sets forth the conditions that 
 make an additional society in the school desirable, or an 
 appeal to the Board of Education for a new playground 
 necessary. There is no doubt that he will freely express 
 his opinions whenever occasion offers, or that he will char- 
 acterize the new boy or the new teacher with great force- 
 fulness. His sister, too, has much the same occasion to 
 use all kinds of explanation, and does it just as glibly; but 
 when either one is asked to say the same kind of thing 
 formally, before a number of people, it seems a task. Why 
 should anything that is so common a part of the day's work 
 or play be regarded as a forced, unnatural labor, to affright 
 or confuse? 
 
 ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF EXPOSITION 
 
 Exposition, like every other kind of writing or talking, 
 must have some qualities in high degree, to make it fulfil 
 
EXPOSITION 227 
 
 its purpose. The most necessary are those of CLEARNESS, 
 
 ACCURACY, UNITY, COHERENCE, EMPHASIS, AND CONCISENESS. 
 
 In order that a series of statements may be CLEAR, 
 the subject should be definite. On pages 24-30, we dis- 
 cussed the choosing and limiting of a subject. The 
 material must be so arranged that there is a consistent 
 plan. Otherwise there will be confusion in the mind of the 
 speaker, and consequent failure on the part of the hearer to 
 grasp the subject or understand the various phases. The 
 section on planning, pages 34-43 should be carefully read 
 for help at this point. Simplicity and conciseness of ex- 
 pression also aid greatly in producing clearness. Although 
 illustration may be used, and is sometimes worth more than 
 general statements, words should not be wasted. 
 
 Examples of clear, concise statement. 
 
 1. During the mediaeval ages and the period following the Refor- 
 mation thousands of persons were put to death because charged 
 with practicing magic and witchcraft. It was held that anyone who 
 indulged in such practices violated the law of God and man. A 
 belief in witchcraft and magic was prevalent in the public mind. 
 Prosecution did not diminish the alleged practice nor lessen the be- 
 lief. Putting to death merely accentuated the whole situation. The 
 thundering of the pulpit, Catholic and Protestant, and the combined 
 efforts of civil authorities were impotent to prevent these practices. 
 They only ceased when a few wise men stated flatfootedly that 
 there was no such thing as practicing magic or witchcraft, because 
 there was no such thing as magic or witchcraft. And then it was 
 all over. From Common Sense in Politics, by JOB HEDGES. 
 
 2. In France, where they have the best roads in the world, at 
 the head of the road system there is a magnificent technical school 
 of roads and bridges, maintained at the expense of the National 
 Government, from which graduates are chosen as highway engineers 
 to build and maintain the roads of France. There is an immediate 
 cooperation between the Republic, the departments, and the com- 
 
228 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 munes as completely as an organized army, directed by the most 
 intelligent head possible to obtain. 
 
 At the head of the administrative organization is a director gen- 
 eral of bridges and highways, under whom are the chief engineers, 
 ordinary engineers, and subordinate engineers, the latter being 
 equivalent in rank to non-commissioned officers in the army. The 
 subdivisions are under the direction of principal conductors and 
 ordinary conductors. Next in line come the foremen of construc- 
 tion gangs, the clerks employed at headquarters, and, finally, the 
 patrolmen, each having from 4 to 7 kilometers of highway under 
 his immediate supervision. 
 
 The great administrative machine working in complete harmony, 
 with definite lines of responsibility clearly established, accomplishes 
 results with military precision and regularity. In this great army 
 of workers not the least important unit is the patrolman, who has 
 charge of a single section of the road. He keeps the ditches open, 
 carefully fills holes and ruts with broken stone, removes dust and 
 deposits of sand and earth after heavy rains, removes the trees, 
 shrubs, and bushes, and when ordinary work is impossible breaks 
 stone and transports it to the point where it is likely to be needed. 
 He brings all matters requiring attention to the notice of his chief. 
 
 Every detail requiring attention is carefully noted and reported 
 to the central authorities, so that at any time the exact condition 
 of every foot of road throughout France may be ascertained. 
 
 Here is a system, the best in the world, over whose magnificent 
 highways vast volumes of farm products find their way at a cost 
 of from 7 cents to 1 1 cents a ton per mile. Over these roads motor 
 cars can travel 50 miles an hour without danger. They are beauti- 
 ful. They are lined on either side by ornamental and fruit trees. 
 They are of great commercial value. They lower the cost of living, 
 both to the town and the country, by furnishing the city with cheap 
 food and furnishing the country with cheap freight in transporting 
 their products to town and their materials back to the farm. 
 
 In France at the present time there are 23,656 miles of national 
 routes, which cost $303,975,000 to build. There are 316,898 miles 
 of local highways, built at a cost of $308,800,000, of which the State 
 
EXPOSITION 229 
 
 furnished $81,060,000 and the interested localities $227,740,000. 
 The roads of France are classified into five different divisions: 
 
 First. The national routes, traversing the various departments 
 and connecting important centers of population. 
 
 Second. The department routes, connecting the important 
 centers of a single department and bisecting the national routes. 
 
 Third. Highways of general communication, little less important 
 than the previous class. 
 
 Fourth. Highways of public interest, traversing a single canton 
 and connecting remote villages with more important roads. 
 
 Fifth. Private roads. 
 
 In the German Empire a similar system prevails, and these great 
 nations, including the other nations of Europe, for that matter, set 
 an example to the people of the United States which they would do 
 well to follow. 
 
 In England they have a much more localized system, and in con- 
 sequence there is in England the most striking example of lack of 
 uniformity of road work and of excessive expenditure in proportion 
 to mileage. 
 
 The most perfect road system, however, is that of France, which 
 has the most highly centralized management of all the road systems. 
 
 It is not my purpose, Mr. President, to go into detail with regard 
 to the best methods of construction, but only to point out the 
 extreme importance of centralized initiative and centralized knowledge 
 proceeding with efficiency upon a fixed basis. 
 
 From speech on Good Roads by SENATOR OWEN. " Congressional 
 Record." 
 
 Exercise II. 
 
 Bring to class three terms, each representing something 
 that you would like defined, or so clearly explained that you 
 would thoroughly understand it. 
 
 Exercise III. 
 
 Define or explain one of the topics on pages 230-1. Let 
 two pupils take the same subject, in some instances, for 
 comparison later in class as to clearness of exposition. 
 
230 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 1. A Roman phalanx. 
 
 2. A Roman legion. 
 
 3. An Egyptian obelisk. 
 
 4. The Rosetta stone. 
 
 5. An Egyptian pyramid. 
 
 6. An encyclopeolia. 
 
 7. The English Constitution. 
 
 8. The American Constitution. 
 
 9. What the dead-letter office is. 
 
 10. How the Weather Bureau works. 
 
 11. Naturalization. 
 
 12. Direct legislation. 
 
 13. The recall. 
 
 14. How a criminal or civil trial is conducted. 
 
 15. A party primary, or a political convention. 
 
 16. A party platform. 
 
 17. A manor. 
 
 18. Feudalism. (Not in detail, but so as to give the main idea.) 
 
 19. A tornado. 
 
 20. A blizzard. 
 
 21. An iceberg. 
 
 22. How money is made, or postage stamps. 
 
 23. How money gets into circulation, and is withdrawn. 
 
 24. How the scenery of a play is changed. 
 
 25. A "skyscraper." 
 
 26. An apartment house. 
 
 27. The Smithsonian Institute. 
 
 28. The Rockefeller Foundation, or the Carnegie Foundation. 
 
 29. What mathematics is, or geology, or physics, or chemistry, 
 or astronomy. 
 
 30. What civics is, or history, or economics, or literature. 
 
 31. What a water wave, or light wave, is. 
 
 32. Atwood's machine. 
 
 33. What a dynamo is. 
 
 34. What a volcano is. 
 
 35. What a glacier is. 
 
EXPOSITION 231 
 
 36. What an earthquake is. 
 
 37. What is meant by alternation of generations. 
 
 38. How condensed milk is made, or vegetables, fruit, or meat 
 canned. 
 
 39. How moving pictures are made and reproduced. 
 
 40. What is meant by the rotation of crops. 
 
 41. What is meant by scientific management. 
 
 42. What wireless telegraphy is. 
 
 43. What is meant by the theory of evolution. 
 
 44. The Republican, or Democratic, or Progressive, or Socialist 
 Party. 
 
 45. How books are advertised, or machinery, or clothing. 
 
 EXAMPLES OP DEFINITION 
 
 1. What is a Democrat? He is an individualist. He believes in 
 the right of every man to be and to make of himself all that God 
 has put into him. He is a man who believes and practices the doc- 
 trine of equal rights and the duty and obligation of seeing to it as 
 far as he can that no man shall be denied the chances in life which 
 God intended him to have. He is a man who believes in the 
 Declaration of Independence, and who is filled with that spirit of 
 equality which has made this country of ours the refuge of the op- 
 pressed of all the world and the hope of this age and of all ages to 
 come. GOVERNOR AYCOCK. 
 
 2. Political parties, popular notions to the contrary, are any two 
 or more individuals acting with a common purpose. The size of 
 the party does not change the proposition, but merely extends the 
 degree of influence. 
 
 Political organizations are the standing committees of parties, 
 charged with their internal management between conventions and 
 during campaigns. 
 
 Bosses are persons of official or unofficial authority in party 
 organizations whose position is due to their own capacity, or to the 
 quiescence of those over whom their influence extends. 
 
 From Common Sense in Politics by JOB HEDGES. 
 
232 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 3. What is a trust? It is a combination of capital designed to sim- 
 plify and unify business, or a combination of labor, designed to 
 simplify and unify industry. It is easy to see, therefore, that there 
 can be good trusts and bad trusts, just as there can be good men and 
 bad men. A trust is a good trust when it performs the work for 
 which it has been organized, and produces better goods at cheaper 
 prices and delivers them to the consumer more conveniently than 
 a dozen different concerns could do. The consumer is the sovereign 
 factor. The well-being of the masses is the result of every indus- 
 trial development that endures. 
 
 A trust is a bad trust when it raises prices dishonestly and without 
 other reason than to satisfy the greed of its managers. A man is 
 a bad man when he steals, and, when he does that, he ought to be 
 put in jail. A trust is a bad trust when it dishonestly raises prices 
 and, when it does that, its managers ought to be put in jail. But 
 because one man steals is no reason why all men should be put in 
 jail; and because one trust is dishonest is no reason why all trust 
 managers should be put in jail . . . 
 
 Let me give you Nebraska farmers a perfect illustration of a 
 trust that every farmer in this country operates himself the self- 
 binding harvester. I got the job of driving the first self-binding 
 harvester that was sent to Central Illinois by the McCormicks. 
 It was an old wire binder. It was a trust. It was the only trust 
 with which I ever had anything to do. It did what several machines 
 and implements were required to do before. It enabled the farmer 
 to harvest and market his grain at much less cost than he was able 
 to do before. The first season the self-binding harvester appeared 
 in Illinois, the same arguments were advanced against it that are 
 now advanced against trusts. 
 
 Let me give you another and simpler example of the trust. 
 There is in this country a great railway system called "The Big 
 Four Railroad." A great deal of it is in Indiana, and most of it 
 is in that state and hi Ohio. I remember the time when the rail- 
 roads that formed what is now the Big Four Railroad system were 
 
EXPOSITION 233 
 
 short, separate lines. Service on each of these lines was poor. 
 Cars were bad. Tracks and roadbeds were far from safe. 
 
 The passenger who wanted to travel any considerable distance 
 had to get off the cars at one end of a line and get on other cars of 
 another line, and the longer he traveled the more he had to do this. 
 He had to pay higher fare than now and to buy many separate 
 tickets. The employees of these various lines were fewer in number 
 than they are now and were paid smaller wages. Frequently the 
 lines went into the hands of receivers and the workingmen had 
 trouble hi getting their wages at all. 
 
 Finally a wise manager combined these lines into one system. 
 What was the result? More trains, faster tune, better cars, cheaper 
 rates and through service. You can now get on one of that system's 
 trains, and, without change, go to distant points which before re- 
 quired two or three changes and two or three tickets. The system 
 employs many more men than the separate lines employed. The 
 service is greatly improved. The convenience to the passenger is 
 not a comparison but a contrast with what it used to be. There- 
 fore, there is more traveling, more business. You are carried more 
 cheaply in palace cars; your grain is hauled at lower rates of freight, 
 more safely and more speedily. And so it is that a miracle is 
 wrought, better service and cheaper rates to the public on the one 
 hand, and more employment and higher wages to the employees on 
 the other hand; at the same time, more profit to the stockholders 
 who own the road. 
 
 Extracts from Campaign Speech by ALBERT J. BEVERIDQE at 
 Columbus, Nebraska, Sept. 28, 1900. The Meaning of the Times 
 and Other Speeches. Copyright, 1909, by The Bobbs, Merrill Co. 
 Used by permission. 
 
 Exercise IV. 
 
 Select one of the subjects on pages 234-5, and, after 
 careful planning, by noting on paper the necessary steps, 
 tell the class how to do the work. Give special attention 
 to clearness. Be sure to include everything necessary to 
 enable a hearer to follow your directions. Use drawings at 
 the board if they will be helpful. 
 
234 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 1. How to make bread, or some kind of cake or pie, or pudding, 
 or salad. 
 
 2. How to launder lace, or a shirtwaist. 
 
 3. How to make some dainty, inexpensive Christmas gift. 
 
 4. How to decorate a table or room for some special occasion, 
 as for a party on some holiday, or class social. 
 
 5. How to furnish a boy's room. 
 
 6. How to furnish a room in colonial style. 
 
 7. How to plant a vegetable or flower garden. 
 
 8. How to plan an old-fashioned flower garden. 
 
 9. How to take care of palms, ferns, or any kind of plant. 
 
 10. How to care for a garden. 
 
 11. How to care for a lawn. 
 
 12. How to graft or bud a fruit-tree. 
 
 13. How to cut down a tree. 
 
 14. How to care for a pet bird or animal 
 
 15. How to teach a dog tricks. 
 
 16. How to trim a hedge. 
 
 17. How to develop and print a photograph. 
 
 18. How to make a battery. 
 
 19. How to put up a tent. 
 
 20. How to pack a trunk, or a camping outfit. 
 
 21. How to make, and to extinguish, a camp fire. 
 
 22. How to revive a fainting or drowning person. 
 
 23. How to save a drowning person. 
 
 24. How to treat some common injury. 
 
 25. How to ship goods from to by the cheapest, 
 
 or the nearest way. 
 
 26. How to reach most quickly from . 
 
 27. How to make a shirtwaist, or dress of some specific style. 
 
 28. How to make some new play hi a game known to your hear- 
 ers. 
 
 29. How to use the dictionary, or a cyclopedia, or the library. 
 
 30. A good way to prepare a certain lesson in French, German, 
 or^ history. 
 
 31. How to prepare for examinations. 
 
EXPOSITION 235 
 
 32. How to read a newspaper. 
 
 33. How to fix a broken hinge, 
 
 34. How to file a saw. 
 
 35. How to prepare a certain kind of rough board for use in the 
 shop. 
 
 36. How to care for an engine, or any machine. 
 
 37. How to care for horses, or cows. 
 
 38. How to pack eggs, or some other breakable, for parcel post. 
 
 39. How to put up a telephone line to your neighbor's house. 
 
 40. How to construct a mail-box signal, to be seen at some dis- 
 tance. 
 
 41. How to perform a certain experiment, in physics or chemistry. 
 
 42. How to mount flowers, or insects, or how to stuff birds. 
 
 43. How to clean a fish, or prepare some small animal for cooking. 
 
 One of the most frequent criticisms of our high school 
 graduates is that they are not accurate, either in following 
 instructions or in performing routine tasks. Although some 
 people are gifted with exceptional natural attention to de- 
 tail, ACCURACY is a quality that can be cultivated. As an 
 aid in attaining success, by increasing the value of one's 
 services, it cannot be overestimated. If one is constantly 
 making mistakes he wastes much time correcting them. 
 He may be put to great inconvenience as a result of some 
 trivial omission or distortion. Worse still, he may not only 
 cause heavy expense to his employers, but may even entail 
 great loss of life. 
 
 A few years ago the General Electric Company received 
 an order from a European country for several large pieces 
 of electrical apparatus. Although it was the custom to 
 test all machines sent out, in this case the testing was im- 
 possible, because of the lack of a suitable space. So the 
 parts of the machines were packed and shipped, and a man 
 sent along to assemble the parts and set up the whole. The 
 machine failed to work. There were parts which did not 
 
236 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 articulate. On investigation, it was found that a slight mis- 
 take had been made in the drawing from which blue-prints 
 had been made for the pattern-maker. The apparatus, 
 worth seventy thousand dollars, was thrown away. The 
 company, taught by the costly mistake, erected a large 
 building solely for the purpose of testing such machines. 
 
 The student who permits himself to become habitually 
 careless is injuring himself most of all, for his character, 
 forming day by day, is inevitably affected by his manner of 
 work or speech. Slip-shod, slovenly methods become so 
 ingrained that the earnest man, seeking to better himself 
 and his service, is bound by the iron chains of habit forged 
 in a careless youth. He cannot then always "do it over." 
 He must often send out what cannot be recalled, what is 
 acted on by people beyond his reach. As a matter of com- 
 mon honesty, too, the boy or girl who under- or overstates, 
 who twists the statement or directions of another to some- 
 thing very different in meaning, is laying the foundations 
 for a habitual mental crookedness that, no matter how well 
 intentioned, how far from deliberate falsehood, is sometimes 
 more deadly than a malicious lie. Who can afford to build 
 a character on a foundation of inaccuracy, in writing or 
 speech? 
 
 Exercise V. 
 
 Make an outline, with main and subheadings, according 
 to forms on pages 40, 41, 243, for a talk, explanatory in 
 nature, on one of the following. Develop your points in a 
 short talk before the class, being careful to state accurately 
 and impartially whatever facts are essential to a clear 
 understanding on the part of your hearers. 
 
 Some club in your town. 
 
 The young people's society in your denomination. 
 
 Some society in your school or in another school. 
 
EXPOSITION 237 
 
 Some organization, such as the W. C. T. U., the Y. W. C. A., 
 the Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. H. A., the Y. M. H. A., the S. P. C. C., 
 the S. P. C. A., the S. I. C. P., the G. A. R., the Sons (or Daughters) 
 of the Revolution, the Colonial Dames, the S. P. U. G. 
 
 The Anti-Saloon League. 
 
 The United Charities. 
 
 Exercise VI. 
 
 Make an outline, and develop a short talk, clear and im- 
 partial, on the origin of one of the following: 
 
 Any political party, in this or another country. 
 
 Some church. 
 
 Mormonism. 
 
 Spiritualism. 
 
 Christian Science. 
 
 Some organization, such as a secret or benefit society. 
 
 Exercise VII. 
 
 Outline, and develop before the class, a talk on one of 
 the following, being especially careful to give an accurate, 
 impartial statement, purely explanatory, of the principles 
 or theory involved: 
 
 1. Free trade. 
 
 2. Reciprocity. 
 
 3. Protective tariff. 
 
 4. The single tax, or the income tax, or the franchise tax. 
 
 5. Manhood suffrage. 
 
 6. The divine right of kings. 
 
 7. The Monroe Doctrine. 
 
 8. Municipal ownership, or government ownership 
 
 9. Community ownership. 
 
 10. The principles of any political party in this or any other coun- 
 try. 
 
 11. The Whigs, or the Tories, in England hi the 18th century. 
 
 12. The Jacobins. 
 
238 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 13. Radicalism. 
 
 14. Socialism as advocated by . 
 
 15. The beliefs of the Quakers, of the Shakers, or of any sect 
 recently formed. 
 
 16. The beliefs of the Church of England in the tune of Henry 
 VIII. 
 
 17. The tenets of the Separatists in the 17th century. 
 
 18. The tenets of any religious body having a church organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 Exercise VIII. 
 
 Make an outline and develop in a short talk before the 
 class an explanation of the theory or principles of one of 
 the following: 
 
 1. The kinetic theory. 
 
 2. The electron theory. 
 
 3. The nebular theory. 
 
 4. Some one scientists's theory of evolution. 
 
 5. The principle of Davy's lamp for mines. 
 
 6. The glacial theory. 
 
 7. Any scientific theory with which you are familiar. 
 
 8. The principle of the telephone, or telegraphy, or wireless 
 telegraphy. 
 
 9. The principle of the steam engine, or the gasoline engine, or 
 of the electric motor in street cars without trolley. 
 
 Since clearness is so essential to exposition, UNITY 
 must be carefully preserved. There must be a central idea. 
 The subject "vacations" would be vague. No one could 
 tell what the speaker would really talk about. But the 
 subject "the value of vacations" would have a central idea, 
 which could be treated in various phases. "Games" would 
 be too general; but "the favorite sports of the English," 
 or "the American national game," or "high school games," 
 or "summer sports in the country," all suggest something 
 
EXPOSITION 239 
 
 definite, though with several divisions. Schoolboys of a 
 half-century ago sometimes attempted to write composi- 
 tions about "Indians." No wonder they found it difficult! 
 But if you try* to outline a short essay on "Indian war- 
 fare" or "Indian character," you do not find the task a 
 hard one. 
 
 This limiting of the subject will also help in keeping to 
 some one central idea. You may have heard people ram- 
 ble on about various things, scarcely touching on what 
 they were supposed to talk about. Digression of this kind 
 is just as fatal to interest and to clearness in exposition 
 as it is in narration. A person entering the room, or speak- 
 ing to you, while you are busy, distracts your attention, 
 and may even make it impossible for you to go on from 
 that point. Just so, the entrance of a foreign subject 
 distracts the thought of the brain, so that the listener feels 
 the breaking of the thread of continuity. If the talk is 
 about "Indian warfare," it would be incongruous and out 
 of place to bring in a discussion of the Great Spirit, unless 
 that is in some direct way connected with the preparations 
 for warfare. Even if it is, would not a reference, with a 
 sentence of explanation if necessary, be sufficient, instead 
 of a full account of the religious system? 
 
 Exercise IX. 
 
 After careful examination of the outlines on pages 40, 41, 
 243 write the main headings, not more than four in number, 
 probably, for a talk on one of the following: 
 
 1. The school system of your city. 
 
 2. An exhibition, or fair, or convention, recently held in your 
 town. 
 
 3. The choice of a President of the United States. 
 
 4. The planning of a home. 
 
240 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 5. The care of the sick. 
 
 6. The Erie, or some other canal. 
 
 7. The McAdoo tunnel. 
 
 8. The street-railway transfer system in your city. 
 
 9. The making of a newspaper. 
 
 10. The postal system in your city. 
 
 11. The state library. 
 
 12. The city fire department. 
 
 13. The city Board of Health. 
 
 14. The game of football, or baseball, or basket-ball, or some 
 other. 
 
 15. The fraternity, or sorority, or club. 
 
 16. The new park. 
 
 17. The local governing body of your town or city. 
 
 18. The - Labor Union. 
 
 19. The recent strike of - . 
 
 20. The production of some crop, as wheat, com, rye, oranges, 
 celery, apples, berries, or any other of your locality. 
 
 21. The chief industry of your town. 
 
 22. The parcel post. 
 
 23. The tax system of the nation, or state, or county, or city. 
 
 24. The city water supply. 
 
 25. The milk supply of large cities. 
 
 Exercise X. 
 
 Test your main headings for the qualities of relation to 
 the subject, coordination, mutual exclusiveness, and com- 
 prehensiveness. See pages 34-43 for discussion of outlining. 
 
 The matter of comprehensiveness should have special at- 
 tention. Most students fail to cover the subject assigned. 
 The reason for this may be neglect in generalizing suf- 
 ficiently, in the main points. Many subjects fall naturally 
 into several divisions, as cause or origin, nature, results or 
 effects; purpose, nature, influence; composition, work, bene- 
 fits; others have more specific phases, or points based on 
 
EXPOSITION 241 
 
 time. You will find on page 35 a discussion of the bases 
 of division. 
 
 Subordination of phases of the general subject to the 
 whole is vitally important to unity in exposition. If a 
 minor point is raised out of its natural rank, it is mag- 
 nified beyond its deserts, and serves more to detract from 
 the real importance of the major point than to give the 
 support it should. Only by carefully formulating the main 
 heads can subordinate points be rightly found, for the sub- 
 points are the natural divisions of these. When the major 
 term covers the group, the elements in the group are 
 subordinate, and the individuals, numbering more, form 
 the next lower order. Compare the organization of the 
 army. This is made up of parts called corps, each or- 
 ganized as a complete army in itself. Each corps consists 
 of two or more divisions. Each division is made up of two 
 or more brigades. The brigades in turn are divided into 
 two or more regiments, each of which consists of about 
 ten companies. You will readily see that, though one corps 
 may be of marines, another of engineers, etc., the lower 
 orders have certain relative ranks that must be kept. 
 Nevertheless, though all regiments are equal in rank, one 
 may be of white men, a second of negroes, a third of In- 
 dians. 
 
 Exercise XL 
 
 Fill in the necessary subheadings under main headings 
 made in Exercise IX. 
 
 So much for the ranking. If, in the organization of a 
 factory, the section doing certain work had three divisions, 
 each engaged on a special phase of it, all equally important, 
 but different, the placing of one of those divisions in an- 
 other section, though not changing its rank, would dis- 
 
242 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 organize and confuse both sections, and make work toward 
 the unified, harmonious whole impossible. So, in explain- 
 ing the work of such a factory, one must avoid confusing 
 parts that do not belong together. He must keep the di- 
 visions in their places. 
 
 In the beginning and ending of the talk, also, is oppor- 
 tunity for preserving unity. The beginning leads to the 
 specific subject, narrowing the general, making the abstract 
 concrete, rendering the vague definite, and stating clearly 
 the exact subject or theme. The theme sentence should be 
 simple, concise, and clear. It is not for embellishment, 
 but for statement of the centra) idea. 
 
 The ending should show that the discussion of this phase 
 of the subject, named in the theme sentence, is finished. 
 It should make clear just what marks the limits, and should 
 indicate that other related matter belongs to another topic. 
 
 Exercise XII. 
 
 Study the plans, making full outlines if necessary, of 
 speeches beginning on pages 364, 370, 378 and 383. 
 
 Exercise XIII. 
 
 Read the examples of introduction on page 46, with 
 the discussion of types preceding. Note especially the ap- 
 proach to the specific subject and the theme sentence. 
 
 Exercise XIV. 
 
 Form a theme sentence for the main headings you wrote 
 for Exercise IX, on page 239. 
 
 Formulate the points, perhaps two main ones with one 
 order of sub-points, at least two of each set, leading up to 
 the theme sentence. 
 
EXPOSITION 243 
 
 THE STUDY OF GARDENING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 I. Many feel that the city child should know something of work- 
 ing in the ground. 
 
 II. He has no opportunities for gardening. 
 
 A. At home. 
 
 1. No interest by parents. 
 
 2. Often no space. 
 
 B. In parks, digging forbidden. 
 
 III. Therefore, courses in gardening have been introduced hi 
 some public schools. 
 
 Discussion. 
 
 I. There are various purposes in this instruction. 
 
 A. To arouse 
 
 1. Willingness of children to work. 
 
 2. Interest in growing things. 
 
 3. Pride of ownership. 
 
 4. Appreciation of beauty hi nature. 
 
 B. To teach 
 
 1. Economy. 
 
 2. Concentration of effort. 
 
 3. Care of property. 
 
 C. To prevent 
 
 1. Development of harmful ways of spending tune. 
 
 2. Sluggish inactivity in poor air and light. 
 
 II. Such school gardening has proved practicable. 
 
 A. Places. 
 
 1. School playgrounds. 
 
 2. Vacant plots near schools. 
 
 B. Method of maintenance. 
 
 1. School giving fairs. 
 
 2. Necessities purchased from proceeds of sale of 
 products. 
 
 3. Contributions from interested persons. 
 
244 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 C. Instruction and aid. 
 
 1. In lower schools, as nature study. 
 
 a. Plants in gardens. 
 
 b. Bugs and worms. 
 
 (1) Helpful, as bees. 
 
 (2) Harmful, as grubs. 
 
 2. In higher schools, in connection with botany and 
 zoology. 
 
 a. Nature and structure of plants. 
 
 b. Varieties of animal life involved. 
 III. Good results have been obtained. 
 
 A. Practical. 
 
 1. Flowers. 
 
 a. Used as objects for drawing. 
 
 b. Used in botany classes. 
 
 2. Vegetables. 
 
 a. Used in cooking classes. 
 
 c. Used hi pupils' homes. 
 
 B. ^Esthetic. 
 
 1. Increased appreciation of nature. 
 
 2. Adornment of school by flowers and plants. 
 
 C. Healthful. 
 
 1. Giving outdoor exercise. 
 
 2. Giving change hi study. 
 
 3. Furnishing needed interest. 
 Conclusion. 
 
 I. The objections formerly made to such gardening seem to have 
 
 been shown groundless. 
 
 II. Successful experiments have been tried hi certain schools 
 (names). 
 
 III. It is to be hoped that many others will try gardening. 
 
 Every kind of composition, whether spoken or written, 
 must depend largely for clearness on COHERENCE. This 
 word means a sticking together. You all know that the 
 parts of a thing must be rightly put together if the whole 
 
EXPOSITION 245 
 
 is to be of any use. If you have the seat, back, and legs 
 of a chair, you cannot achieve a result of value by putting 
 the back where the front legs should go, and the legs on 
 the top. If you cut out the parts of a waist, but inter- 
 change the sleeves, or put a section of the front in the back, 
 the garment cannot be worn. A talk put together with 
 like carelessness would be worth just as little. It would 
 be confusing to the hearer. 
 
 There are two principal ways of obtaining coherence. 
 The first is a natural one. Follow the natural, logical order. 
 In the explanation of a proposition, some statements neces- 
 sarily precede others, because the latter are dependent on 
 them. In showing a process, the time order can most easily 
 be used. In a summary, the points come in the same order 
 as in the larger work. In the expression of an opinion, the 
 premises are naturally followed by the deduction. In many 
 subjects one point, such as purpose, most readily suggests 
 the next, work or methods. The second, or more artificial, 
 method is that of inserting something to make the transi- 
 tion smoother. A link paragraph of two or three sentences 
 may be used in talks of considerable length. This shows 
 the change to another phase, and can be emphasized by the 
 bearing. In a short talk there is no time to waste. Then, 
 a sentence at the beginning of the new paragraph, together 
 with the concluding sentence of the last preceding one, forms 
 the bridge. Sometimes the transition is made by a clause 
 or phrase at the beginning of the topic sentence for that 
 division. More often a word serves to show the connection 
 between minor points. 
 
 LINK PARAGRAPHS 
 
 1. And now, fellow-citizens, without pursuing the biography of 
 these illustrious men farther, for the present, let us turn our atten- 
 
246 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 tion to the most prominent act of their lives, their participation in 
 the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 . From Adams and Jefferson by WEBSTER. 
 
 2. The constructive possibilities that are embraced in the coming 
 of immigration are beyond our power to compute at present. But 
 there are two great elements involved to which especial attention 
 must be called. 
 
 JOSEPH H. HART. 
 
 3. I choose, Sir, to enter into these minute and particular details, 
 because generalities, which in all other cases are apt to heighten 
 and raise the subject, have here a tendency to sink it. When we 
 speak of the commerce with our colonies, fiction lags after truth, 
 invention is unfruitful, and imagination cold and barren. 
 
 BURKE. Speech on Conciliation. 
 
 4. So far, Sir, as to the importance of the object, in view of its 
 commerce, as concerned in the exports from England. If I were 
 to detail the imports, I could show how many enjoyments they 
 procure which deceive the burthen of life; how many materials 
 which invigorate the springs of national industry, and extend and 
 animate every part of our foreign and domestic commerce. This 
 would be a curious subject indeed; but I must prescribe bounds to 
 myself in a matter so vast and various. 
 
 BURKE. Speech on Conciliation. 
 
 5. These, Sir, are my reasons for not entertaining that high 
 opinion of untried force by which many gentlemen, for whose 
 sentiments in other particulars I have great respect, seem to be so 
 greatly captivated. But there is still behind a third consideration 
 concerning this object which serves to determine my opinion on 
 the sort of policy which ought to be pursued in the management of 
 America, even more than its population and its commerce I 
 mean its temper and character. 
 
 BURKE. Speech on Conciliation. 
 
EXPOSITION 247 
 
 TRANSITIONAL SENTENCES 
 
 1. So much, Sir, as to this bill; and now let me add a few words 
 about those by whom it has been framed and introduced. 
 
 2. In the third place, certain industrial conditions fall clearly 
 below the levels which the public to-day sanction. 
 
 3. What is needed is action directly the reverse of that thus pro- 
 fusely indicated. 
 
 4. For this work we have an instrument at hand in the science 
 of statistics, and what we want to do is to put our wisest men 
 at work. . . . 
 
 5. Another knot for the Great Analysis to untie would be the 
 diversity of languages. 
 
 6. In view of this halting attitude, which may be expected in 
 many of the states where the need of reform is greatest, Federal 
 action is necessary. 
 
 7. Over against this example of Democratic irresponsibility, let 
 me call to your attention the attitude of President Taft in dealing 
 with similar subjects. 
 
 8. More than this, however, he has done. 
 
 9. And the people are beginning to be conscious of this burden. 
 They are crying out: "Let us be done with war." 
 
 10. And, on the other hand, in most of these questions the atti- 
 tude of the Democratic party is just the reverse. 
 
 11. But we must look more directly into the contents of human 
 nature, and the internal ruin by which they are displayed. 
 
 12. Such is also the order of the intellectual system. 
 
 13. Now, to the end of changing these conditions, what do we 
 propose? 
 
 14. But this makes us face the other phase of the constructive 
 possibilities that lie within immigration. 
 
 15. Next to the opening of the China trade, Sir, the change most 
 eagerly demanded by the English people, was that the restrictions 
 on the admission of Europeans to India should be removed. 
 
 16. It was thus that the reasonable hope of relief through the 
 election of Gen. Jackson was blasted; but still another remained. 
 
248 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Even more important in speech than in writing is the 
 attainment of force or EMPHASIS. Without this the speaker 
 fails to make the most of his material. He leaves a weak, 
 vague impression, where he might leave a strong, deep, last- 
 ing one. Emphasis consists in so striking the attention that 
 it is involuntarily arrested, and held. 
 
 Whatever is unusual has force. A sudden light or sound 
 takes the attention at once. So the introduction of some- 
 thing unexpected, in the form of a description or illustra- 
 tion, serves to impress the point on the mind of the hearer. 
 But care must be taken not to carry this to such a degree 
 that distraction results. A well-proportioned talk has em- 
 phasis, since it gives due space to each part, neither exag- 
 gerating the less nor minimizing the greater. The use of 
 climax, beginning with the least important and leading to 
 the most important, also gives strength. Sometimes the 
 last should be that point on which, though it is of less value, 
 the speaker, for the sake of effect, wishes to lay most stress. 
 Here he must consider the audience. 
 
 Exercise XV. 
 
 Give a short talk, of not more than three minutes, telling 
 what one of the persons mentioned below, or some other 
 suggested by the instructor, accomplished, or what he is 
 noted for. Make careful selection of material, and arrange 
 with regard to proportion and climax. Outline first. 
 
 1. Marconi. 9. Andrew Carnegie. 
 
 2. The Wright brothers. 10. Madame Montessori. 
 
 3. Count Zeppelin. 11. Felix Adler. 
 
 4. Santos Dumont. 12. Newell Dwight Hillis. 
 
 5. Luther Burbank. 13. Mme. Curie. 
 
 6. George Westinghouse. 14. Louis Pasteur. 
 
 7. J. Pierpont Morgan. 15. Col. George Waring. 
 
 8. John D. Rockefeller. 16. Lord Kelvin. 
 
EXPOSITION 249 
 
 17. Henry M. Stanley. 30. Ida Lewis. 
 
 18. Julia Ward Howe. 31. Florence Nightingale. 
 
 19. Eli Whitney. 32. Clara Barton. 
 
 20. Elias Howe. 33. Jane Addams. 
 
 21. Admiral Togo. 34. Edwin Booth. 
 
 22. Admiral Sigsbee. 35. Henry Irving. 
 
 23. Bessemer. 36. Mrs. Siddons. 
 
 24. Gen. Leonard Wood. 37. Whistler. 
 
 25. Ben Lindsey. 38. John La Farge. 
 
 26. Father Damien. 39. Augustus St. Gaudens. 
 
 27. "Father" Taylor. 40. John Sargent. 
 
 28. Mary A. Livennore. 41. Dr. Simon Flexner. 
 
 29. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. 42. Dr. Alexis Carrel. 
 
 Exercise XVI. 
 
 A noted foreigner is visiting this country, or some well- 
 known person is expected in your town. Tell the class or 
 school what you think everyone ought to know about him. 
 Follow directions in Exercise XV. 
 
 Exercise XVII. 
 
 Some prominent man or woman has recently died. Tell 
 the class or the school what you think should be known 
 about him, in order that your hearers may understand his 
 place in the world, and may profit by his life. Observe 
 directions for Exercise XV. See page 382. 
 
 Note the following tributes to Whitelaw Reid from dif- 
 ferent points of view. 
 
 1. To-day the social gathering that usually follows the Monday 
 afternoon lectures on journalism is omitted because of the death 
 yesterday in London of the Ambassador of the United States, White- 
 law Reid, the chairman of the advisory board of this school. 
 Nearly forty years ago Mr. Reid delivered one of the first, if not 
 the first, of the addresses by a journalist of the first rank, urging 
 professional training for the calling in which he had already won 
 high distinction. 
 
250 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 From 1875 to 1885 there were many jibes in American newspapers 
 against the plea. The editor of the Tribune continued hi season 
 and out to insist on a special education for journalists. His own 
 career gave his words authority. He entered journalism a young 
 college graduate, one of the few before the Civil War who sought 
 the newspaper office with this training. He distinguished himself 
 as a war correspondent. His dispatch of the battle of Pittsburgh 
 Landing over the signature of " Agate " in " The Cincinnati Gazette" 
 had an effect on public opinion equaled by few dispatches from the 
 battlefield during the war. Its courage and accuracy led it to be 
 sought only the other day by Sir George Trevelyan hi his work on 
 the Civil War, a remarkable example of the value of a journalist's 
 work hau" a century after the chronicle. 
 
 After a brilliant career as Washington correspondent Mr. Reid 
 became editor of The Tribune, which for over seventy years has 
 had but two chief editors, an instance of permanence in honor and 
 influence in a calling whose work is too often looked upon as transi- 
 tory. Like the greatest of American journalists, Benjamin Frank- 
 lin, Mr. Reid represented the Republic in Paris, and he has been the 
 representative of our branch of the English speaking race to the 
 other for a longer time than any man since Pinckney began that 
 illustrious roll. 
 
 In this school he has always taken an interest borne of his early 
 advocacy of professional training for journalists. In the thronged 
 days when he was in this city this fall he gave a forenoon to learn 
 in detail what was being done hi the school in studies, courses and 
 the training of the reporter. He expressed the hope of resuming 
 his attention to the work when he returned. 
 
 To the national sorrow for the going of an American of high public 
 service and the regret among journalists at the end of a noteworthy 
 career in American journalism there is added the sense of loss in 
 this school for his death. 
 
 Speech at School of Journalism by TALCOTT WILLIAMS. Re- 
 ported for the "New York Tribune." 
 
 2. Before the House proceeds to the orders of the day I would ask 
 leave to give brief expression to the sincere grief which is shared by 
 
EXPOSITION 251 
 
 the whole nation at the death of the American Ambassador, Mr. 
 Whitelaw Reid. 
 
 The American Ambassador to this country has a position of 
 his own which is independent of his status and functions as the 
 diplomatic representative of an external power. We regard him 
 as a kinsman. 
 
 He is also honored here as a welcome guest, sprung from our 
 own race, speaking our own language, sharing with us by birth as 
 well as by inheritance not a few of our most cherished traditions, 
 and participating when he comes here by what I may describe as 
 a natural right in our domestic interests and celebrations. 
 
 His office has been held and adorned by a long succession of 
 distinguished men, but I am not using the language of exaggeration 
 when I say that none of them more fully entered into its spirit and 
 maintained its special authority than did Mr. Whitelaw Reid. 
 
 He brought to the discharge of its manifold and exacting duties 
 the gathered experience of a veteran in public affairs, the endow- 
 ments of a mind of the highest culture, social gifts of the most 
 genial and generous kind, keen sympathy with all the many sides 
 of our British life, a mind always open and receptive and with the 
 warmest of hearts. 
 
 We propose to suggest to the American government that one 
 of his majesty's battleships or cruisers should convey the body of 
 the late Ambassador to his native land. I am certain I am inter- 
 preting the sentiments of the whole House when I venture hi the 
 name of the members to offer to the late Ambassador's family 
 and to the President and people of the United States our deep and 
 heartfelt sympathy hi the loss of one who was a great American and 
 who none the less was at home among us, and who in a true and real 
 sense was one of us. 
 
 Speech before the House of Commons, by PREMIER ASQUITH. 
 Reported for the "New York Tribune." 
 
 Many speakers are known as "long winded." They talk 
 so long, and give so many unessential details, that the 
 hearers not only become tired, but fail to grasp the vital 
 
252 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 content of their remarks. Therefore, we should try to be 
 CONCISE, selecting the essential details, omitting unnecessary 
 or confusing material, arranging with due regard for pro- 
 portion and logical order, and choosing the clearest, most 
 suitable expressions. Repetition should be avoided unless 
 its use will clear up technical obscurity. Straightforward, 
 crisp, unadorned statement should be practiced. See page 
 84, rules for emphasis, for discussion of redundancy, etc. 
 
 Exercise XVIII. 
 
 Summarize, for the class, as briefly as possible with clear- 
 ness and fairness, one of the following. In preparation, 
 make a topical outline with main and sub-points. Be care- 
 ful to keep the same proportion. 
 
 An editorial of about one column, from a newspaper or magazine, 
 on some interesting current topic. 
 
 An article in a magazine on some recent invention or social or 
 political movement. 
 
 A chapter from a text-book on a subject which you study. 
 
 Some lecture you have recently heard. 
 
 Exercise XIX. 
 
 Following directions for Exercise XVIII, summarize an 
 expository book, not involved or lengthy, preferably on 
 some subject connected with school work or something in 
 which the class is interested at the time. 
 
 Exercise XX. 
 
 Summarize for the class the proceedings of a recent busi- 
 ness meeting of a school organization, or of a meeting which 
 you attended as a delegate, or of a public meeting of the 
 School Board or some other Board. 
 
 In America most of us are entirely free in expressing our 
 opinions, if we have any, no matter how unseasonable and 
 
EXPOSITION 253 
 
 even rude our frank statements may be. But it is said that 
 many of us have no original views to express, and so merely 
 echo those of other people. Surely we ought to have our 
 own ideas, even though they be crude, and to be willing to 
 make them known, courteously and at the right time. If 
 we never begin to have independent opinions, we shall cer- 
 tainly never attain to sound individual judgment. 
 
 We are often asked what we think about certain books, 
 or persons, or lines of conduct. It is humiliating to be 
 obliged to say, "I really don't know," or to waver between 
 two opinions. As we grow older it becomes necessary to 
 decide on our own course of action, or on that of other 
 persons under our care, or to select someone to fill a po- 
 sition. In order to do these things well, we must have the 
 habit of formulating for ourselves quickly, decisively, and 
 with accurate and sound judgment, our personal opinions 
 on books, on persons, on principles, and on questions public 
 and political as well as social and moral. Sometimes, too, 
 it is necessary in persuading others to our views, to be able 
 to state clearly just what we think and how we have been 
 led to such judgments. 
 
 Exercise XXI. 
 
 Read a dramatic criticism, book review, or a criticism, 
 expository not argumentative, of some public policy, from 
 some paper or magazine suggested by the instructor. State 
 in detail why you think it a good article of its kind. 
 
 Exercise XXII. 
 
 Outlining your points first, give the class your personal 
 opinion of one of the following. Be careful to include such 
 phases in the discussion as should be considered in forming 
 opinions about the subject. Observe proportion and a log- 
 ical order. Be entirely frank in the expression of your own 
 
254 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 liking or the opposite, giving the personal touch without 
 dogmatism or apparent conceit. Talk as you would to 
 someone who had asked what you thought of the subject. 
 Try to have a smooth, natural beginning and ending. 
 
 1. A play you have recently seen. Is it worth seeing? Why? 
 Does it deserve public support? Why? 
 
 2. A new novel. 
 
 3. A biography that you have just read. Did you find it interest- 
 ing or profitable? Why? Did the author treat his subject well? 
 Was he fitted to do so? etc. 
 
 4. A lecturer you have heard. 
 
 5. A new building in your town. 
 
 6. A recent law or ordinance. 
 
 7. A recent act of some prominent man. 
 
 8. Some new movement or change in your town. 
 
 Exercise XXIII. 
 
 Express your ideas, perhaps in the form of suggestions 
 for changes, on one of the following. Note directions for 
 Exercise XXII, and outlines, pages 40, 41, 77. 
 
 1. An ideal high school, or course of study, in some one subject. 
 
 2. An ideal teacher, or pupil. 
 
 3. The right conduct of a student's organization. 
 
 4. The place of such organizations in a school. 
 
 5. The kind of vacation you would like, or some trip you would 
 enjoy. 
 
 6. A good housekeeper. 
 
 7. A good farmer, or mechanic, or lawyer, or physician, or trades- 
 man. 
 
 8. What you think of the popular form of amusement in some 
 one place. 
 
 9. What you think of the present method of celebrating some 
 holiday. (Do not make this argumentative, as a whole.) 
 
 10. What you think of some present-day political practices. 
 
 11. Your opinion of the present position of workers in some one 
 occupation. 
 
EXPOSITION 265 
 
 12. What you consider success. 
 
 13. What you think about the choice of a profession. 
 
 14. Your opinion of some local newspaper. 
 
 15. The place of athletics, or of secret societies, hi such a high 
 school as yours. 
 
 16. Why you like the study which is your favorite. 
 
 17. Why you do not do well in some study. 
 
 18. What you think should be done to improve the looks of the 
 school building or grounds. 
 
 19. Why some boys leave school at the end of the first year in 
 high school. 
 
 20. What could be done to hold them. 
 
 21. What could be done to improve student government in your 
 school. 
 
 22. What you think of the system of marking in your school, and 
 possible improvements. 
 
 23. Your opinion of the new rules in some game played at the 
 school. 
 
 24. The help that you think could be given the school 
 
 team by the other pupils, or by the Board of Education, or by the 
 public. 
 
 Exercise XXIV. 
 
 Make full outline for a talk on one of the following. 
 After correction, in class or as directed by the teacher, give 
 the talk in class, preferably without notes. Limit the sub- 
 ject, if necessary. See page 243, outline on gardening; 
 page 356, address by Brinkerhoff; page 366, address by 
 Jane Addams. 
 
 1. The peace movement. 
 
 2. The "Back to the Farm" movement. 
 
 3. The changes in the great city high schools. 
 
 4. Vocational training in high schools. 
 
 5. Manual training in schools. 
 
 6. The teaching of agriculture hi high schools. 
 
 7. The growth of the arbitration idea in labor disputes. 
 
256 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 8. The welfare movement among employers. 
 
 9. Compensation for injured employees. 
 
 10. The growth of pension systems. 
 
 11. The movement for social betterment. 
 
 12. The life of the factory worker. 
 
 13. The life of the department store worker. 
 
 14. Successful farming of the present. 
 
 15. Changes in farm conditions in the last century. 
 
 16. What specialized farming means. 
 
 17. What irrigation is doing for the West. 
 
 18. The present high cost of living. 
 
 19. The development of the moving picture industry. 
 
 20. The value of moving pictures. 
 
 21. What - college or technical school means to our 
 town. 
 
 22. Our town as a commercial or business center. 
 
 23. Our town as a cultural center. 
 
 See pages 317-355 for other expository subjects. 
 
PROPERTY OF 
 DEPARTMENT OF DRAMATIC ART 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ARGUMENTATION 
 
 NATUBE 
 
 One of the most useful forms of speech is that employed 
 when we wish to prove a statement that may be disputed, 
 or when, in case of a difference of opinion, we want to show 
 our beliefs or actions justified. Argument differs from 
 exposition in that it is an attempt to show by evidence or 
 reasons that the statement, belief, or policy of the speaker 
 is the right one as opposed to another, whereas exposition 
 states or explains something about which there is not likely 
 to be dispute. A person may state what his views are on 
 some subject without departing from the explanatory form; 
 but when he tries to convince another that his views are 
 right he is using argument. A boy who wants to go to 
 Harvard may tell his parents of his wishes; if he sets forth 
 the advantages of that college, or explains its curriculum, 
 he is using exposition; but as soon as he attempts to show 
 that it would be better for him to go to Harvard than to 
 Yale, he argues. 
 
 USE 
 
 We sometimes hear it said of people that they are "al- 
 ways arguing." Most of us argue a great deal without 
 realizing that we are doing so. The parent and child talk 
 about a suggested excursion, or purchase. The child wants 
 
 257 
 
258 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 to follow a certain plan, and gives reasons. The parent, 
 not wishing him to, gives reasons against his carrying it 
 out. Brothers and sisters often have lively discussions 
 over plans or views in which they differ. School-fellows 
 excitedly give reasons for and against certain courses of 
 action, in playing a game, or in admitting a new boy to 
 membership in a society. Acquaintances and friends or 
 members of a family go over the pros and cons about 
 going downtown to-day instead of to-morrow, buying a 
 dress of this instead of that color, the respective merits of 
 the seashore and the mountains as a summer resort. All 
 are using arguments just as much as is the business man 
 who tries to convince a possible purchaser that an inferior 
 article is "just as good." 
 
 Not only do all people use argument frequently in ordi- 
 nary every-day life, but many use it more formally in 
 public in connection with organizations or professional 
 work. Pupils, in class elections, often have heated debates. 
 Church meetings are not free from them in discussions of 
 how things are to be managed. Various public boards 
 seem, judging from the newspaper reports, to spend much 
 time at their meetings in more or less tempestuous argu- 
 ment. In courts of justice the prosecutor and the defending 
 lawyer present arguments. Engineers, scientists, and physi- 
 cians carefully formulate the proofs of their theories. 
 Clergymen depend on able persuasive powers to win and 
 hold the people. But those whose arguments we hear most 
 are the politicians and statesmen in mass meetings, at polit- 
 ical conventions, and in the legislative bodies. 
 
 Exercise I. 
 
 Examine the following to determine whether each is argu- 
 
ARGUMENTATION 259 
 
 mentative or expository. Give reasons in support of your 
 opinion: 
 
 1. Within the last few years, numerous attempts have been made 
 to reproduce the stage setting of the Elizabethan period. In 
 Sanders Theatre at Harvard University, several plays were given, 
 without scenery, and in a manner much like that of the sixteenth 
 century. Under the auspices of the Emerson College of Oratory, 
 Ralph Roister Doister was given in 1907, with simple curtains 
 well toward the front of the stage, through which actors passed. 
 Pages indicated the changes of scenes by going down through the 
 audience and back, and again taking their places at the corners. 
 Perhaps the best known of these stage revivals have been those of 
 Ben Greet and his company. These productions, however, only 
 approximate the Elizabethan manner. The most accurate, prob- 
 ably, have been largely for the portrayal of stage history. An 
 excellent reproduction of a stage setting of an earlier period was 
 that at the performance of Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay by the 
 Philolexian Society at Columbia University. The staging was based 
 on the researches of Mr. Victor Albright. The balconies were repre- 
 sented, there was a curtain hung from the rear balcony, revealing an 
 inner scene, and part of the action took place on this rear balcony. 
 The properties were extremely simple, and the scene changes, for the 
 most part, only indicated. The New Theatre, also, presented some 
 highly creditable productions of early plays, and scenes from the 
 Winter's Tale. On the whole, there has been great interest in such 
 attempts, and some have even gone so far as to say that Shaksperean 
 plays should be staged in the original manner. 
 
 2. The recent revivals of old plays hi the manner of their original 
 production has caused much discussion over the advisability of 
 this method. Certainly, from several points of view, this manner 
 of staging is desirable. The student is benefited. He can see 
 more clearly the historical development of the drama, since many 
 of our changes have come about through changed conditions, such 
 as the use of electric lights. He can see just how Shakspere got 
 his effects, for there is little to aid or obscure the imagination of 
 the audience. This reveals the greatness of Shakspere's genius. 
 
260 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Moreover, the student is led to see that Shakspere's technique, 
 marvelous as it was, is not suited to stage conditions of our time. 
 The lover of Shakspere for his own sake is, too, given what he 
 wants. He sees the whole play, not mutilated of some of its most 
 significant scenes, such as the one in which Cassius wins Casca to 
 the conspiracy, not distorted for the sake of using the same scenery 
 hi two consecutive scenes. He really gets the author's ideas with 
 the right emphasis, instead of having his attention distracted by 
 gorgeous scenery at which the matinee girls exclaim, or the thunder- 
 storm during a most important conversation between Brutus and 
 Cassius. If Shakspere himself could be heard, perhaps he would 
 say it is only fan- to him that his play be presented as he intended 
 it to be, under the conditions for which he wrote. Only thus can 
 true proportion be obtained, and the emphasis kept. A Shaksperean 
 production should be for the sake of the play, not to display the art 
 of a painter, or the craft of the stage mechanician, or the wealth of 
 the actor-manager. Let us hope that we shall have more of Shak- 
 spere's work as it was, not twentieth century adaptations. 
 
 Exercise II. 
 
 Mention questions likely to be argued by the following: 
 
 A family about to return to the city at the end of the vacation; 
 two boys on the playground; two physicians; several teachers of 
 your school; the walking delegate of a labor union; the president of 
 a railway company at a directors' meeting; Mr. Roosevelt in a 
 party conference; the district attorney of your county; the finance 
 board of your church; a speaker in the next state or city political 
 campaign; a W. C. T. U. worker; a Salvation Army captain. 
 
 Exercise HI. 
 
 Mention four questions that you would like to debate 
 in class. Let the class decide whether they are debatable 
 questions, and suited to the place, the audience, and the 
 material and time probably at your disposal. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 261 
 
 EVIDENCE 
 
 In supporting either side of an argument we use evi- 
 dence, or whatever helps strengthen that side. There are 
 many kinds of evidence, among them admitted facts, per- 
 sonal testimony, circumstantial evidence furnished by in- 
 animate objects, authority, and the logical bases for cer- 
 tain reasoning. 
 
 Facts may be obtained in various ways. Some are com- 
 monly known. The number of registered pupils in - 
 school is greater than the number of the seats provided by 
 the present accommodations. Experience may be drawn 
 upon for facts. In certain schools where there was over- 
 crowding, illness and poor mental work resulted. Examples 
 may be cited. Statistics compiled by the Board of Educa- 
 tion show exactly what proportion of pupils failed or left 
 school in 1910 as compared with the preceding year, and 
 also what proportion were on "part time." The success 
 or failure of an experiment must be accepted as proof. In 
 some sections of New York portable school buildings were 
 successfully used. 
 
 In some attempts to prove allegation or accusations 
 personal testimony is given in evidence. Tom Smith may 
 swear that he saw John Jones remove a load of coal from 
 the railway company's shed. But his testimony must be 
 substantiated. So another states that John Jones, whom 
 he has known for ten years, has the reputation of taking 
 what does not belong to him. A third, however, is certain 
 that John was playing cards in a saloon ten miles away at 
 the exact time when Tom says he saw the coal taken. 
 Thus an alibi is furnished. Another may have heard John 
 say that the railway company owes him a living, and is 
 really a robber anyway. If someone saw John near the 
 
262 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 coal shed shortly before the coal disappeared, Tom's tes- 
 timony is strengthened. 
 
 People have sometimes been convicted even of murder on 
 what is called circumstantial evidence. There is no abso- 
 lute, direct proof, but circumstances indicate that the ac- 
 cused was guilty. The position of the dead man and of 
 the weapons, as well as the nature of the wound, indicate 
 that he could not have killed himself. The pistol or axe 
 is known to have been in the possession of the accused. 
 The latter threw away some blood-stained clothing. Of 
 course, some of this evidence may be established by human 
 testimony. 
 
 Authority has had considerable value in recent cases. 
 Experts, the people who profess to be able to identify hand- 
 writing, or the testers of poisons, are called on to testify in 
 great numbers. An expert accountant helps prove default- 
 ing. The opinion of one versed in banking and stocks is 
 accepted in proof of values. Books, for most of us, fur- 
 nish many arguments. We are sure that a thing is so be- 
 cause a text-book says so. People whom we trust as careful 
 investigators make affirmations, which we accept. More- 
 over, we all have our heroes, from Washington, who 
 "never told a lie," to our fathers, whom we quote among 
 the other boys. If the leading speaker of our political party 
 says the tariff is a cause of high prices, or our favorite 
 newspaper blames the trusts, we believe either implicitly, 
 and think all who say otherwise demagogs and base de- 
 ceivers. 
 
 There is one kind of evidence which we reason out. We 
 are willing to believe that a thing is so because it is proba- 
 ble, to be expected. We are disinclined to believe that Bob 
 turned his other cheek to Charley when he received a blow, 
 instead of hitting back, because it would be contrary to boy 
 
ARGUMENTATION 263 
 
 nature. If the teacher finds answers exactly alike on the 
 papers of two who sat side by side, when the question re- 
 quired individual thought instead of memory, she knows 
 there has been cheating, because it is a psychological im- 
 possibility for two persons to express things alike to that 
 extent. Moreover, she can usually determine who copied 
 by her knowledge of the mental habits and the usual man- 
 ner of expression of each. Like cases may sometimes help 
 one in determining the truth of a proposition. If a thing 
 has been done it can be done again. Men's names have 
 been forged so well that it was impossible to prove forgery 
 from the handwriting. Theories and principles may also aid 
 in reasoning, especially if their truth has been demonstrated 
 in other instances. The economic principle of supply and 
 demand may be used in proving what the causes of high cost 
 of living are. The theory that men and women are radically 
 different in brain power, though not necessarily unequal, 
 has been used by many in support of schools for each sex. 
 
 TESTS OP EVIDENCE 
 
 In spite of the seemingly formidable array of evidence to 
 be gathered, it is often impossible to prove to the satisfac- 
 tion of even a single listener, to say nothing of a jury of 
 twelve good men and true, or a large audience, the propo- 
 sition or accusation in support of which the evidence is 
 presented. The reason for this is that not all of it is trust- 
 worthy. The intelligent, careful person applies tests to 
 every step, to every phase. 
 
 First, the truth of a statement may be questioned. In 
 spite of the proverb that figures never lie, they have been 
 juggled so that they have effectually concealed or perverted 
 the truth. The illness of pupils or their failure may have 
 
264 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 resulted from home conditions instead of from overcrowd- 
 ing. The success of one undertaking may have been ex- 
 ceptional, and therefore not of value as a fact in support 
 of a proposition. 
 
 Any good lawyer can render valueless much of the tes- 
 timony on the other side. He may be able to prove that 
 the witness is of known unreliability. She may have fits 
 of insanity or hysteria, or be commonly known as one who 
 exaggerates. She may even have been convicted of per- 
 jury at another time. If he can cause her to contradict 
 statements she has already made, her testimony is greatly 
 weakened in value. Is she capable of understanding the 
 point at issue? Is she prejudiced, because of enmity or 
 relationship? One's views are always colored, no matter 
 how honest one may be. Moreover, no human memory is 
 infallible. Three witnesses, all honest in purpose, all of 
 at least average intelligence, have been known to tell widely 
 different stories of the same happening. Two persons may 
 look so much alike that even an alibi is of no value. On 
 the whole, human testimony at best is likely to be far from 
 the truth. 
 
 The test of probability may be applied to some evidence. 
 We do not like to accept the unfamiliar, the unlikely, 
 though truth may be stranger than fiction. Then, too, some 
 allegations include things later shown to be impossible, 
 in themselves or in comparison with known facts. 
 
 In circumstantial evidence other possible explanations 
 should be considered. Did the accused lend his pistol, or 
 was it stolen from him? Were the blood stains those of 
 human blood? Did the dead man wish people to think he 
 had been killed instead of committing suicide? Was there 
 anyone who through ill will would try to cast suspicion on 
 an innocent person? 
 
ARGUMENT A TION 265 
 
 Authority is of varying degrees. Is the so-called expert 
 really one? Is his opinion colored by anything? Do others 
 of his own profession agree with him? What is his pur- 
 pose? Is he correctly quoted? Some people assert things 
 that are only rumors. Politicians may be talking for votes. 
 Books may be written by inaccurate people, ignorant of 
 important principles or facts. We must, then, be wary in 
 acceptance of authority. 
 
 One of the commonest and most tricky flaws is that of 
 introducing, as proofs, points that have no place as such. 
 They are sometimes based on false or illogical reasoning. 
 A wrong inference is drawn from acceptable premises. For 
 Mr. Blank to say that college will not be of any use to his 
 boy because he was successful without it does not prove 
 the contention. To say that because Mr. Brown was not 
 at church he must have been in a saloon is equally illogical. 
 Many, too, have the habit of bringing in, to win the popu- 
 lar prejudice, points that are not pertinent, that is, logi- 
 cally related, to the proposition. To say that a man is 
 not a liar among his friends, or that he is fond of his chil- 
 dren, does not prove that he is innocent of graft. To show 
 that workingwomen do not always have to support other 
 members of the family does not prove that their work 
 is not worth as high wages as a man's. 
 
 Exercise IV. 
 
 Classify and test each piece of evidence in the following: 
 
 1. A young man is on trial for destroying his aunt's last will. 
 Her lawyer, an old and trusted friend, swears that on May 9, a 
 month before the testator's death, he drew up a will disinheriting 
 the accused, and superseding a former will in his favor, the only 
 one now to be found. The deceased was in the habit of keeping 
 her private papers in a desk in her library. 
 
266 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 The accused was let into the house, the butler swears, on the 
 night of his aunt's death. Because of the excitement, little attention 
 was paid him, and he was not noticed by other servants who are 
 sworn. 
 
 The next week, when the house was being put in order, a servant 
 found some charred paper in the fireplace in a room little used, 
 where, to the knowledge of the servant, no fire had been built for a 
 long time. The bits of paper, examined under a glass, prove to 
 be of the same kind as that used habitually by the lawyer who 
 drew the will. He buys his paper, he says, from a firm hi a city 
 two thousand miles away. 
 
 A cousin of the accused, the beneficiary of the missing will, swears 
 that the accused had a large gambling debt just at the time of the 
 aunt's death. He exhibits a letter from his aunt in which she 
 mentions that the young man has asked for money a few days 
 previously. She writes that she has told him she intends to dis- 
 inherit him because of his extravagance. 
 
 The valet of the accused says that the accused was at his own 
 rooms in the city the night of the aunt's death, and that he re- 
 ceived the news next morning with great surprise and sorrow. 
 
 The housekeeper swears that, when she was called to see the 
 charred paper, she noticed finger prints in the dust on the mantel, 
 and a burned match of the kind that the accused habitually used 
 when in the house. 
 
 2. The question of providing school nurses is being argued by 
 the Board of Education, or the Finance Board. One member says 
 the city never has employed such nurses before. Very few cities 
 employ them. 
 
 Another says the teachers ought to look after the health of the 
 pupils. 
 
 A third thinks the money paid to the physician for examinations 
 is wasted unless a nurse follows up the cases. The mothers are 
 too ignorant to attend to the children properly. Since a doctor 
 is hired, why not a nurse? 
 
 Another feels that parents of the better class do not want a visit- 
 ing nurse telling them what to do. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 267 
 
 The statistics of the Board of Health show that there were seven 
 deaths from diphtheria in one school district in four weeks. It is 
 argued that the employment of a nurse would have prevented the 
 spread of contagion by the early discovery of the nature of the 
 
 disease. In , where only one nurse was employed, the 
 
 school attendance increased, the work of the pupils improved, and 
 there were fewer deaths hi the district. The winter was an ex- 
 ceptionally healthful one for both adults and children. 
 
 KINDS OF ARGUMENT 
 
 Argument is divided into three kinds, according to the 
 result desired. If we are trying to prove that Tom Brown 
 stole Lyman Black's horse, or that Rufus Godwin is the 
 inventor of a rapid-fire shotgun, or that William Dean 
 Howells is the writer of an anonymous novel running in the 
 Atlantic Monthly, we are trying to establish a fact. Al- 
 though there are two opinions, there must be some absolute 
 fact existent, whether or not it may be laid bare. 
 
 Another kind aims to prove the truth of some theory or 
 principle that has not yet been generally accepted, and 
 therefore needs various proofs that will convince people of 
 its truth. 
 
 The third kind, the most common, is that of policy. The 
 girl tries to prove to her family that it would be more ad- 
 vantageous for her to take the course in stenography than 
 to take the college preparatory course. The boy argues that 
 the ball game with New Berne should be held on Friday 
 instead of Saturday. The members of the Forum debate 
 on whether the United States should build two battleships 
 a year. 
 
 Exercise V. 
 
 wcise V. 
 
 Let six pupils, three on each side, give good, clear reasons 
 
268 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 for their belief in regard to one of the following. For other 
 subjects, see Exercise VII, page 81, 17-20. 
 
 1. Did the Norsemen discover America? 
 
 2. Did the Mexican Indians have a high civilization? 
 
 3. Did members of the union commit certain riotous acts at- 
 tributed to them hi the strike? 
 
 4. Was Perkin Warbeck the heir to the British throne? 
 
 5. Were the doors locked at the time of the fire in the 
 
 factory? 
 
 6. Were the trainmen responsible for the recent accident on 
 the Railway? 
 
 7. Did Cook discover the North Pole? 
 
 8. Is Mrs. Humphrey Ward the author of 
 
 9. Was the Titanic (or some other ship) going at nearly full 
 speed when struck? 
 
 10. Did King Arthur of the Round Table really live? 
 
 11. Are moving pictures replacing acted plays as entertainment? 
 
 12. Are periodicals replacing books as general reading? 
 
 Exercise VI. 
 
 Hold a mock trial, civil or criminal. Study methods of 
 procedure from text-books on civil government and, if pos- 
 sible, from attendance at court sessions. Have various 
 pupils act as judge, witnesses, lawyers for the defendant 
 and for the State or complainant, and jury. Let the wit- 
 nesses be examined and cross-examined, and let the lawyers 
 sum up. 
 
 Exercise VII. 
 
 Let the instructor suggest some subject from the litera- 
 ture lesson, on which there may be a difference of opinion, 
 such as the justification of Brutus in killing Caesar, the 
 womanliness of Lady Macbeth, the advisability of repre- 
 senting the ghost visibly, in Macbeth or Julius Ccesar, the 
 duty of Eppie to acknowledge her father, etc. Many sub- 
 jects are given in the section on topics from College En- 
 trance Requirements, pages 322-355. Let pupils speak in- 
 
ARGUMENTATION 269 
 
 formally, first on one side, then on the other, till all have 
 spoken who wish. Let the same pupil speak the sec- 
 ond time to answer arguments or to add something, so long 
 as the balance is kept. After all who have anything to say 
 have spoken, two may sum up the arguments. Then the 
 pupils may try to classify the various points under main 
 headings. 
 
 PREPARING THE BRIEF 
 
 We often hear about lawyers working on briefs. The 
 term is not, however, confined to the law. Everyone who 
 speaks in public with the purpose of proving an assertion 
 or of convincing others in any way, should master the tech- 
 nique of the brief. It is really a synopsis, in logical form, 
 of what he wishes to say. The better the brief, the better 
 the speech. 
 
 This skeleton of argument has many uses. It enables 
 the maker to note his material, and to sift the valuable 
 from the worthless. He may be sure that the ground of 
 his discussion is fairly covered by what he has in hand. 
 Then the brief helps him to classify the material, so that 
 it will fall under the right heads, and can be presented 
 clearly. He can compare the strength of the various points, 
 test their pertinence as well as their validity, and arrange 
 them in the order most effective. Read pages 31-34, on 
 gathering material. 
 
 In order to present arguments to convince our opponents, 
 we must have the proposition clearly in mind, and as clearly 
 formulated. It should be concrete, concise, and specific. 
 It should state the question beyond possibility of mistake 
 or evasion. It should be such that either side, affirmative 
 or negative, may be taken: that is, the subject must be a 
 debatable one, with opportunity for giving good support to 
 either side. 
 
270 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Exercise VIII. 
 Criticise and reformulate the following: 
 
 1. Protection as a factor in the high cost of living. 
 
 2. The hanging of murderers. 
 
 3. Are strikers justified hi their actions? 
 
 4. Public schools versus private schools. 
 
 5. Direct primaries should be universally instituted. 
 
 6. Why the franchise should not be given to the D. U. Tele- 
 phone Company. 
 
 7. A course hi technique should be introduced above the sixth 
 grade. 
 
 8. High schools and athletics. 
 
 9. Woman suffrage a cure for political evils. 
 
 10. The plumage of birds should not be allowed to decorate 
 women's hats. 
 
 11. Should we have the honor or the proctor system? 
 
 12. The best way to elect senators, by popular vote. 
 
 13. Publication of election expenses is for the good of the state. 
 
 In general, the introduction to a formal argument is 
 expository, leading to proofs. Long, formal arguments 
 often begin with a history of the question. Some bill may 
 have been brought up for consideration, in various forms, 
 at intervals for many years. Changing conditions may 
 have affected the form. The time is now ripe for action. 
 Sometimes a simple statement of the reasons for present 
 interest in the subject may be made. This should not 
 merely be that many are interested in it, but should be 
 specific. Perhaps some improvement is needed in your 
 town. The newspapers are full of the subject. People 
 are talking about it. An election is near, or a vote of the 
 common council is to be taken. 
 
 Sometimes it is necessary to limit the subject in some 
 
ARGUMENTATION 271 
 
 way. For instance, if the proposition were "the Board of 
 Education should furnish free breakfast to school children," 
 the speaker might limit it to the children of the poor, under 
 twelve years of age, enrolled in the public, not parochial 
 or settlement, schools. Should the subject be "Immigration 
 should be restricted," he might limit it to that from Euro- 
 pean and Asiatic countries, as distinguished from this hemi- 
 sphere. 
 
 Often there are terms likely to be used, which need strict 
 definition or explanation. If a pupil argues that the honor 
 system should be introduced into his school, he must not 
 only state whether he includes all forms of student activity, 
 or limits his remarks to the conducting of examinations ; he 
 must also tell what he means by "honor system." Is it 
 merely that there shall be no instructors present during 
 examinations, or that students shall report and try cases 
 of cheating or of violation of the rules? 
 
 It often happens that some phases of a subject are not 
 debatable because certain facts have long been accepted, 
 or because general experience has proved to the satisfac- 
 tion of most people that a certain point must be granted. 
 In connection with the question, "should the honor system 
 be adopted in our school," both sides would admit that a 
 system, to be of value, must be practicable and workable. 
 Possibly both would admit that there is cheating in most 
 schools that do not have the honor system. These points, 
 then, need not be argued. 
 
 The specific question, the point or points at issue, and 
 the side taken by the speaker should then be stated. In 
 considering the question of the building of new subways, 
 is- the point at issue whether they should be built, or 
 whether the city, instead of private capital, should build 
 them? 
 
272 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Exercise IX. 
 
 Study the following introductions. Note that they are 
 expository in nature, though parts of arguments. See also 
 page 375, Hughes' reply, and page 382. 
 
 1. Resolved, That Congress has power under the Constitution to 
 appropriate money for the construction of post-roads, military and 
 other roads, and of canals, and for the improvement of water- 
 ways. 
 
 Mr. BANKHEAD. Mr. President, the question that I am about to 
 discuss is not a new one. The speedy delivery of the mails and 
 the transportation and distribution of production have claimed the 
 attention of our most enlightened and constructive statesmen since 
 the organization of the Government. The transportation and 
 distribution of products are of more importance than production 
 itself. It is the surplus which we sell that makes us richer, adds to 
 the bank accounts, and cancels the mortgage. What the producer 
 consumes at home adds nothing to our wealth. It is that which 
 he sells and transports to the market that makes him rich. If the 
 cost of transportation to the producer is equal to the difference be- 
 tween the cost of production and the selling price there is no profit. 
 Indeed, he is poorer, because his land is being exhausted, his team 
 and his wagon wearing out, the deposits of his mine are being 
 removed, his timber is being consumed, and his manufacturing 
 plant is undergoing wear and tear, all without net results. In 
 all classes of agriculture and in all lines of manufacturing and 
 trade, economy of transportation is an important item in the 
 amount of profit. There are three methods for the transportation 
 of commerce the railroads, waterways, and the common highways 
 or dirt roads. I need not discuss the first method. It has been the 
 subject of extensive discussion, legislation and judicial construction, 
 with which we are all familiar. Transportation by water has been 
 liberally provided for by Congress. The dirt roads, over which 
 90 per cent, of the internal commerce of the country must be moved 
 first or last, have been sadly neglected. 
 
 The time has arrived when Congress must meet the great question 
 
ARGUMENTATION 273 
 
 of national road improvement fairly and squarely and give it that 
 thoughtful and serious consideration which it deserves. 
 
 "Congressional Record." 
 
 2. Mr. CHAIRMAN: It is somewhat embarrassing to follow the 
 exceedingly beautiful tribute to the principles of non-partisan 
 democracy and the eloquent and patriotic peroration of the 
 gentleman from Tennessee with the discussion of a prosaic subject. 
 And yet the subject I propose to discuss has to do with the great 
 principles of democracy. Those principles are founded on the 
 recognition of the fundamental rights of men. 
 
 Starting with the proposition that all men are created free and 
 equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, 
 we proceed to lay down rules to govern the conduct of men, to the 
 end that they may be secure in the enjoyment of equality and right. 
 These rules have to do, among other things, with the use and 
 enjoyment of property. 
 
 One of the rules laid down in this country at the beginning was 
 that men should acquire property rights in real estate in fee simple, 
 that it should begin at the stars and end in the center of the earth, 
 and that when a man had acquired the right to landed property 
 that right should be secure in all respects, not to be affected in any 
 way in value except by due process of law. 
 
 In recent years there has been much agitation for a departure 
 from our past public-land policy with regard to titles in real estate, 
 and some people have assumed that this was a relatively unimpor- 
 tant and simple matter to be settled by a line or two of law here or 
 there, and, while from their standpoint its effect would be beneficial, 
 they seem never to have realized the effect would be very far-reach- 
 ing. Any such view or opinion must necessarily arise from a lack 
 of investigation or consideration of the problems involved. 
 
 I do not want to suggest here that we of the West are disturbed 
 to an unwarranted degree touching our position as citizens of the 
 Union. And yet, whether an American citizen lives hi New York 
 or Wyoming, in Colorado or Massachusetts, in Arkansas or Vir- 
 ginia, he has the right under the Constitution to occupy the same 
 position in relation to the Federal Government as the citizen of 
 
274 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 any other State. He has the right to demand that whatever may 
 be the laws that affect the citizen in his relations with his Govern- 
 ment shall apply alike to all. 
 
 Furthermore the newer States, having come into the Union on 
 an equality with their sister States, have the right to demand that 
 then* permanent relations wi},h the Federal Government shall be 
 in all respects the same as that of the older States. 
 
 The Supreme Court held in 1845, in the case of Pollard's Lessee v. 
 Hagon, that the United States had no municipal sovereignty, juris- 
 diction, or right of soil except for temporary purposes and to execute 
 the trust which it held for the States and for their people. 
 
 The permanent reservation by the Federal Government of a 
 portion of the fee or title to lands it disposes of creates a condition 
 affecting both the citizen of the State and the State itself in a manner 
 not consistent with the trust by which the Government holds public 
 lands and tending to profoundly affect both the individual citizen 
 and the State in then- relations with the Federal Government and 
 in a manner which deprives them of that equality to which the State 
 and the individual is entitled under the Constitution. 
 
 From speech by REPRESENTATIVE MONDELL, Limitation of Land 
 Titles. " Congressional Record." 
 
 The main proposition is the question to be argued. 
 There must be two or three strong positive reasons why 
 the proposition may, according to the side taken, be proved 
 or confuted. For instance, it may be true from the point 
 of view of two or three classes of people, or for physical, 
 mental and moral reasons, or for social and economic 
 reasons. The statements that these exist form, then, the 
 main headings, which must, in turn, be supported by valid 
 proofs. The main headings must be general enough to 
 cover nearly all the available material. If there are unre- 
 lated bits of proof, which in themselves add little to the 
 argument, it is better to leave them out than to confuse 
 the classification; for the hearer must be made to keep 
 
ARGUMENTATION 275 
 
 in mind the chief divisions. By careful statement the di- 
 visions may be made "mutually exclusive"; that is, they 
 will not overlap. The more nearly of equal rank they are, 
 the easier it will be to keep the argument well balanced, 
 and to avoid giving the impression that parts of it are 
 weak, and put in only because no better could be found. 
 
 Exercise X. 
 
 Let each member bring to class several main points for 
 the proof of some one of the subjects given for Exercise XI. 
 Let the class discuss the points suggested, criticizing for the 
 qualities mentioned above. 
 
 Exercise XL 
 
 Let two leaders appointed by the teacher pick their teams 
 for affirmative and negative, and assign to each person some 
 one phase of the subject for class argument. 
 
 1. Should the honor system be introduced into our school? 
 
 2. Should boys be asked to "tell on" each other in matters of 
 violation of discipline? 
 
 3. Should the Board of Education determine the barring of 
 secret societies from the school? 
 
 4. Should one blackball debar a candidate from a society? 
 
 5. Should a rejected candidate for admission to a school society 
 be permitted to become again a candidate? 
 
 6. Should initiations into high school societies be secret? 
 
 7. Should books of the present time form part of the English 
 course? 
 
 8. Should the class be allowed to determine what book from a 
 certain group of those suggested by the College Entrance Board 
 is to be studied? 
 
 9. Should high school students be allowed to select their own 
 studies? 
 
 10. Should all schools have vocational courses, such as manual 
 training, dressmaking, stenography? 
 
276 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 11. Should pupils be supervised by a teacher during study periods? 
 
 12. Should pupils be allowed to study together during school 
 hours? 
 
 13. Should moving pictures be used in the school work? 
 
 14. Should a girls' team in basket-ball play by boys' rules? 
 
 15. Should our school have a girls' baseball (or track) team? 
 
 16. Should a French or German or Debating Club be started in 
 our school? 
 
 17. Should our school have a new athletic field, or larger play- 
 ground, or new laboratory, or new heating apparatus, or a larger 
 faculty? 
 
 18. Should national holidays be celebrated by school exercises, 
 with required attendance on the holiday itself? 
 
 19. Should the sciences have more laboratory work in high school? 
 
 20. Should scholarship standards be required of candidates for 
 athletic teams, or for societies? 
 
 21. Should the use of "ponies" be opposed by the teachers? 
 
 22. Should all pupils be required to salute the flag? 
 
 23. Should prizes be offered for punctuality? 
 
 24. Should examinations be required for entrance to high school 
 or college? 
 
 25. Should vacation schools (or night schools) be provided by 
 the Board of Education in our city? 
 
 26. Should our Board of Education provide public playgrounds? 
 
 27. Should school buildings be used for political (or religious) 
 meetings? 
 
 28. Should the school buildings be used as social centers? 
 
 29. Is departmental instruction advisable in the 7th and 8th 
 grades? 
 
 30. Should tune be taken from that assigned for English classes 
 for personal conferences between pupils and instructors? 
 
 31. Should students be allowed school credit for outside reading 
 in connection with assigned work, or for editing of school papers, 
 or for participation in dramatic performances? 
 
 32. Should students of high schools hold public dramatic per- 
 formances? 
 
ARGUMENTATION 277 
 
 33. Should agriculture be taught in our high school? 
 
 34. Should typewriting and stenography be taught in our high 
 school? 
 
 SPECIMEN BRIEF 
 
 SHOULD SEPARATE CLASSES BE MAINTAINED 
 FOR DEFECTIVE CHILDREN? 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 I. The request of the New York Board of Education for more 
 money to carry on work with defective children has aroused 
 much opposition, 
 
 A. Some considering the work outside of school province. 
 
 B. Some disapproving methods of present supervisor. 
 
 II. By defective children we mean those abnormal, 
 
 A. In mind. 
 
 B. In body. 
 
 III. All admit that: 
 
 A. Defectives exist in great numbers. 
 
 B. They have long been neglected. 
 
 IV. The question is: Should or should not the schools maintain 
 separate classes for defective children? 
 
 Brief proper. 
 
 I maintain that they should. 
 
 I. The individuals in such classes are more benefited, for 
 
 A. They are saved from discouragement, 
 
 1. Progressing with others in class. 
 
 2. Free from reminders of abnormal stupidity. 
 
 B. They are enabled to understand better, for 
 
 1. The work is slower. 
 
 a. Adapted to abnormal. 
 
 2. Work more thorough. 
 
 a. Minor points explained, unnecessary to 
 brighter students. 
 
278 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 C. Some defects may be remedied, for 
 
 1. Special study is made of individuals, 
 
 a. For classification. 
 
 b. After segregation. 
 
 II. The school work in normal classes is more efficient, for 
 
 A. Such classes progress faster, for 
 
 1. Rate that of normal average. 
 
 2. Less tune wasted, 
 
 a. In answering foolish questions. 
 
 b. In repeating clear explanations for the slow. 
 
 B. Average of promotions is higher, for 
 
 1. Each grade gets the preparation most generally 
 needed. 
 
 a. More equal intelligence. 
 
 C. The teachers' work is more efficient, for 
 
 1. Less time spent in explanation of obvious points. 
 
 2. More helpful outside material given, in connection 
 with required work. 
 
 3. Less tune and energy used for discipline. 
 
 III. The argument that the state should care for defectives, in 
 institutions, is not valid, for 
 
 A. Most defectives are not so extreme as to warrant, under 
 present public opinion, commitment. 
 
 B. Most of them cannot be placed in such institutions, for 
 
 1. Parents object. 
 
 2. It cannot be legally forced. 
 
 3. The state has not sufficient accommodations. 
 
 C. The public should not be forced to support as well as 
 educate all these children, for 
 
 1. Such expenses are already enormous. 
 
 2. Most parents are able to support the children. 
 
 IV. Such classes are a safeguard to the community, for 
 
 A. Children easily led astray are kept off the street. 
 
 B. Many once considered hopeless are saved to useful lives, 
 
 1. Their sluggish brains awakened. 
 
 2. Slight physical defects removed or overcome. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 279 
 
 C. The general level of intelligence and education is 
 raised, for 
 
 1. Some who would remain illiterate receive fair 
 schooling. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 Since I have shown that classes for defective children are a help 
 to those children, increase the efficiency of the schools, and benefit 
 the community, and since I have refuted the argument that they 
 should be left to the state, I maintain that such classes should 
 be provided. 
 
 Although the larger divisions are most important for 
 clearness, the subordinate ones are more so for the proof. 
 For on them rests the value of the assertions made in the 
 main headings. These subheadings must, then, help to 
 prove the assertions under which they are used. If they 
 do not, they are out of place, really proving some other 
 main heading, or they are entirely irrelevant, or are value- 
 less anywhere as proof, because illogical or poor evidence. 
 The stronger these sub-points the better. Sometimes the 
 evidence is good, and forms one of the proofs of the main 
 proposition, but is used in the inverse relation; that is, the 
 debater has tried to use the more general statement of 
 evidence as a proof of the more definite. If a boy says, 
 "My book is not in my desk, therefore someone has taken 
 it," he is inverting the logical order of proof. If he says, 
 "Someone has taken my book, for it is not in my desk," he 
 is giving what he considers the proof of his assertion. He 
 may state as additional support the fact that he knows he 
 put it there an hour before. It may be necessary, how- 
 ever, to prove that he did. He may, then, say, "I know I 
 put it there at that time, because I removed from it some 
 papers I needed in the class this last hour." You will 
 readily see that, though his knowledge that he put it there 
 
280 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 does not help prove that it is not now there, it does, along 
 with the fact that it is not now there, help prove that some- 
 one has taken it. 
 
 Someone has taken my book, for 
 It is not now in my desk. 
 I know I put it there an hour ago, for 
 I then removed from it, as I slipped it in, some 
 papers needed for the class of the past hour. 
 
 It is necessary, then, not only to give as many supports 
 as possible to the assertion of each main point, but to carry 
 the proof of each as far down as may be required to re- 
 move all doubt as to the basis for it. A mistake to be 
 avoided is the confusion of the reason for an asserted con- 
 dition being such, with the proof that it is so. A number 
 of students, trying to prove that current periodicals are 
 now read more than are novels, gave excellent reasons why 
 many people prefer them, but not one proof, through state- 
 ments as to sales, demand at libraries, the turning of au- 
 thors to short-story writing, to prove the assertion made. 
 Sometimes a fault lies merely in the form of a statement, 
 so that what is really good and valid proof does not appear 
 so. Reasoning and expression must alike be made to serve 
 the purpose of the debater. 
 
 Exercise XII. 
 
 Let each student formulate a brief on one of the proposi- 
 tions that follow, having an introduction, two or three posi- 
 tive headings and as many sub-points as are necessary. 
 Examine the briefs on pages 277, 282-287. It is desirable- 
 that both sides of each question be represented in the clas?. 
 
 Many local topics of current interest will occur to pupil.-. 
 
 Let the members of the class criticize form and logic, and 
 test evidence, freely. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 281 
 
 1. The city (or village) should own its waterworks. 
 
 2. The city should have garbage cared for by its departments (as 
 an alternative to letting the contract to a company). 
 
 3. The people of the whole city (instead of those owning prop- 
 erty on certain streets) should pay for new paving. 
 
 4. The people of the whole city should be taxed for new water 
 and sewage pipe extension. 
 
 5. The city appointive offices should all be under civil service rules. 
 
 6. The city (or village) should regulate all industries within its 
 borders. 
 
 7. The city (or village) should regulate noise. 
 
 8. The city should regulate height (as well as material, etc.) of 
 new buildings. 
 
 9. The city should set apart certain streets to be free from all 
 but light traffic. 
 
 10. The city (or village) should limit the water used by house 
 dwellers, by meters (or some other method). 
 
 11. The city should regulate amusements. 
 
 12. The Board of Health should be paid. 
 
 13. The Board of Education should be paid. 
 
 14. Women should be appointed as members of the School Board. 
 
 15. Firemen should be paid. 
 
 16. The city should limit the price of gas or electricity furnished 
 by private corporations. 
 
 17. The city should be paid for street railway and other franchises. 
 
 18. The city should regulate the giving of free car transfers. 
 
 19. The city (as distinguished from private capital) should build 
 new transportation lines when needed. 
 
 20. The city (or village) should forbid peddling without license. 
 
 21. The city should establish and maintain free public hospitals. 
 
 22. This city (or village) should purchase the - - site for 
 a park. 
 
 23. This city (or village) should accept the offer of for 
 
 a library (or other public building). 
 
 24. The city should condemn, as unsafe, the bridge at 
 (or any other dangerous structure). 
 
282 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 25. The city (or village) should open a street at - . 
 
 26. The city (or village) should provide free band (or other) con- 
 certs. 
 
 27. The city (or village) should establish and maintain a public 
 lecture course (or museum). 
 
 28. The city (or village) should bear the expense of abolishing 
 the grade crossing at . 
 
 29. The city (or village) should grant the franchise asked by . 
 
 30. The Common Council should pass an ordinance forbidding 
 coasting on certain streets (or any other dangerous or annoying 
 practice). 
 
 31. The city (or village) should provide for a new school building 
 at . 
 
 32. An investigation of the water supply (or milk supply, or any 
 other possible menace) should be made by the city. 
 
 33. The city (or village) should accept the proffered aid of 
 
 organization in . 
 
 SPECIMEN BRIEFS 
 SHOULD THE CITY FURNISH WORK FOR THE UNEMPLOYED? 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 I. In a great city like New York one is appalled by the large 
 number of people one sees who are evidently in need of employ- 
 ment. 
 
 II. In our discussion we shall consider only those who have no 
 opportunity nor prospect of obtaining work. 
 
 III. Everyone admits that: 
 
 A. Owing to large immigration and other causes, the supply 
 of workingmen is larger than the demand. 
 
 B. It is the duty of the city to provide so far as possible 
 for the welfare of those who make it up. 
 
 IV. The question is then resolved to: Will the city be doing the 
 people the greatest service hi furnishing work for the unem- 
 ployed? 
 
ARGUMENTATION 283 
 
 Brief proper. 
 I maintain that the city will be doing the people the greatest 
 
 service in furnishing work for the unemployed. 
 I. The city will benefit the employed in protecting them from the 
 
 disadvantages which result from the existence of a large body 
 
 of unemployed, for 
 
 A. The unemployed who beg are a nuisance, for 
 
 1. It is often a trouble to stop to get out money for 
 them. 
 
 2. They often importune hi annoying fashion, for 
 
 a. If one gives, they accost again. 
 
 b. If one does not give, they persist. 
 
 3. One often feels it undesirable to give to beggars, for 
 
 a. One is encouraging laziness and depend- 
 ence, for 
 
 (1) It is impossible to tell whether these 
 beggars are really needy or worthy. 
 
 B. The unemployed are a menace, for 
 
 1. They are often driven to steal, 
 
 a. In desperation. 
 
 b. To obtain food for their families. 
 
 2. They are even driven to injuring others, for 
 
 a. They may do this in attempt to steal. 
 
 b. They may be incited to revenge 
 
 (1) Against one who refuses employ- 
 ment. 
 
 (2) Against a successful competitor. 
 G. The unemployed are a disadvantage in the business 
 
 world, for 
 
 1. They cheapen labor, for 
 
 a. They offer to work for less than a just wage. 
 
 (1) To obtain a chance of life. 
 
 b. Employers refuse raise of wages, 
 
 (1) Knowing they can fill places cheaply 
 
 (2) Knowing employees will not risk 
 being in competition with many 
 unemployed. 
 
284 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 II. The city owes work to the unemployed, for 
 
 A. It is the duty of the city to provide for everything 
 beneficial to its large lower classes, for 
 
 1. The city is the father of its people, 
 
 a. As protector. 
 
 b. As controller of acts. 
 
 c. As provider of common necessaries. 
 
 B. The city can best help the unemployed by giving them 
 work, for 
 
 1. It benefits them directly, for 
 
 a. It benefits those who want to work, 
 
 (1) Giving opportunity to earn honest 
 livelihood. 
 
 (2) Preserving their self-respect and 
 independence. 
 
 b. It really benefits those who do not want to 
 
 work, for 
 
 (1) They will be forced to a right meth- 
 od of obtaining a living, for 
 
 (a) They can no longer get money 
 by begging, for 
 1. People will know they 
 are unwilliug to work. 
 
 2. It benefits then* children, for 
 
 a. It benefits them physically, for 
 
 (1) They can then be well fed. 
 
 b. It benefits them mentally, for 
 
 (1) Then- parents can give them a better 
 education. 
 
 (a) Not needing services at work. 
 
 (b) Having money for clothes, etc . 
 
 c. It benefits them morally, for 
 
 (1) The child whose father is unem- 
 ployed is not furnished a good exam- 
 ple or brought up in a wholesome at- 
 mosphere. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 285 
 
 III. My opponent's argument that this providing of work would 
 be too great an expense to the city is not valid, for 
 
 A. The unemployed are a great expense as it is, for 
 
 1. Many of them are supported in public institu- 
 tions or by some form of public charity. 
 
 2. Many of them have to be cared for in hospitals 
 or asylums. 
 
 3. Many are kept hi prisons, 
 
 a. Often arrested for vagrancy. 
 
 b. Often arrested for crimes caused by manner 
 of life. 
 
 B. At least, hi providing work for them, the city would be 
 getting some return for its money, for 
 
 1. They could be employed on public works. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 Since I have shown that the f urnishing of work for the unemployed 
 by the city would be of advantage to the employed and to the 
 unemployed, and have disproved the argument of too great expense, 
 the city should furnish work for the unemployed. Student's brief. 
 
 Is THE BARGAIN SALE A REAL BENEFIT TO THE MERCHANT? 
 
 I. The frequent advertisements of bargain sales make one wonder 
 
 whether they are of real value to the merchant. 
 
 II. By a bargain sale we understand a sale hi a store where 
 goods are offered at less, supposedly, than usual rates. 
 
 III. Everyone admits that: 
 
 A. A merchant prefers to sell all his stock at rather low 
 price than part of it at a higher one. 
 
 B. A merchant desires to get rid of his stock as quickly as 
 possible. 
 
 IV. The question is then resolved to: Is the bargain sale of the 
 greatest benefit, immediately and ultimately, to the mer- 
 chant hi carrying on the business of his store? 
 
286 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Brief Proper. 
 
 I maintain that the bargain sale is not of real benefit to the 
 merchant, for 
 
 1. The bargain sale is not beneficial financially, for 
 
 A. In order to make the sale successful, goods must be 
 offered at a rate too low for profit, for 
 
 1. Otherwise they would not draw people, for 
 
 a. Bargain hunters want "something for 
 nothing." 
 
 B. In such sales, the stock is often considerably damaged, 
 for 
 
 1. The bargain articles are often rendered unsalable 
 afterward, for 
 
 a. They are crushed and soiled by much hand- 
 ling, for 
 
 (1) They must be where the people can 
 get at them 
 
 (a) for free examination. 
 
 (b) for saving of saleswoman's 
 time in waiting on crowds. 
 
 2. Other articles are injured, for 
 
 a. They are roughly handled, for 
 
 (1) The typical bargain hunter cares 
 for nothing but her own interests. 
 
 (2) She often forgets both her manners 
 and self-control while on a shopping 
 expedition. 
 
 (3) She demands to see everything 
 possible. 
 
 n. The belief that bargain sales lead the people drawn there by 
 them to other purchases is unfounded, for 
 A. The confirmed bargain hunter will not buy largely un- 
 less apparent special inducements are offered, for 
 
 1. She thinks she is practicing economy in this. 
 
 2. She flatters herself that she is very acute hi 
 tracing bargains. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 287 
 
 B. The bargain customer never becomes a steady patron 
 of the store, for 
 
 1. She is guided in her buying by the newspapers. 
 
 2. She cares more for specials than for the steady 
 effort of a store to give satisfaction. 
 
 III. The custom of having bargain sales lowers the standing of 
 a store, for 
 
 A. The best class of customers avoid it, for 
 
 1. They do not want cheap, soiled goods. 
 
 2. They do not readily believe in "bargains," 
 
 a. Thinking that the goods are old. 
 
 b. Thinking that the so-called reductions are 
 often false. 
 
 3. They do not like the conditions of such sales: 
 
 a. Crowds. 
 
 b. Long waits. 
 
 B. Such sales bring about a reputation that is undesirable, 
 for 
 
 1. Stores having these sales frequently soon become 
 known as "cheap stores." 
 
 2. They are known as places frequented by an 
 undesirable class of the public. 
 
 3. They are known by their poorest stock, instead 
 of by their average stock. 
 
 4. They are known for poor service under bad con- 
 ditions, instead of good service under average 
 conditions. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 I. Since the bargain sale is not of financial benefit, since the 
 argument that it draws custom for other goods is unfounded, 
 and since it lowers the standing of the store, I conclude that 
 it is not of real benefit to the merchant. 
 
 II. The comfort of many would be increased by its abolition, 
 
 A. That of the saleswomen. 
 
 B. That of the general shopping public. Student's brief. 
 
288 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 It will seem to the pupils who have formulated briefs 
 on either side of any of the propositions suggested above 
 that their opponents have some weak point, either as a 
 main heading or a subordinate one. They should then 
 try to refute that weak point, to strengthen their own side. 
 Refutation can be successfully employed only when a de- 
 bater knows what his opponents have tried to prove. 
 Therefore, if he has been wise, he has studied the other side 
 of the question as thoroughly as his own, to know just 
 what his opponent has as material for proof of any possible 
 point. Then, when he hears the argument, he is ready to 
 demolish it. 
 
 Perhaps some assertion made in proof may have to do 
 with something either irrelevant to the question at issue or 
 of little value in comparison with some fact on the other 
 side. Perhaps it is illogical or unreasonable. If an argu- 
 ment from analogy , the analogy may be a false one when 
 examined carefully. The instance cited may be an ex- 
 treme or isolated one, of no value in any other case. The 
 theory used in support of some point may not be applica- 
 ble to this case. The statements quoted may be preju- 
 diced, or one-sided, or from unreliable authority. Any one 
 of these flaws will, when brought to the attention of the 
 hearers, weaken the force of the argument as a whole, and 
 thereby strengthen the side attacking it. 
 
 Do not try to attack the entire argument. You are really 
 doing that by the statement of the side you have taken. 
 Select the strongest one of the opponent's points that can 
 be successfully demolished, and overthrow that. In a long 
 argument two points may be refuted. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 289 
 
 EXAMPLES OF REFUTATION 
 
 1. I desire to call attention to the fundamental error that under- 
 lies the argument of our distinguished justice from Washington 
 and of the distinguished dean from the Law School at New Haven. 
 Their fundamental error is that they are drawing analogy between 
 the government, state and national, and the government of our 
 Church. A partial error in that analogy has already been pointed 
 out, the error cited by Dr. Buckley, when he said that the General 
 Conference has supreme powers except where checked by restrictive 
 rules and the national government has only such powers as are 
 specifically granted unto it. But the failure of the analogy goes 
 deeper than that. The reason for the very careful and excessively 
 minute guarding of individual rights in the state is this, that in the 
 hands of the state is placed the sword of force. You hold your 
 life, you hold your liberty, you hold your property at the disposal 
 of the political power in the state or nation. You do not hold 
 life, or liberty, or property at the disposal of the Church. And 
 because the Church is differently constituted and proceeds upon a 
 different basis, it holds no sword of force. Every member in the 
 Church is there by voluntary accession; he comes of his own choice. 
 If he should unfortunately be even expelled from the Church, it 
 is not like that unfortunate expulsion which is provided by a crim- 
 inal court, that sends a man out from the control of political power 
 into eternity. The worst we could do would be to send him into 
 a Presbyterian or Baptist or some other church. The distinction 
 is a vital one. It runs through the whole construction of our 
 governmental policy. Our appeal is to persuasion; it is to the 
 Gospel. It is, as the gentleman from Baltimore said, to the grace 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ. And for that reason, sir, there is a wide 
 and deep and valid distinction between the procedure in the two 
 cases. Arguments drawn from that analogy, then, fall to the 
 ground because there is not the same requirement for that protection 
 of individual rights. 
 
 From speech by E. J. KULP, in General Conference of M. E. 
 Church, 1912. "Christian Advocate." 
 
290 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 2. Much stress has been laid upon the dependence of the Bishops 
 on "second-hand information" in the making of appointments. 
 But how many more removes from personal knowledge will be 
 that information upon which a large majority of the General 
 Conference must cast their votes for Bishops? Are not all men, 
 indeed, dependent on second-hand information for almost every 
 decision of life? How little personal knowledge of men enters into 
 governmental appointments. Think of our judges scouring the 
 country in order to secure personal knowledge of men or causes 
 involved in litigation. Discredit second-hand information, and 
 we close our schools, bar all text-books of science, silence music, 
 arrest all business, disqualify all the professions, dispense with all 
 newspapers, destroy the value of history, invalidate the appeal 
 based upon religious testimony in short, banish all facts not 
 personally witnessed and verified, and jar the very planets off the 
 map of the heavens! What chaos would reign if suddenly all 
 second-hand, or even twentieth-hand, information were discredited, 
 and every man and woman should perforce become an original 
 investigator! Think of it, you pilgrims who cannot get out of 
 this city without second-hand information. For the purpose of 
 adjusting appointments we regard the information given by a 
 district superintendent personally and officially responsible for 
 his observations, and offered in the presence of his colleagues and 
 within call of the preachers and churches represented, as far more 
 reliable than that otherwise possessed. 
 
 From speech in General Conference of M. E. Church, 1912. 
 "Christian Advocate." 
 
 3. Some think it is a vast scheme. Why, it is not vast at all. 
 It would be just as easy to do it that way as to do it in the poor- 
 house and in the other way. The tax on the production of the 
 world would do that very thing pay everybody who loses a finger 
 or an arm or a leg, those who get sick, those who get too old to 
 work any longer. The tax that would take care of these people 
 without any lawsuits or contentions or trouble would be a very small 
 tax, after all, on the great body of goods produced in this country. 
 
 From speech by Mayor WILLIAM J. GAYNOR advocating govern- 
 ment support of all charities. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 291 
 
 4. Now, Mr. Chairman, I wish to call the attention of this commit- 
 tee to one or two pregnant facts. As I was proceeding to point out 
 when my tune expired, it is claimed in the report of the committee 
 accompanying this bill that there are schools located on the Indian 
 reservations and supported by the Government at which the Indian 
 children can be taught all the branches which are taught at Hamp- 
 ton, and much cheaper. Stress is laid in this report on the fact that 
 the distance to be traveled by the Indian children from the reserva- 
 tion to Hampton is very great and therefore entails considerable 
 cost to the Government. I am informed, and I believe the state- 
 ment cannot be questioned, that the normal courses at one time 
 taught at the reservation schools are no longer taught there, and that 
 it is not now pretended in any quarter that the Indian students at 
 the reservation schools are trained in the art of teaching. There 
 is not, I am told, a reservation school which attempts even to fit 
 its scholars for teaching. So much, then, for the claim that the 
 reservation schools are equipped to take the place of the Hampton 
 school. Indeed, Mr. Chairman, there is no school in the United 
 States which has the same appliances and which can afford the 
 same facilities for giving Indian children normal, industrial, and 
 agricultural education. This much must be conceded, I think. 
 No less a distinguished educator than Dr. Eliot, late president of 
 the great University of Harvard, is upon record as saying that 
 there was no school, no university in America which presented the 
 same or an equal combination of academic and industrial teaching 
 as Hampton, and Dr. Gilman, president of the great University 
 of Johns Hopkins, has declared that we could better spare any 
 two universities in the United States than the Hampton Institute, 
 and Gov. Woodrow Wilson, when president of Princeton University, 
 indorsed the Hampton school hi terms of commendation and praise 
 scarcely less strong. I think, therefore, we may dismiss the proposi- 
 tion that there is any other school in the country possessing equal 
 facilities with those of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural 
 Institute, where the Indian student can receive the training of 
 which he stands in the greatest need. 
 
 From speech by REPRESENTATIVE JONES on Indian Appropriation 
 Bill. " Congressional Record." 
 
292 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 5. Again it is urged that the parcel post will drive the exclusively 
 country merchant out of business the merchant who trades in 
 the small villages. I cannot see that this will happen; but, on 
 the contrary, I believe it will help him. To-day he handles a small 
 stock and his customers are confined to the residents of his imme- 
 diate vicinity. His stock is not necessarily large. There is no need 
 that it should be big, consequently he makes a small profit and is 
 satisfied. But institute the parcel post on his rural route, and, with 
 the telephone, watch his business increase. The trade he enjoyed 
 before will not leave him. His old customers will remain and trade 
 with him just as they did before, and in addition will bring to him 
 their produce, so that he can in turn trade with the resident of the 
 larger town or city. In other words, the country merchant who 
 is up to date will extend his former small trade, heretofore confined 
 to his small community, by getting in touch with various house- 
 holders of the larger towns and cities, and daily, if necessary, 
 furnish them with the necessaries of life, fresh, pure, and unstored. 
 It will be but a simple process of expansion, and the live, active 
 American storekeeper will readily adapt himself to the changed 
 conditions and establish a trade which will greatly exceed his 
 fondest dreams. Moreover, this merchant, of necessity, purchases 
 in small quantities. He buys from a jobber or a merchant in a 
 larger adjoining town who carries a larger stock with a greater assort- 
 ment. He will, under the parcel post, write or telephone, and in 
 a day replenish his stock, outside of large orders for groceries and 
 like articles, at a cost much below the price he now pays in freight 
 or expressage, with the additional drayage for the time lost in using 
 his own conveyance. 
 
 Postmaster-General Meyer, in 1908, said: 
 
 The free rural delivery has improved materially and intellectually 
 the life of great numbers of the farmers and those living in rural 
 communities. Is it too much to ask that the department shall 
 make a further use of this important system, a use which, while 
 adding appreciably to the postal revenues, will directly and vitally 
 benefit every man, woman, and child within reach of a rural route? 
 The countryman would have the necessities of life delivered at his 
 gate at an average cost of 2 cents a pound, thereby facilitating and 
 
ARGUMENTATION 293 
 
 increasing consumption. This would mean augmentation of the 
 trade of the thousands of country merchants. The commercial 
 traveler should appreciate the advantages of this system; it would 
 increase his orders, because the country merchant buys from the 
 jobber or wholesaler. Every component part of our commercial 
 system would feel the effects of an increased prosperity. 
 
 What the Postmaster-General said in 1908 is true to a greater 
 degree to-day. 
 
 From speech by CONGRESSMAN GRAGG on Parcel Post section of 
 Postal bill. "Congressional Record." 
 
 Remember that proof is always stronger than disproof, 
 and do not try to lay more stress on what is, at best, nega- 
 tive. 
 
 It is never courteous or "good form" to accuse your op- 
 ponent of falsehood or of bad faith. His reasoning is weak, 
 his point not well taken, or untenable, or beside the ques- 
 tion, or based on erroneous information, but he must be 
 presumed to be honorable. 
 
 The assertion that some point is valueless, for whatever 
 reason, must be proved just as carefully as any positive 
 statement. 
 
 Exercise XIII. 
 
 Formulate, according to the method illustrated in the 
 specimen briefs on pages 277, 282 and 285, a refutation of 
 some point made by your opponent, for one of the proposi- 
 tions in Exercise XII, page 280 f. 
 
 Then, as a conclusion, summarize concisely, as in the 
 forms on pages 279, 285, 287, the main points in your brief, 
 including the refutation. 
 
 METHOD OP DEBATE 
 
 A debate may be participated in by two, four, or six 
 people, if it be a formal one. Douglas and Lincoln, when 
 candidates for the United States senatorship, went through 
 
294 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 the state, appearing together in debates that have become 
 classic. In formal debates it is common to have six speak- 
 ers, three on each side. In the practical affairs of life, in 
 class elections, committee meetings, board and directors' 
 meetings, and in legislative assemblies, debates are partici- 
 pated in by many persons on each side, who add points or 
 disprove others, as opportunity is afforded. It is for this 
 lively, keen, and decisive, though extemporaneous form, that 
 we must prepare eventually. But formal practice is the best 
 preparation. 
 
 We shall suppose that six persons have been chosen to 
 debate before the school. The leader on each side must 
 make the arrangements. When one team challenges an- 
 other, it is the custom for the challenged team to have the 
 choice of sides. It may, however, be decided by lot. When 
 possible, it is best for the leader to apportion to each mem- 
 ber of his team the part he shall take. The preparation 
 must, of course, be carefully made. Both sides of the ques- 
 tion should receive equal attention. Some prefer to de- 
 bate on the side which they do not personally favor, be- 
 cause of the valuable practice. It is wise, at any rate, to 
 draw up a brief on each side, to test both, and be ready for 
 any argument of the opponents. 
 
 The first speaker is always for the affirmative. He opens 
 the debate with all the material necessary for a clear un- 
 derstanding of the question, in expository form. He states 
 the proposition in general, gives the origin or history of the 
 question, limits or defines it, sets aside irrelevant issues 
 or those about which there is no dispute, and states the 
 point at issue and the side he represents. He may then 
 deliver the first part of the argument, covering one chief 
 division. He is followed by the speaker for the negative 
 who has been assigned to the first section of that argument. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 295 
 
 The second speaker for the affirmative takes up the sec- 
 ond main division, and may also refute some point made by 
 the first speaker for the negative. The second speaker 
 for the negative then does the same for his side. The third 
 on each side takes up the final division. 
 
 In all formal debates the speakers are limited to a defi- 
 nite time for each, and are usually warned by a bell before 
 time is called. In some, each speaker is allowed a few 
 minutes for rebuttal, after all have spoken once. In others, 
 one on each side is allowed to take the floor again for 
 rebuttal. The last speaker on each side should summarize 
 briefly, as part of his conclusion, the points of all speakers 
 on his side. 
 
 Whether in single argument or debate, the arrangement 
 of main heads must be carefully considered. There are 
 several rules, no one of which always holds good. In fact, 
 they often conflict. Obviously, the most natural, coherent, 
 and logical order should be followed unless there is good 
 reason for another. In general, the strongest point makes 
 a good climax, the next in strength serves well at the be- 
 ginning, and the weakest may be in the middle. For this 
 reason, the refutation, always weaker than a positive ar- 
 gument, should usually come in the middle. If, however, 
 the first speaker on the negative can make a telling point 
 by first refuting what the speaker for the affirmative has 
 just said, he should not hesitate to do so before giving posi- 
 tive proof. Sometimes a point the weakest in logic may 
 be used with the most telling effect at the end, to leave a 
 lasting impression, through sentiment or vivid portrayal, 
 on the audience. The order that seems best adapted to 
 the subject and to the occasion must be used. 
 
 Brethren: It would not be fair that I should take advantage of 
 your generosity. I shall endeavor to close up the argument in a 
 
296 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 shorter time than you have allowed me. I stated at the outset that 
 the court had been misrepresented, that powers were attributed to 
 it of which the framers of it never dreamed. It was represented as 
 some big bogey standing with fearful menace over a General Con- 
 ference that does not have strength enough to assert its rights. 
 It has been represented in various ways. One dear brother seemed 
 to challenge that statement when he got up, but I appeal to you 
 if his speech was not a shining example of the accuracy of that state- 
 ment. Then it was put forward by my eminent friend, Dr. Buckley, 
 that that great Conference hi 1852, which took up the matter of 
 the request of the bishops for the forming of a court just such as 
 is here described he read from his paper that it was only promotive 
 of confusion and of disorder, and of setting up a third house, and all 
 that. Why did he not read the whole of that paper? Why did 
 he read three lines and leave out this paragraph, which I will read 
 to you? "They had the subject under consideration and are fully 
 of the opinion that provision should be made at this time for such 
 a department in the general administration of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church; the necessity of some conservative power to guard 
 the constitutional acts of the General Conference and preserve the 
 limitations and restrictive rules by which it is to be governed 
 has been seen and felt by a large portion of the Church ever since 
 the General Conference was made a representative body. " 
 
 I wish to say that the supreme court is not for the purpose of 
 restraining the rights or the privileges of the General Conferences 
 as its sole purpose. What does it do? It does everything 
 that your Judiciary Committee does now. If you should make 
 this Judiciary Committee permanent, you would have this supreme 
 court and nothing more, except in this particular, and that particu- 
 lar lies in its finality; but as a matter of fact the findings of the 
 Judiciary Committee are now practically final. As a matter of 
 history I think it is true that only once in twelve years have the 
 findings of that committee been rejected by the General Conference. 
 Now, during the General Conferences this court does not sit in 
 perpetual session, as one speaker said from this platform; it comes 
 together only when there is need for it, just as courts of appeal 
 
ARGUMENTATION 297 
 
 throughout the Church convene now only when the emergencies 
 arise. But I submit to you if it is not wise that there should be a 
 permanent court that may be called together any time to study and 
 to decide upon the appeals which come up from an ever-enlarging 
 Church, and from a Church which by reason of its large increase 
 in members becomes more complex every day by the clash of the 
 units composing the whole. Then, at the General Conference, 
 those who are members of the Judiciary are members of this body; 
 they are in the various committees, they have not the time to devote 
 care and attention to the complex cases that come up before them. 
 Rebuttal in debate on establishment of a church court, General 
 Conference of M. E. Church, 1912. REV. R. J. COOKE. 
 
 EXAMPLES OF CONCLUSION IN ARGUMENT 
 
 1. Now, I owe to the Members of the House a sincere apology 
 for the time I have taken. But this is not a little subject. It 
 is a most important subject. In my judgment it is charged with 
 matter of the gravest national moment to our country. When 
 we have reached a condition where workmen, working at full 
 tune and at full pay on wages larger, perhaps, than they have 
 ever received before, are yet unable to make both ends meet because 
 of the high cost of living, I say you are fronting a situation that may 
 be charged with peril to this country. 
 
 I am not one of those who think that any one line of treatment 
 or any one remedy is going to cure even all the remediable ills of 
 society. I do not say that this, even if carried out hi its most per- 
 fect conception, would cure all the ills of society, or even cure the 
 whole aggravated situation associated with the high cost of living. 
 But I do say this, gentlemen, that the Goeke bill comes closer to 
 cutting in two the prices of the vital necessaries of life on the 
 workman's table than any measure that has yet come to my notice. 
 
 It has been said that never in the history of this country has a 
 great crisis arisen when American statesmanship and patriotism 
 were not there to meet it in an adequate way. I pray God that 
 before the stability of this country has been put in jeopardy, as 
 
208 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 now threatens within 10 years, that statesmanship and that patriotic 
 spirit may not fail us on this subject. 
 
 Conclusion of remarks on the Parcel Post Bill as related to the 
 cots of living. REPRESENTATIVE LEWIS. "Congressional Record." 
 
 2. In three ways, then, the American woman is fitted specially 
 to cope with the modern industrial situation. First, she will 
 inevitably take the natural, human point of view on all questions. 
 Second, she will recognize the value of encouraging spontaneity of 
 accomplishment in children. Third, in the part of the working 
 woman she will accept quite simply and sanely the fact of shop 
 work, desiring only that conditions be suitable. In all three 
 directions she will accomplish the desired result of simplifying life 
 or reducing it to its finest significance. 
 
 Conclusion of speech at Faneuil Hall by JANE ADDAMS. 
 
 3. Mr. Speaker, I regard this treaty, whether it is so intended 
 by its proponents or not, as the initial step in the direction of free 
 trade. It may be a good thing for the people of my district, but 
 I do not believe it; I am from Pike County, Ky., and you will have 
 to "show me" before I do believe it. I am an Abraham Lincoln- 
 James G. Elaine-William McKinley Republican. I was born a 
 protectionist and raised a protectionist, and I do not propose to 
 go back on my raisin' at this late date. I believe that this treaty 
 is un-Republican, and I shall vote against it. 
 
 Conclusion of speech on Reciprocity with Canada. REPRESEN- 
 TATIVE JOHN W. LANGLEY. "Congressional Record." 
 
 4. This congress should, above all things, emphasize the great 
 importance of good roads to and from the farms of the country. 
 It should encourage State and National aid to good roads, so as to 
 bring to the expenditure on road building the greatest degree of 
 intelligence and efficiency and concentrated effort. This is, per- 
 haps, the most important factor of all in making the farm more 
 desirable to the people, in making the farm more attractive, in 
 making it more remunerative, and giving to it those elements which 
 
ARGUMENTATION 299 
 
 are necessary and essential to peace of mind and to the prosperity 
 and happiness of the farmer. 
 
 Conclusion of speech on Bill for National Roads. SENATOR OWEN. 
 "Congressional Record." 
 
 Some people ridicule the idea of high school boys and 
 girls debating on the great political or national questions 
 of the day. Of course none of us who has not spent years 
 studying such problems can hope to master them in a few 
 days or weeks, or to do justice to them from the school 
 platform. But should that fact forbid our thinking about 
 them as best we can, with whatever material is available 
 as a basis? We all ought to know, as a matter of common 
 intelligence, what is going on in state and nation. The 
 same people who do not want us to discuss large affairs are 
 much shocked at the lack of knowledge of current topics 
 shown by the average boy or girl. Perhaps we shall know 
 more about them if we try to talk about them. Then, too, 
 the people of the colleges and of the world at large say that 
 the younger generation does no thinking. Are we not likely 
 to think about subjects worth while if they are made a 
 part of our daily work? The boys, and probably also the 
 girls, now in our schools will be voters in a few years. Some 
 of the questions before the voters and the legislators now 
 will again come before the voters of ten years hence, in 
 modified form. The more we have thought and talked 
 about them, the better able we shall be to form right 
 opinions and act for the best when these or new questions 
 come up for settlement. Because we want to be intelligent 
 members of society, and because we ought to become useful 
 citizens, we are justified in arguing large questions. 
 
 Let two leaders appointed by the instructor arrange for 
 a debate before the school, or for graduation, or for a pub- 
 
300 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 lie entertainment under the auspices of the school. Several 
 weeks, at least, should be taken for the gathering of ma- 
 terial, the formulating of briefs, and the practice of ex- 
 pression. For the latter examine the arguments by ex- 
 President Taft and Congressman Redfield beginning on 
 pages 301 and 304. 
 
 Subjects of current interest, discussed in the newspapers 
 and periodicals and by the people, should, preferably, be 
 chosen. The following are merely suggestive. (See page 
 339.) 
 
 1. The parcel post is practicable in its present form. 
 
 2. The postal banks should pay a higher rate of interest. 
 
 3. Congress should control by laws the interstate commerce in 
 intoxicating liquors. 
 
 4. Letter postage should be reduced. 
 
 5. Second-class postage rates should be increased. 
 
 6. The civil service should include consulships. 
 
 7. The U. S. government should establish a training school for 
 the diplomatic service. 
 
 8. This state should have a state police force, (cf . Pennsylvania 
 and Ireland). 
 
 9. The national government (instead of the state government) 
 should conserve the forests. 
 
 10. The national government should provide for good roads. 
 
 11. The national government should pay for the irrigation of 
 western lands. 
 
 12. The government should open all lands still held by the 
 Indians. 
 
 13. The Indians should be on a par, as citizens, with white men. 
 
 14. Immigration should be farther restricted. 
 
 15. The Chinese Exclusion Act should be repealed. 
 
 16. An educational qualification should be required of voters. 
 
 17. All voters should have the right to vote on public improve- 
 ments. 
 
 18. Franchises should be taxed by the state. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 301 
 
 19. Direct primaries should be established in every state. 
 
 20. The ballot should be made less complex. 
 
 21. Ten per cent of the voters should be able to initiate legis- 
 lation. 
 
 22. All legislation hi the states should be submitted to the people 
 for ratification. 
 
 23. The initiative, referendum, and recall are in accordance with 
 long accepted usage. 
 
 24. Women should be allowed to determine woman suffrage by 
 separate vote. 
 
 25. The national government should regulate wages and hours 
 of labor. 
 
 26. The government should establish a permanent bureau for 
 settlement of labor disputes. 
 
 27. The United States should regulate all ocean steamers enter- 
 ing her ports. 
 
 28. The State should care for all defectives. 
 
 29. The State should provide employment agencies. 
 
 30. The State should procure employment for ex-convicts. 
 
 31. The State should provide old-age pensions. 
 
 32. The State should provide for insurance (as hi Connecticut, 
 or England). 
 
 33. The State should provide incomes for poor widows with 
 children. 
 
 34. The State (or City) should provide social workers as it does 
 teachers. 
 
 35. The State should regulate "private banks." 
 
 SPECIMENS OF ARGUMENT 
 THE OPERATION OF THE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE BRANCHES 
 
 SHOULD BE BROUGHT TOGETHER 
 
 It is said that the office of President is the most powerful in the 
 world, because under the Constitution its occupant really can exer- 
 cise more discretion than an emperor or king exercises hi any of 
 the governments of modern Europe. I am not disposed to question 
 this as a matter of reasoning from the actual power given the Presi- 
 dent in the Constitutional division of governmental functions, but 
 
302 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 I am bound to say that the consciousness of such power is rarely, if 
 ever, present in the mind of the ordinary individual acting as Presi- 
 dent, because what chiefly stares him in the face in carrying out any 
 plan of his is the limitation upon the power and not its extent. 
 Of course, there are happy individuals who are able entirely to 
 ignore those limitations both hi mind and practice, and as to them 
 the result may be different. But to one whose training and pro- 
 fession is subordinate to law the intoxication of power rapidly 
 sobers off in the knowledge of its restrictions and under the prompt 
 reminder of an ever-present and a not always considerate press, as 
 well as by the kindly suggestions that not infrequently come from 
 that hall of Congress in which impeachments are intimated and that 
 smaller chamber in which they are tried. 
 
 In these days of progress, reform, uplift, and improvement a 
 man does not show himself abreast of the age unless he has some 
 changes to suggest. It is the recommended change that marks 
 his being up to date. It may be a change only for the sake of change, 
 but it is responsive to a public demand, and therefore let's pro- 
 pose it 
 
 A suggestion I would make is that legislative steps be taken, for 
 there is nothing in the Constitution to forbid it, bringing more 
 closely together the operation of the executive and legislative 
 branches. The studied effort hi which we maintain these branches 
 rigidly separate is, I think, a mistake. I would not add any more 
 actual power to the executive in legislative matters, nor would I 
 give the legislative any more actual power hi executive matters. 
 The veto on the one hand and the confirmation of appointments 
 and the ratification of treaties on the other, I would not change. 
 But it does seem to me that they need not be at arm's length, as 
 they are now are under our present system. It has been proposed 
 twice in our history, after the fullest consideration by some of the 
 wisest statesmen we have ever had, to pass a law giving to each 
 department head a seat in the Senate and in the House, and a right 
 to enter into the discussion of proposed legislation in either of the 
 national legislative bodies. This would keep Congress much better 
 informed as to the actual conditions in the executive departments. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 303 
 
 It would keep the department heads on the qui vive with reference 
 to their knowledge of their own departments and their ability to 
 answer appropriate questions in respect to them. It would neces- 
 sitate the appointment to the Cabinet of men used to debate and 
 to defend their positions, and it would offer an opportunity for the 
 public to judge of the Executive and his government much more 
 justly and much more quickly than under our present system. The 
 ignorance that Congress at times has of what is actually going on 
 in the executive departments and the fact that hours of debate 
 and pages of The Congressional Record might be avoided by the 
 answer to a single question by a competent Cabinet officer on the 
 floor of either House is frequently brought sharply to the attention 
 of competent observers. 
 
 I think, too, it might, perhaps, promote the amenities between 
 the two branches if this system were introduced. The rules of the 
 two Houses, as I am advised, forbid the use of abusive language by 
 one member against another, and by a member of one House against 
 the other House or its members. A somewhat close examination of 
 the rules, however, of both Houses does not show that there is any 
 limitation upon the parliamentary character of the language which 
 may be directed against the President. As to him the members 
 pursue their own sweet will, and that sometimes leads them into 
 language and epithetical description of the Chief Executive that 
 could hardly be called complimentary. If members of the Cabinet 
 were allowed the floor, their very presence would suggest, in the 
 possibility of reply, moderation in discussing the Administration, 
 which does not now at all times prevail. 
 
 The strongest reason for advocating this change, however, is 
 that the influence the Executive shall have in shaping legislation 
 shall be more in harmony with the responsibility that the people 
 hold him to hi respect to it. He is the head of the party that elected 
 him, and as such, if Congress is controlled by the same political 
 party, as it generally is, he is looked to to shape the Congressional 
 policy and to secure the passage of the statutes which the party 
 platform has promised. Now, with such a burden on him, he ought 
 to have a greater means of bringing about what he wishes in the 
 
304 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 character of the legislation to be considered by Congress, and greater 
 powers of persuasion to secure the adoption of such legislation than 
 those which the mere right to send messages and the mere oppor- 
 tunity of personal consultation with leading members of the House 
 and Senate give him. I doubt not that the presence of able Cabinet 
 officers on the floor of each House would give greater harmony of 
 plan for the conduct of public business in both Houses, and would 
 secure much more valuable legislation in accordance with party 
 plans than we have now. On the other hand, the system would 
 enable Congress to come closer to the Executive, and pry more 
 effectively into each act and compel a disclosure of the reasons justi- 
 fying it immediately at the time of the act, and keep the public more 
 quickly advised by the direct questions of hostile critics, which must 
 be answered, of the progress of business under Executive auspices. 
 
 Of course this is not the complete English system, because it 
 does not give to the Cabinet the power to lead and control legisla- 
 tive action, as the British Government may in Parliament. But it 
 combines so much of that which is valuable, and, as it can be done 
 by a mere act of Congress, I think it ought to be tried. 
 
 Extract from speech by PRESIDENT TAFT before the Lotus Club, 
 Nov. 16, 1912. By permission. 
 
 THE HOURS OF MAIL-CARRIERS 
 
 MR. CHAIRMAN: I desire to acknowledge the courtesy of the 
 gentleman from Massachusetts who has kindly yielded that I may 
 speak at this particular moment, having engagements later in the 
 day. As an Irish friend of mine said, I want to say before I com- 
 mence that I agree most heartily with the gentleman from Illinois 
 in his regret that this bill does not yet provide for the promotion 
 and advancement of the laborers employed in the Post Office 
 Department. I hope it will ultimately come so to do, and I shall 
 be glad to join with anyone who will bring that about. I think it 
 is the duty of the United States Government to be a model employer, 
 and that it should open the door of opportunity to its humblest 
 servants as well as to those higher in its service. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 305 
 
 I am sure also that the gentleman from Illinois left unsaid one- 
 half of what he had in mind when he spoke of the effect of the 
 conditions of department-store employment and wages upon the 
 young women in those stores. The other half I am sure he meant to 
 say, and for him and in his behalf I want to say it in a moment or 
 two now. I personally know four great department stores, one in 
 Philadelphia, one in New York, one in Brooklyn, and one in Boston, 
 the proprietors of which strain every nerve for the care of their 
 working girls. On the minds of these men the rate of wages and 
 the uplift of those girls are a moral charge. It never leaves their 
 thought. One of them said to me one day: " Mr. Redfield, I would 
 like to advance my 6,000 girls 50 cents a week, but I do not know 
 now where the $156,000 per year that that would cost is to come 
 from." But by opportunity for promotion, and in every way he 
 could do it, he strove to uplift those girls. And in like manner I 
 know men in other cities who have esteemed it a privilege and a 
 duty to strive to carry out the uplift of their employees to the full. 
 
 I want to speak, however, this afternoon upon section 5 of this 
 bill, which has relation to the hours of work of the letter carriers, 
 and to place before the committee certain facts collected by a sub- 
 committee, of which I was chairman, a few weeks ago in the in- 
 vestigation of the post office at Brooklyn, N. Y. These facts have 
 not heretofore been made public. They have not yet appeared in 
 the report of the subcommittee, because the matter was so large it 
 has not been possible to get that report prepared, but they should 
 be before the House in the discussion of this bill, which is directly 
 affected by them. There are three distinct matters of which I 
 wish to speak which affect the letter-carrier force in our great post 
 offices. These are the matter of hours, the matter of the speed or 
 the nervous tension under which the men work, and the matter 
 of the weight those men carry. On two of these matters I have 
 before me official information coming from the department itself 
 and acknowledged to be correct by the men themselves. I will 
 first take up the question of hours, then, briefly, to which section 5 
 refers. I have in my hand the time cards of certain of the force 
 hi the general post office and hi four stations in the city of Brooklyn 
 
306 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 during the latter part of February, 1912, and I read briefly from 
 these cards, as it would be difficult to insert them in the RECORD 
 without reading because of their peculiar form. I find the follow- 
 ing facts relating to what are known as the "long tours" on the 
 alternate weeks: One week these men work the straight eight 
 hours. Their partners the following week work eight hours, and 
 the man who this week works eight hours, next week works what 
 is called the " long tour." This results that on the 24th of February 
 Mr. Paul A. Graw, attached to Station B of the Brooklyn post office, 
 reported for duty at 5.45 a. m. and left duty finally for the night at 
 7.09 p. m. There is, of course, as you know, what is known as 
 the midday "swing." That is, he actually worked from 5.45 in 
 the morning until 9.57, when he had a swing, and he reported 
 again for duty at 3.15, and left at 7.09 p. m., or 8 hours and 6 
 minutes work, distributed, as you see, over a period of 13^ hours. 
 The next day the same carrier's time was from 5.45 a. m. to 
 7.l3 p. m.; the next day from 5.45 to 7.10; the next day was a 
 holiday; and again on Friday of that week his tune was from 
 5.45 to 7.17, and he completed the week by working on Saturday 
 from 5.45 until 7 o'clock, in each case with the midday swing of 
 which I have spoken. In the same station, Robert C. Green, jr., 
 on the same day (Feb. 24, 1912) worked from 5.45 a. m. to 7.15 
 p. m.; the following day the same hours; the following day from 
 5.45 to 7.10; the following day was a holiday; and then on the 
 next day he worked from 5.45 to 7, and on Saturday from 5.45 
 to 7.15. Thus I might read the whole of the cards for that station 
 which gives all the details. I will turn now to Station S in another 
 portion of the city, and I find Thomas J. McManus working on 
 the 24th of February from 5.30 in the morning until 6.25 in the 
 evening, with a swing from 9.40 to 2.15. On Tuesday he worked 
 from 5.50 to 6.20 in the evening; on Wednesday from 5.50 to 6.25; 
 Thursday was a holiday; on Friday he worked from 5.50 to 6.3o; 
 and on Saturday from 5.50 to 6.20, all with a swing in the middl*- 
 of the day. This statement may be said to be typical of that 
 station also. 
 
ARGUMENTATION 307 
 
 (Reports from other stations here given.) 
 
 I will not read more cards, because they will be made a part 
 of the committee's report, and any Member can see them. 
 
 That long service lasts for a week, and the length of the "swing" 
 between the early and the late tour depends on the tune when the 
 carrier gets back from his morning service. 
 
 Mr. COOPER. What was the earliest hour at which any of them 
 went to work, as you remember? 
 
 Mr. REDFIELD. Five-thirty. 
 
 Mr. COOPER. And that is undertsood as meaning that a man 
 has to get up about 4.30 in the morning and get his breakfast? 
 
 Mr. REDFIELD. I am glad the gentleman asked the question. 
 I asked witnesses under oath as to how these men got their break- 
 fast, and was told they could not, of course, disturb their wives and 
 children. They got up themselves at from 4.30 to 4.45, prepared 
 their own simple breakfast, and got away from the house at 5 
 o'clock. 
 
 Mr. COOPER. And then they get home at half past 8 or 9 o'clock 
 at night? 
 
 Mr. REDFIELD. I do not desire in any way to mislead the House 
 as to the fact that these men in a given day of 24 hours do no more 
 than 8 hours' or within a few minutes of 8 hours' work. But each 
 man during these broken days feels very keenly the consciousness 
 that he has got to be back on his work, so to speak, and his mind 
 must be upon it from 5 o'clock in the morning until 7 o'clock in 
 the evening. And if there has been a heavy storm which has inter- 
 rupted the traffic, I need not explain to this House the situation 
 in which that man finds himself. 
 
 So much for what I may call the negative side of the case. The 
 facts are admitted, because these cards were given me by authority 
 of the post office. On the other hand, the question was asked, as 
 a part of our committee investigation, how a change of hours would 
 work? And I thought it was fair to have these facts under oath 
 in order to pave the way somewhat for this discussion. The presi- 
 dent of the local Letter Carriers' Association stated that it would be 
 perfectly possible to arrange a schedule so that an 8-hour day 
 
308 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 within 10 hours' continuous time could be laid out without serious 
 additional expense to the Government and without interruption 
 to the work. And in that connection he pointed out what every 
 business man knows to be true, that a late evening delivery for a 
 business house is rarely of any great value, for any delivery in a 
 down-town business district after 5 o'clock is practically worthless 
 for use that day. 
 
 He was asked this more closely the president of the Letter 
 Carriers' Association in the Brooklyn post office was asked if he 
 would cause to be prepared a schedule based upon the 8 hours in 
 10, and did so. I received it only a few days ago. It forms a por- 
 tion of the subcommittee's report, and it is here now in my hand and 
 is available for examination by any member of the Post Office Com- 
 mittee or anybody who desires to see it, and fully works out any 
 kind of tour two trips, three trips, four trips, five trips, and six- 
 trip routes all of them based upon continuous 8 hours' work, and 
 all of them showing adjustment to the necessary convenience alike 
 of the business and the residential districts of the city. 
 
 Now, as to the question of hours, it is my judgment, Mr. Chair- 
 man after examining that post office for several days and making 
 careful inquiry of the carriers in several of the stations that the 
 question of hours presented by this bill involves no more than an 
 ordinary business adjustment, and would do justice to the men who 
 are fairly, in all righteousness, entitled to it. 
 
 Now, I want to take up for a few moments another phase of this 
 same subject. What do these men have to carry in the way of 
 weights? We had before us, under examination, the superintendent 
 of mails, who is in charge of the 1,100 and more carriers who operate 
 in that post office. The committee requested each one of three 
 stations and the general post office to prepare slips showing the 
 largest weight taken out by any carrier during this investigation 
 on certain days, which we fixed without the authorities knowing 
 what they were to be hi advance. These slips were to be signed by 
 the carrier himself and by the superintendent of the station, so that 
 there could be no question as to whether they told the truth or not. 
 
 I hold in my hand the slips representing the general post office and 
 
ARGUMENTATION 309 
 
 Stations B, S, and W, on the 1st and 2d of March, and, referring 
 to those, I will read very briefly certain questions addressed by me 
 to the superintendent of mail delivery in Brooklyn and his answers. 
 And in saying this I do it without any thought, expressed or in my 
 mind, of criticism of the officers of the post office. That is not at 
 all my purpose. I simply desire to make a public record of 
 facts which relate to the bill now under discussion. I read: 
 
 Mr. REDFIELD. What do you consider the maximum amount 
 of mail a carrier can handle on one delivery trip? 
 
 Mr. CARROUGHER. Why, on the three-trip route he should carry 
 40 pounds of mail. 
 
 Mr. REDFIELD. Do you know what the average load was that 
 was taken out of the general post office in Brooklyn this 
 morning? 
 
 Mr. CARROUGHER. I have an idea, but did not look at the figures, 
 as I did not think you would want me to; but I have an idea that 
 they would average about 60 pounds per man. 
 
 Mr. REDFIELD. Do the initialed tickets which have been handed 
 by you to me, and which I show you, represent the loads taken out 
 by the carriers this morning in the Brooklyn office. 
 
 Mr. CARROUGHER. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. REDFIELD. I call your attention to the fact that the 
 tabulation made by Judge Towner from the slips shows the smallest 
 load taken out this morning to be 52 pounds, and largest 81 pounds, 
 or an average for 20 carriers of 65 pounds mail. To-day was not 
 a day on which any of the large publications had to be delivered. 
 What would you say was the heaviest load a carrier would be obliged 
 to take out at one time? 
 
 Mr. CARROUGHER. That is a very problematical question. A 
 week ago Tuesday I weighed the mail on route 12, of which you 
 have the corresponding weight, and he took out 112 pounds. 
 
 Mr. REDFIELD. Would it be unusual for a carrier to take out 
 as many as 40 copies of the Ladies' Home Journal or a publication 
 of corresponding weight on one trip? 
 
 Mr. CARROUGHER. That would be possible on several routes; 
 not more than 10 in the whole office. 
 
310 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Mr. REDFIELD. And on those 10 routes that would mean an 
 added load of approximately 40 pounds, would it not? 
 
 Mr. CARROUGHER. About that. 
 
 Mr. REDFIELD. So that if that route happened to be the one 
 upon which these tickets which you have furnished showed a weight 
 of 52 pounds a day, that load might become 90 pounds? 
 
 Mr. CARROUGHER. Yes. 
 
 It is hardly necessary for me to go through these tickets in 
 detail, because the substance of them has appeared in the ex- 
 tracts from the testimony which I have read to you; but I hope 
 that it may be possible to incorporate in this legislation a pro- 
 vision that a letter carrier shall not be required to take out at 
 any one time over 75 pounds of mail. I think if it be considered 
 that he must go in the stress of weather, without regard to what 
 the conditions are, and that he must go on schedule time both 
 as to his start and as to his return, 75 pounds of mail is all 
 that a man should be expected to carry under such circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Finally, this that I shall speak about is a matter of individual 
 judgment. It must be taken as meaning no more than that. I 
 have been accustomed all my life to shops in which men working 
 in considerable numbers have been employed. One gets a cer- 
 tain habit of knowing whether the men are overexerting them- 
 selves or not. It was my judgment, from visiting two of these 
 stations at a time when work was progressing most rapidly, one 
 of them the general post office, that these men were under high 
 tension. In examining not 1 nor 2 nor 10, but more, that im- 
 pression became very real to me, and, upon inquiring of 3 of the 
 carriers under oath as to that matter, they confirmed it, and their 
 statements will appear in the record of the committee. 
 
 We have, then, a situation of this kind, that half the time in 
 which those men are employed they are employed at hours which 
 in their extremes may be said to be unusual and excessive. Then 
 they are occasionally obliged I do not say often I do not know 
 how often to carry what seem to me to be excessive loads, and 
 they are daily obliged to work under what seems to me to be high 
 
ARGUMENTATION 311 
 
 tension. The nervous speed with which the work must be done 
 is to my mind a very real factor in it. And this must be always 
 borne in mind, that they are not merely like the man who has 
 so much ordinary work to do, but this particular work must be 
 done with a very high percentage of accuracy. Mistakes are 
 not to any considerable extent allowable at all. So that there is 
 here not merely a physical but a mental tension, the tension of a 
 keen mind directed to very accurate work. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, which I have tried to describe as simply as I could 
 and very briefly, I have felt, and feel now, that this legislation, 
 which provides for these carriers working 8 hours hi a continuous 
 10, is in the first place practical legislation, requiring no serious 
 trouble, causing no injury to the service, and occasioning no special 
 difficulty or excessive expense in its establishment and operation. 
 In the next place I feel that it is wise. We have a force of men that 
 is, I think, admirable. The gentleman whose testimony I have 
 read spoke with great pride of his working force. I believe the 
 force is now somewhat overstrained nervously. I believe it ought 
 to be so adjusted in these details that we may feel that these men 
 are working within and not beyond their powers. 
 
 From speech of CONGRESSMAN REDFIELD, on portion of Postal 
 Appropriation Bill relating to hours of carriers. April 13, 
 1912. (Slight omissions made from report in "Congressional 
 Record.") 
 
 Although many theories, both scientific and moral, have 
 been proved true to the satisfaction of most people, there 
 are new ones always arising which are doubted for a long 
 time. Some will be accepted, others overthrown. In this 
 age of individualism many people express theories con- 
 trary to tradition. These can be tested only by experience. 
 All of us have occasion to set forth for others the proofs 
 of a recent theory of physics, or of medicine, or of the 
 Tightness of certain lines of conduct. We should be able to 
 do so with clearness and force. 
 
312 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Exercise XIV. 
 
 Formulate in a brief, and afterward develop in an argu- 
 ment before the class, one of the following: 
 
 1. Air is a mixture. 
 
 2. The law of multiple proportions is tenable. 
 
 3. The wave theory of light is tenable. 
 
 4. The kinetic theory of gases (or of matter) is tenable. 
 
 5. The theory of magnets is tenable. 
 
 6. All bodies fall at the same rate. 
 
 7. The electron theory is tenable. 
 
 8. The theory of natural selection is tenable. 
 
 9. The theory of biologic evolution is tenable. 
 
 10. Tuberculosis is infectious. 
 
 11. The nebular hypothesis is tenable. 
 
 12. New York State is a glaciated region. 
 
 Exercise XV. 
 
 Let two or six pupils debate as to the validity of one of 
 the following: 
 
 1. Alcoholism is hereditary. 
 
 2. Cigarettes are harmful. 
 
 3. The vegetarian diet is better than the mixed diet. 
 
 4. Most failures in school are due to physical defects. 
 
 5. German (or French) has as great disciplinary value as has 
 Latin. 
 
 6. A natural science has as great a disciplinary value as has 
 Latin. 
 
 7. All men are created equal. 
 
 8. Woman suffrage would purify politics. 
 
 9. Homicide in self-defense is justifiable. 
 
 10. Capital punishment is right. 
 
 11. A man is justified in spending Sunday according to his per- 
 sonal beliefs. 
 
 12. A voter should place party loyalty above personal convictions. 
 
 13. A boy is justified in refusing to tell the name of a culprit 
 (under certain conditions). 
 
ARGUMENTATION 313 
 
 14. The rule of the sea, that women should be saved before men, 
 is a right one. 
 
 15. The theory that ignorance of the law excuses none is justi- 
 fiable. 
 
 Some questions which may be argued are a combination 
 of belief and policy. Many of these affect our every-day 
 conduct. 
 
 Exercise XVI. 
 
 Give concisely, in argumentative form, your reasons for 
 the attitude you take on one of the following questions: 
 
 1. Is smuggling by tourists justifiable? 
 
 2. Should people give money to beggars? 
 
 3. Should stores be open evenings the three weeks preceding 
 Christmas? 
 
 4. Should people celebrate Christmas by giving presents? 
 
 5. Is a detective justified in using a dictograph, or hi concealing 
 himself so as to overhear private conversations? 
 
 6. Should people patronize only those shops which sell no goods 
 without a union label? 
 
 7. Are labor unions justified hi demanding the "closed shop"? 
 
 8. Are labor unions justified hi demanding reinstatement of 
 employees discharged for what the employer deems just cause? 
 
 9. Should men be expected always to give up seats to women? 
 
 10. Should baseball games be allowed on Sunday? 
 
 11. Should museums and libraries be open on Sunday? 
 
 12. Should children be allowed to read the newspapers freely? 
 
 13. Should children be allowed the "funny pages" of the Sunday 
 papers? 
 
 14. Should children be allowed to select their own books? 
 
 15. Should employers be forced to provide schooling for employees 
 under sixteen? 
 
 16. Are pupils of the public schools justified hi "going on strike" 
 because they disapprove of some action of the Board of Education 
 or faculty? 
 
PKOPERIYOF 
 DEPARTMENT OF DRAMATIC ART 
 
 PART III 
 TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 
 
SUGGESTED OUTLINES FOR PRACTICE 
 
 Someone has given your school society a picture, or set of books, 
 or statue. Write an outline for your speech of thanks. 
 
 Outline for welcome to the grand chapter of your fraternity. 
 Seepages 356, 357, 361. 
 
 Announcement of prize, giving details and urging students to 
 compete. 
 
 Introduction of outside speaker at a society meeting open to 
 the school. See pages 355, 356, 359. 
 
 Talk giving necessary information, and urging school to join 
 excursion to see a ball game, or to go on some expedition. 
 
 Talk on the new school paper, telling what it is, and urging sup- 
 port. 
 
 Talk to entering class, on some school organization. 
 
 Talk before athletic association or school, stating present situa- 
 tion of some team, needs, and reasons for supporting it, ending with 
 appeal for money. 
 
 Talk before society to which you belong. As president, or chair- 
 man of some committee, state present situation, desire for change, 
 and proposed plan. 
 
 Talk as chairman of meeting called to form a new organization. 
 
 Speech before school or class meeting or some society, hi regard 
 to a common grievance. 
 
 Appeal to the Faculty for a special holiday, or for some privilege. 
 
 Speech, by president of senior class, on proposed plan for school 
 government. 
 
 Talk by any class officer on plans for Senior Week. 
 
 Talk before your school or society on the part the members 
 might take in a new movement hi your town for clean streets, or 
 abolition of unnecessary noise, care of parks, etc. 
 
 Opening talk by chairman of meeting called to consider invita- 
 tion to school or class to take part in celebration. 
 
 Talk before class, school, or society about coining fair, or other 
 entertainment, for library, ball team, etc., with a view to explain- 
 ing, arousing interest, and obtaining help. 
 
 317 
 
GENERAL TOPICS 
 FOR SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES OR CLASSES 
 
 Account of a game of ball played by the school team in an- 
 other town. 
 
 Let one explain situation of grounds, and describe scene 
 before game. 
 
 Let another give account of game. 
 
 Let another describe scene afterward, and tell of any inci- 
 dents at that time. 
 
 Possibly a fourth may tell about the trip home and the cele- 
 bration of the team. 
 
 Your school. A talk including description, exposition, argument. 
 
 A western ranch. 
 
 A great factory. 
 
 Some " plant " in your town. 
 
 A department store. 
 
 A summer hotel. 
 
 A certain summer resort. 
 
 A college settlement in some city. 
 
 A recent railway accident. 
 
 The present, or recent, war in (several persons taking 
 
 different phases). 
 
 Discussion of some diplomatic situation of the present. 
 
 An amusement resort hi your town. 
 
 A visit to a coal mine, or factory, or newspaper office, or ship, etc. 
 
 The review of the fleet in New York. 
 
 The recent national or state political convention of the 
 
 party. 
 
 Account of some notable convention or other gathering, held in 
 or near your town. 
 
 Some holiday trips around your city. 
 
 How to see New York, or Washington, or some other city. 
 
 Why New York, or some other city, is worth seeing. 
 
 Report of fraternity convention or of interscholastic contest. 
 
 318 
 
SUBJECTS FOR SENIOR ORATIONS 
 (To be Limited as Advisable) 
 
 The balance of power in Europe. 
 
 United States control of South America through diplomacy. 
 The power of the United States in Europe. 
 The "white man's burden." 
 England in South Africa. 
 Present-day application of arbitration. 
 The work of our nation for world peace. 
 The present tendency of industrial reform. 
 The present status of the Labor Union. 
 The ideal labor organization. 
 The ideal factory. 
 The awakening of the employer. 
 The industrial position of women at present. 
 The place of the corporation hi modern business. 
 Business morality. 
 Carnegie's work for humanity. 
 Rockefeller's gifts to the people. 
 Organized charity. 
 
 Should people give money to beggars? 
 Settlement work in a great city. 
 The club idea among the lowly. 
 The awakening of civic responsibility. 
 The new politics. 
 
 The history of parties hi the United States. 
 How a new party is formed. 
 Are parties beneficial to a nation? 
 Should political victors have the spoils? 
 
 Has woman suffrage proved a benefit in Colorado? (or some 
 other state). 
 
 Should the suffrage be restricted? 
 
 319 
 
320 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 The struggle for suffrage in England. 
 
 Parties in England (or some other country). 
 
 New problems of the cities. 
 
 The broadening of municipal activities. 
 
 How a city charter is made. 
 
 City housekeeping. 
 
 Should city officials be appointed for long terms? 
 
 Should the city pension its employees? 
 
 A 20th century city compared with an 18th century city. 
 
 What "the woman's movement" is. 
 
 The suffrage movement in America. 
 
 Some leaders among women. 
 
 Women in the various occupations. 
 
 Some women's rights gained in the last century. 
 
 The feminine invasion of the schools. 
 
 The fictional heroine of various periods. 
 
 The part wheat played in the development of the West. 
 
 The part gold has had in the development of the United States. 
 
 What iron means to our industrial world. 
 
 The part electricity plays in our life. 
 
 Irrigation in the West. 
 
 What the Panama Canal means to the West. 
 
 What the Erie Canal meant to the West. 
 
 The rural mail delivery as a factor in country life. 
 
 The life of the farmer now compared with that fifty years ago. 
 
 A century in transportation. 
 
 A century in invention. 
 
 The traffic of the Great Lakes. 
 
 The gifts of California to the East. 
 
 Opening up the far North. 
 
 New York the market of the world. 
 
 The income of Nova Scotia. 
 
 The income of Bermuda. 
 
 The development of the summer resort. 
 
 The Mecca of American sightseers. 
 
 New England as the Mecca of literary pilgrims. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 321 
 
 Harvard or Yale or any other college as the Mother of authors 
 or of statesmen. 
 
 The abolition movement as a school of oratory. 
 
 The lecture platform in America. 
 
 Congress as compared with Parliament for oratory. 
 
 Is the political orator of any value as a vote getter? 
 
 The English feudal system under the Normans. 
 
 The French feudal system before the Revolution. 
 
 The feudal system hi America. (Patroons.) 
 
 A typical English manor of the 15th century. 
 
 A typical English estate to-day. 
 
 The modern revival of great estates hi America. 
 
 The modern newspaper compared with that of the 18th century. 
 
 The power of the modern American newspaper. 
 
 Newspaper morality. 
 
 Should an editor support a certain political party because the 
 owner of the paper wishes it? 
 
 Should children be allowed to read newspapers? 
 
 Should the Sunday paper be patronized? 
 
 Should the freedom of the press be absolute? 
 
 The development of periodical literature in America. 
 
 The place of the periodical in modern life. 
 
 Should the periodical censor advertisements? 
 
 Should the newspapers print full accounts of crimes, scandals, 
 etc.? 
 
 The Indian as the ward of the government. 
 
 How the government is making Americans of the Filipinos. 
 
 How the schools hi New York make little Americans. 
 
 A city of nations. 
 
 The ideal man of different periods of civilization. 
 
 The growth of religious toleration. 
 
 Luxuries of the present compared with luxuries a hundred 
 years ago. 
 
 The immigrant of 1850 compared with the immigrant of to-day. 
 
 The famous sieges of history. 
 
 Aviation hi the year 2000 
 
322 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 How we are making history to-day. 
 
 The passing of the little red schoolhouse. 
 
 The schoolmaster in literature. 
 
 Some famous literary friendships. 
 
 The children of Dickens. 
 
 The growth of the temperance movement. 
 
 The Jew in America. 
 
 Some modern forms of slavery. 
 
 Child labor in our own country (or state). 
 
 Public philanthropy in our state (or city). 
 
 What Uncle Sam does for the farmer. 
 
 What the government does for health. 
 
 Uncle Sam as an employer. 
 
 Our government as a protector of its sons in other lands. 
 
 How a territory becomes a state. 
 
 How our country adopts citizens. 
 
 TOPICS FOR ORAL REPORTS 
 BASED ON THE UNIFORM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS 
 
 Note. Nearly all recitations on some of these books can be 
 conducted by the topical method, each pupil talking on one of 
 several topics which have been assigned, and planned by all. Any 
 teacher will prefer to suggest, herself, such topics as the working out 
 of the plot, the character studies, the use of suspense, etc. Those 
 suggested here are intended for individual assignments to be 
 worked up by pupils to help the class as a whole in the understand- 
 ing of the book, or, in argumentative subjects, to be taken for- 
 mally or informally by several interested in that question. Many 
 similar ones will occur to teacher and pupils. Few specific refer- 
 ences have been given, since the number of available books varies 
 so much hi different libraries. Pupils should learn how to look 
 for material themselves. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 323 
 
 ADDISON 
 The DeCoverley Papers 
 
 Narrative of Addison's travels. (In connection with Spectator's 
 account of himself.) (Macaulay : Life of Addison.) 
 
 Connected story of Sir Roger's love affair. 
 
 Let the butler give an account of the incident on which the 
 painting of Sir Roger and the servant were based. 
 
 Let the chaplain tell the story of some case that arose hi the 
 parish, such as that of Moll White. 
 
 Let Will Wimble tell how he caught the fish. 
 
 Let Tom Touchy tell the story of one of his lawsuits. 
 
 The story of the play, The Distrest Mother, by Ambrose Phillips. 
 
 Story of the friendship of Addison and Steele. 
 
 Steele's romance. 
 
 Story of one of Steele's plays 
 
 The story of Rosamond. 
 
 Describe Sir Roger as a sheriff. 
 
 Describe Sir Roger as he was speaking at the Assizes. 
 
 Describe the scene when Sir Roger is calling on the widow. 
 
 Describe a country church of the time, taking the church at 
 Stoke Pogis, possibly, as a model. 
 
 Describe a typical scene at Vauxhall. (See Besant : London in the 
 Eighteenth Century. Gardiner: Students' Hist, of Eng., v. III.) 
 
 Scene in a London Street. (Ash ton: Social Life in Reign of 
 Queen Anne. Besant: London in the Eighteenth Century.) 
 
 Give a scientific description of Westminster Abbey, drawing plans 
 on the blackboard. 
 
 Describe the exterior of Westminster Abbey. 
 
 The reign of Queen Anne. (Any English history.) 
 
 The Queen Anne period in literature. Five minute talk. 
 (English Literature.) 
 
 Some contemporaries of Addison and Steele. (English Litera- 
 ture.) 
 
 Some earlier essayists. (English Literature.) 
 
 Fiction hi the time of Addison. (English Literature.) 
 
324 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Newspapers of the seventeenth century. (Williams, J. B. : His- 
 tory of English Journalism.) 
 
 Defoe's journalism. 
 
 The Tatter. 
 
 Coffee-houses in Addison's time. (Shelley, H. C.: Inns and 
 Taverns of Old London.) 
 
 The country squire. (Ditchfield, P. H. : The Old English Country 
 Squire.) 
 
 Hunting customs. (Ashton: Social Life in the Reign of Queen 
 Anne.) 
 
 Traveling in the Queen Anne period. (Ashton: Social Life in the 
 Reign of Queen Anne. Besant: London in the Eighteenth Century.) 
 
 The Theatre in the tune of the Spectator. (Ashton : Social Life in 
 the Reign of Queen Anne. Besant : London in the Eighteenth Century.) 
 
 The Whigs. (English histories.) 
 
 The Tories. (English histories.) 
 
 Addison as a statesman. (Any life of Addison.) 
 
 Steele's part in politics. 
 
 Westminster Abbey: history, use, etc. 
 
 Amusements of the Spectator's time. (Ashton : Social Life in the 
 Reign of Queen Anne. Besant: London in the Eighteenth Century. 
 Shelley, H. C.: Inns and Taverns of Old London.) 
 
 How the beau spent his time. (Spectator Papers, Diary of 
 a Citizen.) 
 
 Witchcraft in England. (Besant: London in the Eighteenth Cen- 
 tury. Traill : Social England.) 
 
 Superstitions of the tune. (Spectator paper on Superstition.) 
 
 Gipsies in England. (Ashton: Social Life in the Reign of Queen 
 Anne.) 
 
 The Mohocks. (Ashton: Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne.) 
 
 Dress in the Spectator's tune. (Spectator Papers and books 
 on costume.) 
 
 The army in the Spectator's time. 
 
 Prince Eugene. 
 
 The Spectator as a critic. (Papers on Paradise Lost, The Art of 
 Criticism, and on various plays. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 325 
 
 The value of parties. 
 
 Present evils of party spirit. 
 
 Sir Roger compared to Squire Bracebridge. 
 
 Life of a country gentleman. Five minute talk. (Macaulay: 
 History of England, ch. III. Ditchfield, P. H. : Old English Country 
 Squire.) 
 
 The Charterhouse school. (Taylor, W. F.: The Charterhouse of 
 London.) 
 
 Magdalen college. (Various books on Oxford.) 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 The Idler. 
 
 Political papers of the time. (Williams, J. B. : History of English 
 Journalism.) 
 
 Should only men of fine parts be hanged? 
 
 Was Sir Roger really patriotic in insisting on employing old 
 soldiers? 
 
 Should old clothes be given to servants? 
 
 Is advancement retarded by honesty and integrity? 
 
 Should political parties exist? 
 
 Is the reading of famous sermons better than original discourses? 
 
 Was the widow justified in her treatment of Sir Roger? 
 
 The modern editorial compared with "The Spectator." 
 
 The open letter compared with " The Spectator." 
 
 Some magazine essayists of the latter half of the 19th century. 
 
 Account of some work by a present-day humorist. (Butler, 
 Dunne, Ade, etc.) 
 
 Comparison of some present-day humorist with the Spectator. 
 
 The work of some 19th century essayist. (Lamb, Hazlitt, De 
 Quincey, Leigh Hunt, Macaulay, Lockhart, Curtis, Warner, 
 Whipple, Stevenson, Pater, Lowell, Holmes.) 
 
 The work of some 20th century essayist. (Van Dyke, Mabie, 
 Repplier, Benson, Howells, Burroughs, Chesterton, Crothers.) 
 
 The method of "Master Humphrey's Clock" (Dickens), com- 
 pared with "The Spectator." 
 
 The Spectator of the "Outlook." 
 
 Modern subjects for Spectator essays. 
 
326 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 The clergy in the eighteenth century. (Macaulay: History of 
 England, ch. III. Ditchfield, P. H.: The Parson.) 
 The game laws. 
 
 BURKE 
 Speech on Conciliation with America 
 
 Feeling between England and the colonies, 1763-1772. 
 
 The Navigation Acts. 
 
 The part of the colonies hi the French and Indian wars. 
 
 The occasion for taxation of the colonies. 
 
 The Parliamentary view of representation of the colonies. 
 
 The English system of representation. (History of changes.) 
 
 The Stamp Act. 
 
 The Townshend Acts. 
 
 Colonial activity. 
 
 The Boston Riot. 
 
 The story of the Boston Tea Party. 
 
 The Intolerable, or Coercive Acts. 
 
 An account of some colonial organization. 
 
 The Continental Congresses. 
 
 Account of battles of Concord and Lexington. 
 
 Constitution of the British Parliament. 
 
 Method of Parliamentary government, compared with American 
 system. 
 
 How laws are made in England. 
 
 The power of the King. 
 
 Recent changes in powers of House of Lords. 
 
 Some recent act of Parliament. 
 
 Some question recently of interest hi English government or 
 policy. 
 
 The membership of Parliament now as compared to that of 
 Burke's tune. 
 
 Burke's position in England. 
 
 Movements in which Burke was prominent. 
 
 History of the Home Rule movement for Ireland. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 327 
 
 Some Irish statesmen. 
 
 English government in Canada; in India; in South Africa. 
 
 The part of English citizens in the causes of the Boer War. 
 
 Burke's failure to reach the highest positions. 
 
 Some other literary statesmen in England. (Several may talk 
 of individuals.) 
 
 Burke's record as an orator. 
 
 Burke's characteristics as an orator. 
 
 Burke's friends. 
 
 Lord Rockingham: personality position policies. 
 
 Lord North. 
 
 Lord Grenville. 
 
 Earl of Chatham. 
 
 Charles James Fox. 
 
 Political parties of Burke's time. 
 
 Political parties of the present. 
 
 George III: character policies part he took in the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 George V compared with George III. 
 
 England had or had not a right to tax the colonies. 
 
 England was or was not morally justified in passing the Stamp 
 Act. 
 
 England was or was not justified hi quartering soldiers among 
 colonists. 
 
 The Bostonians were or were not justified hi the "Tea-Party." 
 
 The colonies had or had not the right to secede. 
 
 The colonies were or were not justified hi a declaration of inde- 
 pendence hi 1776. 
 
 Burke was or was not, as an Englishman, justified in supporting 
 the colonies. 
 
 The Revolution was or was not carried on by "the rabble." 
 
 Burke was or was not inconsistent in his views at different periods. 
 
 Burke's plan was or was not, in the light of following events, a 
 wise one. 
 
 (References: McMaster: Student's History of the United States. 
 Other American histories. Green: Brief History of the English 
 
328 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 People. Other English histories. Morley: Life of Burke. Bage- 
 hot: The English Constitution.) 
 
 CABLYLE 
 
 Carlyle's fitness for the task of writing a life of Burns. 
 Carlyle as a typical Scot. (Any Life of Carlyle.) 
 Carlyle's personality. ( " " " " ) 
 
 Carlyle as a student. ( " " " " ) 
 
 Carlyle as a teacher. ( " " " " ) 
 
 Carlyle as a writer. ( " " " " ) 
 
 Carlyle's father. (Life of Carlyle, Carlyle's Rem- 
 
 iniscences.) 
 
 Carlyle's mother. (Any Life of Carlyle, Letters.) 
 Carlyle and his sister. (Letters to his youngest Sister. C. T. 
 Copeland, ed.) 
 
 Jane Welsh Carlyle. (Letters of Mrs. Carlyle, Carlyle's Rem- 
 iniscences, Life of Carlyle.) 
 Carlyle as a world-teacher. 
 
 Friendship of Carlyle and Emerson. (Letters of Carlyle and 
 Emerson.) 
 
 The Carlyle country. Homes of Carlyle, etc. (Sloan, J. M.: 
 The Carlyle Country.) 
 The period in which Carlyle wrote. 
 
 Essay on Burns 
 
 The Edinburgh Review. 
 
 Other Reviews of the period. (Saintsbury: History of 19th 
 Century Literature.) 
 
 The book-review of the early 19th century compared with that 
 of the present. 
 
 Byron as a poet (Long's or any other English Literature). 
 
 Brief sketch of Byron's life, in comparison with Burns's. 
 
 Lockhart as a writer. 
 
 The present popularity of Burns. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 329 
 
 Mrs. Dunlap and Burns. (Letters of Burns to Mrs. Dunlap, ed. 
 by Wallace.) 
 
 Early Scottish poetry. (Chambers' Cyclopedia of English Lit- 
 erature.) 
 
 Fergusson. (Ward: English Poets, v. III.) 
 
 Ramsay. (Ward: English Poets, v. III.) 
 
 Wallace. 
 
 Bruce. 
 
 Burns as a patriot. 
 
 Burns as a nature poet. 
 
 Burns as a romanticist. (Phelps, W. L.: English Romantic 
 Movement.) 
 
 Burns as a satirist. 
 
 The lessons of Burns's life. 
 
 Carlyle's attitude toward "Burns the Man." 
 
 Carlyle as a biographer (as fulfilling the requirements he ex- 
 presses.) 
 
 Should this essay be included in the English course? 
 
 Carlyle's style. 
 
 A review of this essay, for someone who wants to know about it. 
 
 Brief reports may be made on persons mentioned in the essay, 
 as Keats, Homer, Borgia, Luther, Defoe, Richardson, Dante. 
 
 Give an account, such as to give an idea of the book, and to 
 arouse interest in it, and express your own opinion of one of the 
 following, or some other biography you have read. 
 
 Macaulay: Life of Addison, Life of Johnson, Essay on Milton. 
 
 Lockhart: Life of Scott, Life of Burns. 
 
 Southey: Life of Nelson. 
 
 Trevelyan, G. O. : Life and Letters of Macaulay. 
 
 Gaskell, Mrs.: Life of Charlotte Bronte. 
 
 Lang, Andrew: Life of Scott. 
 
 Cheney, Edna: Life and Letters of Louisa M. Alcott. 
 
 Irving: Life of Goldsmith. 
 
 Blackie, J. S. : Burns. 
 
 Garnett, Richard : Life of Milton. 
 
 Pickard, S. T.: Life and Letters of Whittier. 
 
330 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Froude, J. A. : C&sar. 
 
 Roosevelt, Theodore: Oliver Cromwell. 
 
 If preferred, autobiographies or essays such as those by Repplier, 
 Warner, Curtis, Stevenson, Van Dyke, Mabie, Lowell, De Quincey, 
 may be taken as subjects for talks. 
 
 DICKENS 
 
 The childhood of Dickens. (Langton, Robert: Childhood and 
 Youth of Dickens.) 
 
 Dickens' home life. (Dickens, Mamie: My Father as I Recall 
 Him.) 
 
 Gadshill. 
 
 An illustrator of Dickens. 
 
 Dickens in America. 
 
 Dickens as a lecturer. 
 
 Dickens as a letter-writer. 
 
 Dickens as a humanitarian. 
 
 The children portrayed by Dickens. 
 
 Some character-types of Dickens. 
 
 The kind of life Dickens liked to portray. 
 
 Dickens' model woman. 
 
 Dickens' fondness for dress. 
 
 A Child's Ride with Dickens. (Kate Douglas Wiggin.) 
 
 What Dickens did for Childhood. ("Century," Feb., 1899.) 
 
 The London of Dickens. (Miltoun : Dickens' London.) 
 
 A school portrayed by Dickens. (Dombey and Son, Nicholas 
 Nickkby.) 
 
 The schoolmaster of Dickens' novels. 
 
 The centenary of Dickens. 
 
 The fund for Dickens' descendants. 
 
 Dickens' place in literature. 
 
 Why I read Dickens. 
 
 My favorite character from Dickens. 
 
 Story of some one of the shorter novels. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 331 
 
 A Tale of Two Cities 
 
 The Bank of England. 
 
 Relation of guardian and ward in England in the 18th century. 
 
 The punishment of crime in England in the 18th century. 
 
 Highway robbery hi England in the 18th century. (Sydney, 
 W. C.: England in 18th Century.) 
 
 Method of procedure hi trials for treason. (Traill: Social 
 England.) 
 
 The rights of the French Manor Lord. (Mallet: French Revolu- 
 tion, Ch. I.) 
 
 The Feudal system in France. (Mallet: French Revolution, 
 Ch. I.) 
 
 The taxes. (Mallet: French Revolution, Ch. I.) 
 
 The Bastille. (Bingham, D.: The Bastille.) 
 
 The destruction of the Bastille. (Carlyle: French Revolution, 
 Bk. V, Ch. VI.) 
 
 Experience of some prisoner in the Bastille. 
 
 The States General. (Carlyle, Mallet.) 
 
 Character sketches of Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Marie 
 Antoinette. 
 
 The typical French peasant of 1789. 
 
 The Jacobins. (Mallet, Carlyle.) 
 
 The Girondists. (Mallet, Carlyle.) 
 
 The Reign of Terror. (Carlyle, Part III, Bk. IV. Mallet, 
 Ch. VII-XII. Elliot, G. D. : In the Shadow of the Guittotine.) 
 
 Charlotte Corday. 
 
 Some noted men of the tune. 
 
 A typical trial. (Le Notre: The Tribunal of the Terror.) 
 
 A royal flight: (Carlyle: French Revolution, Pi. II, Bk. IV, 
 Ch. III.) 
 
 The custom of accusation by letter as practiced hi Florence. 
 
 The imprisonment of Lafayette. (Any life of Lafayette.) 
 
 Some recent finds as to the number killed hi the Revolution. 
 
 The Guillotine: invention description explanation of use. 
 
332 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 GEORGE ELIOT 
 Silas Marner 
 
 Describe the scene of the trial of Silas by lot. 
 
 Describe the scene in the inn just after Silas appears. 
 
 Describe Molly as she approaches the Red House. 
 
 Describe Mr. Macey as he sits before the door. 
 
 Describe Nancy as she sits in her parlor on the eventful Sunday 
 afternoon. 
 
 Describe the scene at the stone pits just after the discovery of 
 Dunstan's body. 
 
 Describe the scene hi Silas's cottage at the time of the Sunday 
 meal. 
 
 Describe the scene in Silas's cottage at the time Godfrey reveals 
 his relationship to Eppie. 
 
 Let the farrier tell a member of his family about the events of the 
 evening. 
 
 Let Silas tell Dolly the story of Lantern Yard, as she questions. 
 
 Let someone in Lantern Yard tell the story of how Silas, the 
 hitherto irreproachable young man, was shown guilty of theft. 
 
 Let Silas tell Eppie the story of the night when he found her. 
 
 Let Godfrey, after the refusal of Eppie to acknowledge him, tell 
 to Nancy some night the full story. 
 
 Let Nancy tell Priscilla the story of how the effort was made to 
 claim Eppie. 
 
 Conversation between Dunstan and Godfrey, when Godfrey 
 gives up money. 
 
 Conversation between Molly and Godfrey, when Molly threatens. 
 
 Conversation among the villagers (three or four) after Silas's loss. 
 
 Conversation between Dolly and Ben about Silas's adoption of 
 Eppie. 
 
 Conversation between Nancy and Priscilla after the ball. 
 
 Conversation between the Misses Gunn after the ball. 
 
 Was Nancy right, considering her ideas, hi refusing to adopt the 
 child? 
 
 Would Silas have taken Eppie, had she come before he lost his gold? 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 333 
 
 Would Nancy now be thought to have the essential traits of a lady? 
 
 Were Nancy and Godfrey right in asking Silas to give up Eppie? 
 
 Was Eppie fitted to take her place in the Red House as Goolfrey's 
 daughter? 
 
 Was Eppie right in refusing to acknowledge Godfrey's claim? 
 
 Was Godfrey's retribution a just, sufficient one? 
 
 The use of Dolly Winthrop (or some other minor character) in 
 the story. 
 
 Methods of revealing character in this novel. 
 
 The development of character in this novel 
 
 The interrelation of characters. 
 
 Preparation for events in this novel. 
 
 Comparison of Silas Marner to Ivanhoe, or Tale of Two Cities, as 
 to interest, or as to character development. 
 
 Trial by ordeal and lot. (Cheney: English History.} 
 
 Silas's religion at Lantern Yard. ("The Dissenters." English 
 histories.) 
 
 The Church of England service. 
 
 Transportation in the early 19th century. 
 
 Superstitions of a hundred years ago, and now. 
 
 Education in the early 19th century. (Traill: Social England, 
 vol. VI.) 
 
 The coming of the factory. (Traill: Social England, vol. VI.) 
 
 Weavers hi England. (Traill: Social England. Industrial 
 histories.) 
 
 Tell the story of the retribution that came to Tito. (Romola.) 
 
 Compare Godfrey and Tito. 
 
 Trace the development of Gwendolen Harleth's character. 
 (Daniel Deronda). 
 
 Story of the plot of some other novel by George Eliot. 
 
 Criticism (hi form of book review) of some other novel of George 
 Eliot. 
 
 Application of George Eliot's idea of immortality to her own work. 
 (Eliot: 0, may I join the Choir Invisible.) 
 
 George Eliot as a poet. 
 
 Silas Marner as a novel of manners; as an ethical novel. 
 
334 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 HOMES 
 The Odyssey. 
 
 The judgment of Paris. 
 
 The story of the Trojan War. 
 
 The wooden horse. (The JZneid, The Iliad.) 
 
 Anecdote of how Ulysses was induced to enter the war. 
 
 The part of Ulysses in the Trojan War. 
 
 The wrath of Achilles. 
 
 The goddess Athene. 
 
 The attributes of Neptune. 
 
 Some story of Zeus. 
 
 Polyphemus and Galatea. 
 
 The encounter of ^Bneas and Polyphemus. (The JSneid.) 
 
 The journey of ^Eneas. (The dBneid.) 
 
 The part the gods played in the Trojan War. (The Iliad.) 
 
 Mount Olympus. 
 
 The Greek idea of Hades. 
 
 The house of the period. (Seymour: Greek Life.) 
 
 The Homeric conception of a hero. 
 
 The modern conception of a hero. 
 
 Penelope as a womanly type. 
 
 Nausicaa as a womanly type. 
 
 Other descents into Hades. (The JSneid, Dante's Divine Come- 
 dy.) 
 
 Craft and wile in the story. 
 
 Stories of Circe. 
 
 Some other great story of a hero; Beowulf, Siegfried, ^Eneas, etc. 
 
 What is meant by heroic poetry? 
 
 Was "Homer "Homer? 
 
 The justice of the suitors' punishment. 
 
 Was Penelope responsible for their acts? 
 
 (Mythological references: Gayley: Classic Myths in Eng. Lit.; 
 Guerber: Myths of Greece and Rome; Bulfinch: Age of Fable.) 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 335 
 
 IRVING 
 
 The Sketch Book 
 
 Brief sketch of Irving's life. 
 
 Description of a scene at the departure of some ship. 
 
 Description of the scene at the arrival of some ship. 
 
 Brief account of the life of Roscoe. 
 
 One minute talk on the work of Roscoe. 
 
 How Hendrick Hudson went up the great river. 
 
 Description of the Half-Moon. 
 
 Brief account of a trip up the Hudson. 
 
 Description of Rip's house as it probably looked when he returned. 
 
 Description of typical scene at the village inn. 
 
 Description of some scene in the Catskills. 
 
 Joseph Jefferson's portrayal of Rip van Winkle. 
 
 Relations between England and America in Irving's tune. 
 
 Relations between England and America now. 
 
 Abstract of some book on America by a European, or statement of 
 his attitude. 
 
 Growth of landscape gardening in America. 
 
 Some great American parks. 
 
 Description of scene in some American park. 
 
 Description of Windsor Castle. 
 
 Story of Chaucer's Knight's Tale. 
 
 James I as an author. 
 
 The scene outside some country church with which you are 
 familiar. 
 
 The English Sunday compared with the American Sunday, in 
 cities. 
 
 Character sketch of Falstaff. 
 
 Description of typical scene hi the Boar's Head Tavern in Shak- 
 spere's tune. (King Henry IV, Part I, Act II, scene iv.) 
 
 Some famous Southwark inns. (Shelley, H. C. : Inns and Taverns 
 of Old London.) 
 
 Anecdotes of Westminster school. (Markham, F.: Recollections 
 of a Town-boy at Westminster.) 
 
336 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 The Doomsday Book. 
 
 Why Spenser is remembered. 
 
 The reason why the books from the press of Wynkyn de Worde 
 are sought. 
 
 Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia. (What the book is about, what made 
 it popular.) 
 
 What Lyly stands for in English Literature. (Any English 
 Literature.) 
 
 What Chaucer stands for in English Literature. (Any English 
 Literature.) 
 
 Some books of a generation ago that are now forgotten. 
 
 Some old English funeral customs. 
 
 History of Westminster Abbey. (Brooks-Hunt, Violet: West- 
 minster Abbey. Bradley, E. T.: Annals of Westminster Abbey.) 
 
 Plan of the Abbey (illustrated by drawing at board). 
 
 Description of some tomb hi the Abbey. (See references 
 above.) 
 
 America's Hall of Fame. 
 
 When the celebration of Christmas was stopped. 
 
 The German Christmas. 
 
 Why we have Christmas trees. (The Book of Christmas.) 
 
 Revival of the use of holly. 
 
 Comparison of old English customs and American customs at 
 Christmas. 
 
 Evil of our methods of celebration. 
 
 An ideal Christmas. 
 
 The spirit of Christmas. 
 
 The American stagecoach. 
 
 The British public school. (Tom Brown at Rugby.) 
 
 The position of the English squire in the eighteenth century. 
 (Macaulay: History of England, v. I, ch. III. Ditchfield, P. H.: 
 The Old English Country Squire.) 
 
 An old English manor. (Walker: Essentials of English History, 
 p. 104.) 
 
 A country estate in America. 
 
 Description of scene hi the church on Christmas day 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 337 
 
 Some American literary shrines (Wilson, R. R. : New England in 
 Letters) : 
 
 Sunnyside; Longfellow's home, Cambridge; Whittier's home, 
 East Haverhill; Concord, Mass.; Salem, Mass. 
 
 Penn's treaty with the Indians. 
 
 Some instance of injustice to the Indian. (Jackson, H. H.: A 
 Century of Dishonor.) . 
 
 The Indian on the Reservation. 
 
 The Indian at school. 
 
 As an Indian sees an Indian. (Eastman, Charles: The Soul of 
 the Indian.) 
 
 Cooper's attitude toward the Indian. 
 
 Character sketch of Chingachgook. (Cooper: Last of the Mohicans.) 
 
 Story of the Seminole War, or the Black Hawk War. 
 
 John Bull compared to Uncle Sam, or some other national figure. 
 
 The charm of The Compleat Angler. 
 
 A modern angler's joys. (Van Dyke, Henry: Fisherman's Luck.) 
 
 Account of an angling expedition. 
 
 Description of scene in some country schoolhouse. 
 
 Sleepy Hollow as it is to-day. 
 
 Story of one of the Tales of a Traveller. 
 
 Anecdote from Knickerbocker's History. 
 
 Anecdote of Irving. 
 
 Description of Sunnyside. 
 
 Irving as a patriotic writer. 
 
 Irving as a humorist. 
 
 Irving as a writer of travel sketches. 
 
 Irving as a biographer. 
 
 Irving as a short-story writer. 
 
 Irving as a diplomat. 
 
 LINCOLN 
 
 Description of Lincoln's birthplace. 
 
 Lincoln's father. 
 
 His stepmother. 
 
 Lincoln and his little sister. 
 
338 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 The boy as a speechmaker. 
 
 Lincoln as a rail-splitter. 
 
 Life in a country store. 
 
 Life on the river. 
 
 The Black Hawk War. 
 
 How Lincoln studied. 
 
 Lincoln as a lawyer. 
 
 Lincoln as a politician. 
 
 Lincoln's early attitude toward slavery. 
 
 The Lincoln-Douglas debates. 
 
 Career of Douglas. 
 
 The Dred Scott Decision. 
 
 The Missouri Compromise. 
 
 The "underground railway." 
 
 The beginning of slavery in America. 
 
 The early status of slavery hi the North. 
 
 The adaptability of slavery to North and South. 
 
 Rise of the Abolition movement hi the North. 
 
 The great Abolition leaders. 
 
 The story of Uncle Tom's Cabin. 
 
 Influence of Uncle Tom's Cabin. 
 
 The story of Dred. 
 
 The convention which nominated Lincoln. 
 
 The circumstances of the Cooper Union speech. 
 
 Description of Lincoln as he appeared to a New York audience. 
 
 Lincoln as a campaigner. 
 
 The issues of the campaign of 1860. 
 
 The rise of the Republican party. 
 
 Lincoln's journey to Washington. 
 
 The Washington of 1861. 
 
 Lincoln's cabinet. 
 
 Lincoln as a story teller. 
 
 One of Lincoln's stories. 
 
 Lincoln's tender heart. 
 
 Tell the story of The Perfect Tribute. (Andrews.) 
 
 Reasons for the Emancipation Proclamation. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 339 
 
 Reception of the Emancipation Proclamation. 
 
 The close of the war. 
 
 The assassination of Lincoln. 
 
 Account of the Continental Congress held in Independence Hall. 
 
 Description of Independence Hall. 
 
 The Signing of the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 Account of the Battle of Gettysburg. 
 
 Significance of the battle. 
 
 Description of the battlefield. (If any student has visited it.) 
 
 Character sketch of Lee. 
 
 Lee's part in the Civil War. 
 
 Account of some other important battle in the Civil War. 
 
 How Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg speech. 
 
 Brief summary of Edward Everett's speech. 
 
 Celebration of fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, 
 1913. 
 
 Brief sketch of Greeley's life. 
 
 Character sketch of Greeley. 
 
 Greeley's public career. 
 
 Greeley as an editor. 
 
 The "Tribune" in Greeley's time. 
 
 Some editor contemporary with Greeley. 
 
 Some anecdote of Greeley. 
 
 The presidential campaign of 1864. 
 
 Lincoln's opponent, McClellan. 
 
 The opponents of Lincoln's policy, hi the North. 
 
 The religion of Lincoln. 
 
 The personality of Grant. 
 
 Grant as a soldier. 
 
 The siege of Vicksburg. 
 
 Was slavery the real cause of the Civil War? 
 
 Was slavery beneficial to the South? 
 
 Was Lincoln justified in freeing the slaves when he did? 
 
 Should the owners have been paid for their slaves? 
 
 Were the people of the North justified in aiding the escape of 
 slaves? 
 
340 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Was Greeley justified in becoming a candidate for the presi- 
 dency on a third ticket in 1872? 
 
 Was McClellan justified in becoming a candidate against Lin- 
 coln in 1864? 
 
 Were the terms of surrender of Lee's army in 1865 just? 
 
 Was Lincoln fitted to bring about reconstruction? 
 
 Should soldiers of the Civil War be granted a dollar a day pen- 
 sion? 
 
 Should all soldiers have burial in national cemeteries? 
 
 Should a distinguished military career (such as Grant's) be a 
 reason for nominating him for the presidency? 
 
 (References: Tarbell, Ida M.: Early Life of Lincoln. Nicolay 
 and Hay: Life of Lincoln. Singmaster, Elsie: Gettysburg. Linn: 
 Horace Greeley. American histories.) 
 
 MACAULAT 
 Essays on Clive and Hastings 
 
 What is meant by "India"? 
 
 The East India company: beginnings, progress, accomplishments, 
 dissolution. 
 
 How India became part of the British Empire. 
 
 The present government of India. Various phases: viceroy, 
 governors, councils, police system, etc. 
 
 The Sepoy rebellion. 
 
 The siege of Lucknow. 
 
 The Black Hole of Calcutta. 
 
 Description of an Indian temple. (Stoddard's Lectures.) 
 
 Description of the Taj Mahal. (Stoddard's Lectures.) 
 
 The Grand Mogul. 
 
 The religions current in India. (Encyclopedias.) 
 
 The position of women in India a hundred years ago. 
 
 European education for India. 
 
 The state of some native prince. 
 
 Was Clive justified in taking money from Meer Jaffier? 
 
 Was Clive justified in the measures he used against Dupleix? 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 341 
 
 Should Clive have been ejected from Parliament? 
 
 Was Clive justified in his deceptions in dealing with Omichund? 
 
 Was Clive wise in going back to India in 1765? 
 
 Was Hastings justified hi obtaining, by whatever means, the 
 revenue demanded by the company? 
 
 Should the English army have been lent to the Nabob Vizier? 
 
 Was Francis the author of the Junius letters? 
 
 Was Hastings justified in his treatment of Cheyte Sing? 
 
 Has English rule benefited India? 
 
 Is India capable of Home Rule? 
 
 Burke's part in the Hastings affair. 
 
 The story of Colonel Newcome, from The Newcomes. 
 
 Macaulay's service in India. 
 
 Macaulay as a letter-writer. (Trevelyan, G. O.: Life and Letters 
 of Lord Macaulay.) 
 
 Macaulay as a reader. 
 
 Macaulay as a speaker. 
 
 Macaulay as an essayist. 
 
 King George's visit to India. 
 
 The Durbar of 1912. 
 
 The "white man's burden." 
 
 Review of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling. 
 
 Story of one of the Plain Tales from the Hills. 
 
 Soldiers Three. 
 
 MILTON 
 Minor Poems 
 
 Description of Windsor Castle, seen among trees. (From 
 pictures.) 
 
 Story of tournament. (From Ivanhoe.) 
 
 Jonson as the learned playwright. 
 
 Story of Orpheus and Eurydice. (Gayley: Classic Myths. 
 Guerber: Myths of Greece and Rome. Bulfinch: Age of Fable.) 
 
 Story of Saturn's reign. 
 
 The Muses. 
 
342 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Residence of the gods on Olympus. 
 
 Story of Philomel. 
 
 History of the curfew. 
 
 Story of Troy. 
 
 Squier's tale. (Chaucer.) 
 
 Description of King's College chapel. (From pictures, in books 
 on Cambridge.) 
 
 Description of some "storied window." 
 
 Story of Circe. (Odyssey, or any mythology.) 
 
 Experience of Ulysses, or of ^Eneas, with the Sirens, Scylla, and 
 Chary bdis. (Odyssey, Iliad.) 
 
 Story of Pan. 
 
 Myth of the Golden Apples. 
 
 Story of Cupid and Psyche. 
 
 How Perseus slew the Gorgon. (Hawthorne's Wonder Book.) 
 
 Story of Thetis. 
 
 Cambridge University. (Johnson, R. B.: Cambridge Colleges. 
 Clark, J. W.: Cambridge.) 
 
 Cambridge as a nurse of poets. 
 
 Edward King. 
 
 Milton's education. (Any biography of Milton. Jenks, Tudor: 
 In the Days of MiUon.) 
 
 "The lady of Christ's." 
 
 Milton's training as it influenced his poetry. 
 
 Life at Horton. (Mead, Lucia: Milton's England.) 
 
 Influence of life at Horton on work. 
 
 Milton's love for music. 
 
 Milton hi Italy. 
 
 Friendship for Diodati. 
 
 Cyriac Skinner. 
 
 Henry Lawes. 
 
 Inigo Jones. 
 
 Circumstances under which Comus was presented. (Minor 
 Poems, ed. by A. P. Walker, D. C. Heath & Co., p. 89.) 
 
 The Puritan attitude toward plays. 
 
 Amusements of the Cavaliers. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 343 
 
 Home life of Puritans and Cavaliers. (Godfrey: Domestic Life 
 in England. Jenks, Tudor: In the Days of Milton.) 
 
 Dress of Puritans and Cavaliers. (Heritage of Dress, or any 
 complete history of costume.) 
 
 Political ideas of Puritans and Cavaliers. (English histories. 
 Macaulay: Essay on Milton.) 
 
 Religious ideas of Puritans and Cavaliers. (Macaulay: History 
 of England. Long: English Literature.) 
 
 Charles I Conflict with Parliament. (Macaulay: History of 
 England.) 
 
 Prose writers of the period. (English Literature.) 
 
 Poets of the Cavaliers. (English Literature.) 
 
 Work of John Bunyan. 
 
 Milton's public work. (Macaulay: Essay on Milton.) 
 
 Milton as a controversialist. 
 
 Milton as a religious writer. 
 
 Milton as a combination of Renaissance and Puritan types. 
 
 History of the masque in English literature. (Evans, H. A.: 
 English Masques.) 
 
 Account of some other masque. (Evans, H. A.: English 
 Masques.) 
 
 Account of each of the following: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, 
 Samson Agonistes, Education, Areopagitica. 
 
 Is the term " Minor Poems " justified? 
 
 Was Milton (considering the Areopagitica) justified in acting as 
 censor? 
 
 Was Milton justified hi defending the execution of Charles? 
 
 Was Milton justified in the abusiveness of his controversial 
 pamphlets? 
 
 Was Milton right in sacrificing his sight in the cause of defending 
 the acts of Parliament? 
 
 Did Milton's poetical work suffer because of his service to the 
 State? 
 
 Was the Puritan attitude toward plays justifiable? 
 
 Was the typical Puritan a better neighbor (or household com- 
 panion) than the Cavalier? 
 
344 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Was Milton to blame for his unhappy life with his daughters? 
 Do L'AUegro and // Penseroso represent the same man, hi different 
 moods? 
 
 PALGRAVE 
 The Golden Treasury 
 
 Why such a collection is valuable. 
 
 An account of some anthology, or of the Oxford Book of Verse, 
 as compared with The Golden Treasury. 
 
 Should such a book be used for study in the high school English 
 course? 
 
 Forms of poetry: Epic, Lyric, Dramatic, Didactic. 
 
 The nineteenth century types of poetry. (Any English Liter- 
 ature.) 
 
 The sonnet form. 
 
 Wyatt, the introducer of the sonnet. 
 
 The sonnet in the Elizabethan age. 
 
 The sonnet hi the Romantic period. 
 
 Wordsworth as a nature poet. 
 
 Wordsworth's idea of poetic diction. (Preface to Lyrical Ballads.) 
 
 Wordsworth hi France. 
 
 Story of Peter Bett or some other poem. 
 
 Wordsworth's friendships. (Rannie: Wordsworth and His Circle.} 
 
 The interest of the Lake Country for students of English liter- 
 ature. (Rawnsley: Literary Associations of the English Lakes.) 
 
 What the Lake Country is like. (Johnson, C.: Among English 
 Hedgerows. Bradley, A. G. : Highways and Byways in the Lake Dis- 
 trict. Lang, A.: Poets' Country. Palmer, W. T. : The English Lakes.) 
 
 The beginnings of the Romantic Movement. (Phelps, W. L.: 
 English Romantic Movement.) 
 
 What the Romantic Movement means hi English Literature. 
 
 Biographical sketch of Keats. 
 
 Story of some longer poem of Keats. 
 
 Biographic sketch of Shelley. 
 
 Shelley in Italy. (McMahon, A. B. : With Shelley in Italy.) 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 345 
 
 Comparison of the ideas of liberty, of Shelley, Keats, and Byron. 
 
 Nature in the Romantic poetry. 
 
 Nature in the poetry of the 18th century. 
 
 The use of the heroic couplet. 
 
 Poetic form of the Romantic movement as compared to that of 
 the 18th century- (Phelps, W. L. : English Romantic Movement.) 
 
 Scottish poetry of The Golden Treasury. 
 
 Patriotism in the poems in The Golden Treasury. 
 
 The supernatural element hi The Golden Treasury. 
 
 The musical quality in some of the poems. 
 
 Romanticism hi the poetry of Scott. 
 
 Melancholy in the poems of Gray and others. 
 
 The nightingale as a subject of verse. 
 
 The lark as a subject of verse. 
 
 Blake as an artist. 
 
 "Minor Poems" meaning of term, significance of work. 
 
 "Popular Poetry." 
 
 The poems you like best. 
 
 Why you like poetry, or do not care for it. 
 
 Why poetry is such an important part of literature. 
 
 The poetry of to-day as compared with that of The Golden 
 Treasury. (Note magazine poetry, and small volumes published.) 
 
 PARKMAN 
 The Oregon Trail 
 
 The American Fur Company. 
 
 Emigrant trains wagons, outfits. 
 
 The American guide as a type. 
 
 Indian war methods. 
 
 The passing of the buffalo. 
 
 Marcus L. Whitman. 
 
 The Oregon Expedition. 
 
 Exploration to-day. 
 
 The discovery of gold in California. ("The Century," 1890-92.) 
 
 The Forty-Niners. ("The Century," 1890-92.) 
 
346 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 A Journey over the Rockies sixty years ago. ("The Century," 
 1890-92.) 
 
 How Oregon was won. 
 
 Steps in the development of Oregon. 
 
 Oregon to-day. 
 
 What the great Northwest means to the nation. 
 
 "Go west, young man, go west!" 
 
 On board an observation train. 
 
 What the Panama Canal means to Oregon. 
 
 Brief review of some other book by Parkman. 
 
 Brief review of The Winning of the West, by Theodore Roosevelt. 
 
 Brief review of Boots and Saddles, by Elizabeth Custer. 
 
 Brief review of Following the Guidon, by Elizabeth Custer. 
 
 Brief review of Tenting on the Plains, by Elizabeth Custer. 
 
 Brief review of The Boy Pathfinder, a story of the Oregon Trail, 
 by W. C. Sprague. 
 
 Brief review of Pathfinders of the West, or of Conquest of the Great 
 Northwest, by Agnes C. Laut. 
 
 (These should be assigned only if the books have been read as 
 supplementary reading by some members of the class.) 
 
 SCOTT 
 Ivanhoe 
 
 Let Rowena give Elgitha an account of the tournament, Elgitha 
 asking questions and making comments with the freedom of a favor- 
 ite. 
 
 Let Rowena give Edith an account of her experiences as a 
 captive. 
 
 Let Isaac give Rebecca an account of his visit to Rotherwood. 
 
 Let Isaac and Kirjath Jairam talk over the probability of the 
 knight's returning the horse. Let Isaac tell some of his experiences, 
 giving reasons for trusting the knight, though Kirjath gives reasons 
 against. 
 
 Let Locksley tell one of his followers about the tournament, with 
 questions and comments from the hearer. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 347 
 
 Let Richard tell Ivanhoe how he escaped from prison and reached 
 England. 
 
 Let John and two of his followers make plans against Richard. 
 
 Let Richard and Ivanhoe discuss, on the way to Athelstane's 
 funeral, the possibility of Cedric's forgiving Ivanhoe. Ivanhoe 
 may introduce some narrative to show his father's character. 
 
 Let Locksley and several of his followers discuss Richard. 
 
 Let Rowena and Ivanhoe tell each other about experiences dur- 
 ing their separation. 
 
 Let Rebecca tell her father her efforts to obtain a champion. 
 
 The story of Thackeray's continuation of Ivanhoe. Christmas 
 Books. 
 
 The story of the Conquest. (English History.) 
 
 The battle of Hastings. (English History.) 
 
 Swine as property. 
 
 The change of ownership. (Traill: Social England, I, 240 ff. 
 Old edition.) 
 
 Houses of the period. (Traill: Social England, I. 215 ff.) 
 
 Story of a real tournament. (Froissart's Chronicles.) 
 
 A tournament for a lady's hand. (Story of Melette, from Belt 
 and Spur.) 
 
 A palmer's customs. 
 
 Some sport of our day compared to the tournament. 
 
 Account of a polo game witnessed by some member of the class. 
 
 Description of a suit of armor. (From pictures or from a suit 
 in some museum. Ashdown, C. H.: Arms and Armor.) 
 
 A real Saxon castle. (Smith, H. E.. The History of Conisborough 
 Castle. MacKenzie, J. D. : Castles of England.) 
 
 A real Norman castle. (Clark, G. T.: Mediaeval Military Archi- 
 tecture. Armitage, Ella S. : The Early Norman Castles.) 
 
 Story of the Crusade hi which Richard had a part. (Histories. 
 Archer, T. A. : Crusade of Richard I.) 
 
 Some story of a Crusade. (Archer and Kingsford: The Crusades. 
 Church, A. J.: The Crusaders. Kelman, J. H.: Stories from the 
 Crusades. Crawford, Marion: Via Crucis.) 
 
 Norman officials. (English History.) 
 
348 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Origin of the Knights Templars. (Encyclopedias.) 
 
 The real Richard. The real John. (English histories.) 
 
 The practice of archery. (Strutt, Joseph: Sports and Pastimes, 
 bk. II, ch. I. Encyclopedias.) 
 
 The position of the thane. (Traill: Social England, I. See in- 
 dex.) 
 
 The thrall. 
 
 The professional fool. 
 
 The Jew in England hi the tune of John. (Jacobs, Joseph: The 
 Jews of Angevin England. Milman: History of the Jews.) 
 
 The training of a knight. (Archer and Kingsford: The Crusades.) 
 
 Robin. Hood: Character; manner of life; practices; followers. 
 (Gilliat E.: Forest Outlaws. Pyle, Howard: Merry Adventures of 
 Robin Hood. Tappan, M.: Robin Hood: His Book. Finnemore, 
 John: Story of Robin Hood and His Merry Men.) 
 
 Stories of some of the Robin Hood ballads. (Any ballad book.) 
 
 Description of scenes in Sherwood Forest. (Rodgers, Joseph: The 
 Scenery of Sherwood Forest, with account of some eminent people 
 once residing there.) 
 
 Trial by champion. 
 
 Trial for witchcraft. (Scott, Walter: Letters on Demonology and 
 Witchcraft.) 
 
 The real friars of Ivanhoe's time. (Jessup: Coming of the Friars. 
 Traill: Social England, I.) 
 
 The duties of a squire. (Numerous instances in Froissart's 
 Chronicles. Wright: Homes.) 
 
 Scott's idea of a hero. 
 
 Present idea of a hero. 
 
 SHAKSPERE 
 
 Description of Stratford. (Lee: Stratford on Avon.) 
 Description of Shakspere's birthplace. (Ward: Shakspere's Town 
 and Times.) 
 Trinity Church. 
 
 The Grammar School at Stratford. 
 An anecdote of Shakspere's youth. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 349 
 
 A London street in Shakspere's time. (Stephenson, H.: Shak- 
 spere's London.) 
 
 The reception of Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth. 
 
 Boy-players in Elizabeth's time. 
 
 The London theaters of Shakspere's tune. 
 
 The Shaksperean stage. (Albright, Victor: The Shaksperean 
 Stage. Lawrence, W. J.: The Elizabethan Playhouse.) 
 
 Scenery in Shakspere's tune. 
 
 Shakspere's contemporaries. 
 
 The sonneteers. 
 
 The novel in Shakspere's tune. 
 
 Miracle plays. (Pollard: Mirade Plays. Spencer, M. Lyle: 
 Corpus Christi Pageants in England.) 
 
 The Morality plays. (Manly: Specimens of Pre-Shaksperean 
 Drama.) 
 
 Strolling players. (Matthews, B. : Development of the Drama.) 
 
 The first English comedy Ralph Roister Doister. 
 
 The first English tragedy Gorboduc. 
 
 The tragedy of blood. (Symonds: Predecessors of Shakspere.) 
 
 Shakspere as a conservator of the English language. 
 
 The popularity of Shakspere to-day. 
 
 The eighteenth century opinion of Shakspere. 
 
 The discovery of Shakspere hi Germany. 
 
 Shakspere the teacher. 
 
 Julius Ccesar 
 
 Shakspere's use of his sources. 
 
 Shakspere's portrayal of Caesar. 
 
 Use of Roman history hi other plays. 
 
 Synopsis of Coriolanus. 
 
 Character sketch of Coriolanus. 
 
 The Antony of Julius Ccesar compared with the Antony of a 
 later play. 
 
 Methods of revealing character in this play. 
 
 Methods of revealing character in a play as compared with a 
 novel. 
 
350 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Shakspere's use of English history in plays. 
 
 The use of history in some modern play. (Fitch: Nathan Hale. 
 Parker: Disraeli. Bulwer-Lytton : Richelieu.) 
 
 Julius Ccesar as a tragedy. 
 
 The use of the supernatural in the play. 
 
 Shakspere's use of the mob. (See also Henry VI and Coriolanus.} 
 
 The unity of the play. 
 
 The naming of the play. 
 
 The hero of the play. 
 
 The advisability of having the ghost visibly represented on the 
 stage. 
 
 The respective responsibility of Brutus and Cassius for the 
 assassination. 
 
 Comparison of the assassination of Caesar with the assassination 
 of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, or the attempted assassination of 
 Roosevelt. 
 
 Comparison of the ideas of the conspirators with those of anarch- 
 ists and nihilists of the present as to methods. 
 
 Was Antony sincere in his funeral oration? 
 
 Comparison of Brutus and Antony. 
 
 Comparison of Brutus and Caesar. 
 
 Comparison of Brutus and Cassius. 
 
 Was Brutus justified, in your opinion, in his act? 
 
 The Merchant of Venice 
 
 Describe the appearance of some character in the play, as you 
 have seen him portrayed on the stage, or as you imagine him. 
 
 Describe some scene from the play, as you have seen it or would 
 stage it. 
 
 Tell the story of the whole play. 
 
 Tell the story of each plot. 
 
 Let Bassanio give Antonio an account of his first visit to Belmont, 
 in which he describes Portia and her home, and gives an idea of 
 her personality. 
 
 Taking the part of Shylock, tell the story of some transaction 
 which Antonio foiled. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 351 
 
 Taking the part of Antonio, tell the story of the same, as above. 
 
 In the person of Jessica, tell the story of her courtship and elope- 
 ment, to Portia or Nerissa. 
 
 In the part of Lorenzo, tell it to Antonio, after the happy out- 
 come. 
 
 As Portia, tell the story of her journey to Venice and her part in 
 the trial. 
 
 Tell the story of The Jew of Malta, by Marlowe. 
 
 Compare the two plays. 
 
 Compare Barabbas and Shylock. 
 
 Compare Isaac of York and Shylock. 
 
 Compare Portia and Beatrice, or Rosalind. 
 
 Let Shylock and an officer talk, Shylock giving reasons for ar- 
 resting Antonio, and the other trying to dissuade him. 
 
 Let Portia and Nerissa argue the keeping of the father's will. 
 
 Let Lorenzo and Jessica talk over the proposed elopement, 
 Lorenzo pleading and overcoming objections. 
 
 Conversation between Arragon and Morocco, years afterward. 
 
 Let Bassanio and Antonio talk over the signing of the bond. 
 
 Let three on each side discuss the justification of Jessica. 
 
 Let three on each side discuss the justice of the verdict. 
 
 The sources of the play. 
 
 Macbeth 
 
 Shakspere's use of history. 
 
 Andrew Wyntoun's Macbeth. Original Chronicles of Scotland. 
 
 Holinshed's Chronicles. 
 
 Conversation between Macbeth and some lord over the chances 
 of the crown for him, before the prophecy. 
 
 Conversation of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, to which she refers, 
 "Had I so sworn as you " 
 
 Address of Malcolm or Macduff to soldiers. 
 
 Report of spy to Macbeth. 
 
 Conversation of two Scotch lords over the flight of Macduff to 
 England. 
 
 Conversation between lords, about Macbeth's tyranny. 
 
352 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Discussion among several soldiers over leaving Macbeth's forces 
 to join Malcolm's. 
 
 Had Macbeth fallen before the play opens? 
 
 Was Macbeth more guilty than Lady Macbeth? 
 
 Did Banquo have any knowledge of Macbeth's intentions, before 
 the murder? 
 
 Is the theory of Macbeth being the third murderer tenable? 
 
 Should the ghost be visibly represented? 
 
 Should the witch scenes be represented for a modern audience? 
 
 Were Malcolm and Donalbain wise to flee? 
 
 Should Macduff have gone to England? 
 
 Was Lady Macbeth a "fiend-like queen"? 
 
 Should the play be produced with modern scenery? 
 
 Was Macbeth a victim of Fate? 
 
 Is Duncan a kingly figure in the play? 
 
 STEVENSON 
 
 Stevenson as a poet. 
 
 Stevenson as a romancer. 
 
 Stevenson as a letter-writer. 
 
 Anecdote of Stevenson. (Low, Will H.: Reminiscences.) 
 
 St. Gaudens and Stevenson. (Low, Will H.: Reminiscences.) 
 
 Stevenson and the Samoans. (Moore: With Stevenson in Samoa.) 
 
 The personality of Stevenson as revealed in his writings. 
 
 Stevenson as an essayist. 
 
 The place of Stevenson in literature. 
 
 Stevenson's fight for life. 
 
 Treasure Island 
 
 The story of Captain Kidd. 
 
 A search for buried treasure. 
 
 The age of pirates. 
 
 What is a romance? 
 
 Some other writers of romance. 
 
 The story of Kidnapped. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 353 
 
 The story of David Balfour. 
 
 The story of The Master of Ballantrae. 
 
 Incidents from some of these novels. 
 
 The double personality. (Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.) 
 
 Travels with a Donkey and Inland Voyage 
 
 Description of Stevenson and Modestine in the rain. 
 
 Monastier. The Studio, Winter number, 1896-7. 
 
 Description of an inn scene. 
 
 An Eskimo sleeping bag. 
 
 Account of Maria. (Sterne: Sentimental Journey.) 
 
 Account of some monastery known to travelers. 
 
 Stevenson's religious differences with his parents. 
 
 Religious persecutions in Bohemia hi the days of Huss. 
 
 The Massacre of St. Bartholomew. 
 
 The benefits of travel such as Stevenson's. 
 
 Stevenson's humor. 
 
 Stevenson's love of nature. 
 
 Stevenson's tolerance. 
 
 Stevenson's romance. (Meeting future wife.) 
 
 Camping at Silverado. (The Silverado Squatters.) 
 
 The boat that was not used. (Low W. H.: Reminiscences, 
 "Scribner's," Sept., 1908.) 
 
 Stevenson's arrest. (See Across the Plains.) 
 
 Stevenson's attitude toward children. 
 
 Account of Through France and Belgium by River and Canal, 
 by W. J. C. Moehs. 
 
 Stevenson's route, illustrated at board by map. 
 
 Account' of Cevennes. (Hammerton: In the Track of Stevenson.) 
 
 Account of some scene from Holland and Its People, or from A 
 Wanderer in Holland. 
 
 Account of some experience, or the plan of travel, or the purpose, 
 from the following: Pennell, E. R.: In Romany Land. Taylor, 
 Bayard: Days Afoot. Warner: A Howadji on the Nile. Smith, 
 F. H.: A White Umbrella in Mexico. Williamson: Through France 
 in a Motor Car. 
 
354 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 TENNYSON 
 
 Idylls of the King 
 
 Who Arthur was. (Schofield: English Literature, from Norman 
 Conquest to Chaucer, pp. 59-60. Maynadier: The Arthur of the 
 English Poets, pp. 6-33.) 
 
 The story of the Round Table. (Maynadier: pp. 50-57.) 
 
 The Arthurian stories of France. (Schofield, Maynadier.) 
 
 The Arthurian stories of England. (Schofield, Maynadier.) 
 
 The Grail. (Schofield; Maynadier; Nutt, Alfred: Legend of the 
 Grail.) 
 
 Launcelot. (Schofield, Maynadier.) 
 
 Merlin. (Schofield, Maynadier.) 
 
 Le Morte d'Arthur (Malory). What it was, use of legends, etc. 
 (Any English Literature, Schofield, Maynadier.) 
 
 The Mabinogion. (Schofield, Maynadier. Translation by Lady 
 Charlotte Guest.) 
 
 The story of Gawayne and the Green Knight. (Various transla- 
 tions.) 
 
 Sir Percival's youth. (Lays of Marie de France.) 
 
 Account of a tournament. (Froissart's Chronicles.) 
 
 Some knightly orders of reality. (See Knights of the Garter, 
 Knights Templars, etc.) 
 
 What knighthood meant in the Middle Ages. (Introduction to 
 Globe edition of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. Macmillan Co.) 
 
 What knighthood means now. 
 
 Tennyson's emphasis compared with Malory's. 
 
 Some other 19th century versions. (Maynadier: The Arthur of 
 the English Poets.) 
 
 Chaucer's Knight. (Prologue and Knight's Tale.) 
 
 Tell the story of some Idyll not read in class. 
 
 Compare Galahad's quest of the Grail with Sir Launfal's. 
 
 Describe Abbey's pictures of the quest. (Boston Museum, 
 reproductions in Copley Prints, and New York Times Supplement, 
 March 24, 1912.) 
 
 Symbolism in the Idylls. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 355 
 
 Incidents from Morte d' Arthur (Malory). 
 
 How Arthur won Excalibur. Bk. I, ch. 23. 
 
 How Sir Launcelot slew giants and made a castle free. Bk. 
 
 VI, ch. 2. 
 
 The Joust of King Arthur. Bk. X, ch. 21. 
 
 How Sir Galahad fought at a tournament. Bk. XVII, ch. 1. 
 
 The adventures of Sir Percival. Bk. XIV. 
 Tennyson as a lyric poet. 
 Tennyson as an occasional poet. 
 Tennyson as a dramatist. 
 The Laureateship. 
 The personality of Tennyson. 
 Tennyson's rank among English poets. 
 Poetry in the Victorian age. 
 
 Tennyson's poetry as a reflection of the age in which he lived 
 (The Princess, Locksley Hall, etc.). 
 The friendship of Tennyson and Hallam. 
 
 EXAMPLES OF SPEECHES 
 FOR STUDY OF PLAN, COHERENCE, AND EFFECTIVENESS 
 
 INTRODUCTION OF WILLIAM J. BRYAN, FOR A LECTURE, BY WILLIAM 
 GAYNOR, MAYOR OF NEW YORK 
 
 After dining with you on so recent an occasion, I feel entirely 
 at home. You act as if you all felt at home, too. I doubt if there 
 is another man on this continent who, considering the accident and 
 the weather [there was a heavy rain. The whole city was anxiously 
 awaiting the arrival of the Carpathia that night with the Titanic's 
 passengers] could draw such an audience. 
 
 Dr. Reisner [pastor of church in which lecture was delivered] said 
 you might not all agree with Mr. Bryan politically, but you did 
 ethically. I must confess I don't understand that. It doesn't 
 
356 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 seem quite square. When I was a boy, we always called the 
 Methodist boys square. I thought the men were so too. 
 
 The greatest man is the teacher. Mr. Bryan is our greatest 
 living teacher. He has run three tunes for the highest office. He 
 was unsuccessful. But some men who were elected have not been 
 successful. He has been successful. He has led our thought, more 
 than anyone else. He has helped reforms, out of office. Sometimes 
 the statesmen out of office are greater than the statesmen in. In 
 both capacities, the statesman and the teacher, I now introduce 
 him to you. 
 
 INTRODUCTION OF WILLIAM J. BRYAN, FOR LECTURE, " THE SIGNS OF 
 
 THE TIMES," BEFORE PACKARD SCHOOL, 
 
 BY VICTOR J. DOWLJNQ 
 
 No one could be more interested in the signs of the times than the 
 graduates of the Packard Commercial School, for as they read 
 these signs aright, or fail to read them correctly, very much of 
 their future success will be added to or detracted from. There is 
 no one better qualified to interpret for them the signs of the times 
 than that distinguished and eloquent gentleman who has helped 
 to erect so many of those signs during the past generation, and 
 who, during twenty years of public life, in the white heat of partisan 
 debate has left untouched in the conviction of the American people 
 his intellectual and moral honesty. I present to you the Honorable 
 William Jennings Bryan. 
 
 OPENING ADDRESS BY ELBERT BRINCKERHOFF AT BIBLE TERCEN- 
 TENARY, NEW YORK, APRIL 25, 1911 
 
 In the absence of Mr. Theophilus A. Brouwer, the honored 
 President of the American Bible Society, who is detained by ill- 
 ness, it falls to me as Vice-President to open this meeting by calling 
 your attention to the relation of the Society to the Tercentenary 
 celebration. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 357 
 
 The American Bible Society for almost a century has been carry- 
 ing on the work for which it was organized. This was to encourage 
 a wider circulation of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, 
 the only copies in the English language to be circulated by the 
 Society to be the version set forth in 1611 and commonly known 
 as the King James Version. 
 
 The American Bible Society is thoroughly unsectarian in its 
 entire work is essentially gratuitous and not remunerative. 
 Since its organization over ninety million volumes of the Holy 
 Scriptures have been issued, while the receipts of the Society, not 
 including trust funds (of which the income only can be used), have 
 been over thirty-four million dollars, all expended in circulating 
 the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 At this anniversary of the three hundredth year of the King 
 James Version of the English Bible, it seems fitting that the Society 
 should present this summary of its active work in holding forth the 
 Word of Life to the people of the United States and of the world, 
 and emphasize the blessed work of three hundred years ago, inviting 
 co-laborers, constituents and all interested in God's work to join 
 in recognition of the leading hand of the Almighty, and without 
 thought of creed, denomination, sect or nationality, as one people 
 with but the one God, and dwellers in this most favored of 
 Christian nations, assemble ourselves to celebrate this eventful 
 and historical anniversary. 
 
 In the name and on behalf of the American Bible Society, I have 
 the honor of presenting the Rt. Rev. Bishop David H. Greer, who 
 will preside over this meeting. 
 
 "Bible Society Record." 
 
 SPEECH BY BISHOP DAVID H. GREER AT TERCENTENARY OF THE 
 KING JAMES BIBLE, NEW YORK, APRIL 25, 1911 
 
 We meet to-night to commemorate one of the most notable events, 
 if not the most notable, hi English-speaking Christendom the 
 translation three hundred years ago of the Old and New Testaments 
 
358 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 into the English tongue. As our late distinguished fellow-towns- 
 man, the eminent biblical scholar, Dr. Philip Schaff, said, "That 
 was the greatest blessing which the Reformation of the sixteenth 
 century bestowed upon the Anglo-Saxon race, and whose hold 
 upon the popular heart it has never lost." Other translations had 
 been made before and some have been made since, and yet it is 
 but the veriest commonplace to repeat what has been so often 
 said, that, regarded and compared as literary products, none of 
 them has surpassed the King James Version, or even, indeed, ap- 
 proached it. Done as it was at the flowering period of the English 
 language, it still remains, in the purity, the terseness, and the 
 dignity of its style the greatest of English classics. This is the 
 general verdict of scholarship; so much so indeed that when a few 
 years ago some of the ripest scholars of England and America 
 undertook to give to the world a more accurate rendering of the 
 original text they did not venture to set aside the Authorized 
 English Version, but simply to revise it. 
 
 And not only was that version a great, far-reaching literary event; 
 it was a great moral event, which liberated into the English-speaking 
 world at a plastic and formative period those sterling moral qual- 
 ities which have been ever since so distinctive of it. It helped to 
 make and mold the Anglo-Saxon type of character, with its love 
 of liberty, its respect for justice, its reverence for righteousness 
 and its profound sense of personal responsibility. It quickened the 
 public conscience and softened the public manners, and in no 
 little measure served to form and fashion the Anglo-Saxon home 
 and the Anglo-Saxon State. 
 
 And yet, even more than that, it was a great, far-reaching reli- 
 gious event, which set the people free from the bondage of super- 
 stitious fear, and brought them then, as it has brought them since, 
 face to face with God, to whom they should carry, as into their 
 ultimate courts, their human equity case. 
 
 All this, and much besides, you will hear this evening from the 
 appointed speakers. 
 
 'Bible Society Record." 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 359 
 
 SPEECH BY JOHN PUBBOY MITCHEL, PRESIDENT BOARD OP ALDER- 
 MEN, WELCOMING DR. CARREL, OF FRANCE, ON 
 BEHALF OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK 
 
 Mr. President, President Finley, Dr. Carrel, ladies and gen- 
 tlemen : 
 
 When men have won to the highest rank in any walk of life, 
 it is both natural and proper that their fellowmen should pay 
 to them the tribute of admiration that courage, perseverance, 
 labor and genius deserve. This is true even though the field 
 of achievement be one in which signal service to humanity or to 
 society is neither sought nor found. When, however, distinction 
 comes as the result of a splendid contribution to the knowledge of 
 the world, and a service to the human race that puts just a little 
 further off suffering and death and brings happiness and health 
 just a trifle closer to the grasp of men, then the tribute to the 
 mind and heart that have achieved the work should be truer, 
 broader, must be more sincere than when eminence attends on 
 purely selfish service. 
 
 It is but a little thing, even for a great city like New York, to 
 acknowledge so great a service by a tribute such as that we pay 
 to-day to Dr. Carrel. Neither the official greetings nor this 
 expression of the gratitude of his adopted city, this celebration 
 conceived and organized by this great college nor the honor that 
 is conferred upon him by the presence here and the praises of 
 the President of the United States, are adequate for his won- 
 derful achievements in the work of his profession or for the splen- 
 did, far-reaching service that he has rendered men. Dr. Carrel's 
 service to this, his adopted, city lies not so much in the distinction 
 that he has brought upon her by winning the Nobel Prize, a world 
 honor in itself, but lies rather in the illimitable benefits that the 
 people of this city, in common with mankind at large, will reap 
 as a result of his wonderful discoveries. What may be the ulti- 
 mate result of those discoveries, what may be the ultimate result 
 of the successful demonstration that arteries and organs may be 
 transplanted from one body to another and still retain life and 
 
360 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 function, and that the life of tissues and of organs may be sus- 
 tained apart from the organisms in which they grow, no man may 
 predict to-day. But, my friends, the possibilities hi ever widening 
 vistas, open to the imagination, are limitless. 
 
 Dr. Carrel, the city of New York greets you as a benefactor of 
 your race. She felicitates you upon the honors that have come 
 upon you, and she acknowledges with gratitude the distinction 
 that, hi winning them, you have brought upon her. She is proud 
 of you as a citizen. You, sir, hi common with hundreds of thou- 
 sands of citizens of this city, were born hi another land. None the 
 less, sir, she looks upon you as she looks upon them, as a New 
 Yorker. She trusts that you may have become attached to her 
 as she has become attached to you, and that, despite the alluring 
 offers that will undoubtedly be made to draw you elsewhere, 
 you will remain here, a citizen of New York, serving your city and 
 serving mankind in the future as you have in the past, with honor 
 to yourself and distinction to the city of New York. 
 
 "City College Quarterly." 
 
 RESPONSE OF DR. CARREL 
 
 I am deeply affected by the extraordinary honor which is done to 
 me by this assembly. No man of science has ever received such 
 a splendid public recognition. There are no words by which I 
 could express to you my gratitude for it. 
 
 Almost every scientific progress which appears to be due to 
 the efforts of one individual is really the indirect result of the 
 forgotten or unknown work of many others. It makes me very 
 happy to think that this exceptional honor goes above me to the 
 men who have inspired or rendered possible the researches which 
 brought a Nobel Prize to this country. 
 
 When I was still a medical student hi Lyons, my thoughts wan- 
 dered often through the fields open to science by the genius of 
 Claude Bernard and Pasteur and developed by Paul Bert and by 
 Oilier, my first master in surgery. The realization of some of 
 the dreams inspired by those great men was rendered possible 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 361 
 
 by the Rockefeller Institute. To Dr. Flexner, its director, and to 
 the spirit given by him to the Institute was due, in a large measure, 
 the success of my experiments. Therefore, a great part of the 
 wonderful honor bestowed on me belongs to the men who have 
 founded, organized and directed the first institution of scientific 
 research in America. 
 With all my heart, I thank you. 
 
 "City College Quarterly." 
 
 ADDRESS AT OPENING OF CONFERENCE ON BALKAN SETTLEMENT, 
 LONDON, BY SIR EDWARD GREY 
 
 Gentlemen: His majesty the King desires me to convey to you 
 his welcome and to express his best wishes for the success of your 
 labors. It is my agreeable duty to welcome you on behalf of his 
 majesty's government and to say with what pleasure your presence 
 is regarded in this country. His majesty the King, being anxious 
 to facilitate your task in every way, has placed these rooms in St. 
 James's Palace at your disposal. I trust you will find them suit- 
 able, and at the same time I assure you that his majesty's govern- 
 ment will do all in its power to promote your convenience. 
 
 You will, I believe, find hi this country an atmosphere of calm 
 and impartiality that will be favorable to your work, and within 
 these rooms which you occupy you will be really on neutral ground, 
 where there will be no politics except your own. 
 
 There are difficulties in all negotiations for peace after a war. 
 I will not attempt to estimate what they may be in your case. 
 They have been no doubt the subject of full instructions to each 
 set of delegates from then* respective governments, but there can 
 be no nobler task than to overcome these difficulties and to accom- 
 plish peace as a result of your own efforts and your own work. In 
 this way you will lay foundations on which I trust will be built by 
 true wisdom and statesmanship the prosperity, moral, economical 
 and national, of your respective countries. Without that states- 
 manship the gains of war are of little or no worth to future genera- 
 tions. With that statesmanship the losses of war can be repaired 
 
362 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 and bitterness merged in the realization of the blessings of peace. 
 I will say no more except to wish you success in your task and to 
 assure you that you have the good will of every one in the object 
 for which you have assembled here, and that by accomplishing 
 peace you will secure the respect of the whole of Europe. 
 
 "New York Tribune." 
 
 THOMAS HARDY'S REPLY WHEN PRESENTED WITH THE GOLD MEDAL 
 OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE ON THE SEVENTY- 
 SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF HIS BIRTH 
 
 In thanking the Royal Society of Literature and its Academic 
 Committee very warmly for this interesting and valuable gift, I 
 need hardly say that the offer of it came quite as a surprise to 
 myself, of which the committee will be aware. I am, to be sure, 
 rather an old boy to receive a medal, and am particularly unfor- 
 tunate in having no younger boy to whom I can hand it on; so that, 
 without undervaluing the receipt of it rather, indeed, because 
 I value it so highly I have been thinking whether prizes of some 
 kind could not be offered by the society to makers of literature 
 earlier in life to urge them to further efforts. 
 
 There is no doubt that any sort of incentive to the cultivation 
 and production of pure literature is of immense value in these 
 latter days, and awards by the Royal Society of Literature should 
 be among the strongest. An appreciation of what is real literature, 
 and efforts to keep real literature alive, have, in truth, become 
 imperative, if the taste for it is not to be entirely lost, and, with 
 the loss of that taste, its longer life hi the English language. While 
 millions have lately been learning to read, few of them have been 
 learning to discriminate; and the result is an appalling increase 
 every day hi slipshod writing that would not have been tolerated 
 for one moment a hundred years ago. 
 
 I don't quite like to say so, but I fear that the vast increase of 
 hurried descriptive reporting in the newspapers is largely responsible 
 for this hi England; writing done by men, and still more by women, 
 who are utterly incapable of, and unconscious of, that 'grin of 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 363 
 
 delight' which, William Morris assured us, comes over the real 
 artist either in letters or in other forms of art at a close approxima- 
 tion to, if not an exact achievement of, his ideal. Then the in- 
 creasing influx of American journals, fearfully and wonderfully 
 worded, helps on the indifference to literary form. Their influence 
 has been strongly apparent of late years in our English newspapers, 
 where one often now meets with headlines in staring capitals that 
 are phrases of no language whatever, and often incomprehensible 
 at a casual glance. Every kind of reward, prize, or grant, there- 
 fore, which urges omnivorous readers and incipient writers toward 
 appreciating the splendors of English undefiled, and the desire of 
 producing such for themselves, is of immense value. 
 
 For my own part I think though all writers may not agree 
 with me that the shortest way to good prose is by the route of 
 good verse. The apparent paradox I cannot remember who 
 first expressed it that the best poetry is the best prose ceases on 
 examination to be a paradox and becomes a truism. Anybody 
 may test it for himself by taking any fine lines in verse and, casting 
 off the fetters of meter and rhyme that seem to bind the poet, trying 
 to express the same ideas more freely and accurately in prose. He 
 will find that it cannot be done; the words of the verse fettered 
 as he thought them are the only words that will convey the ideas 
 that were intended to be conveyed. 
 
 I know that it is said in Fleet Street that poetry is dead. But 
 this only means that it is dead in Fleet Street. Poetry itself can- 
 not die, as George Sand once eloquently wrote in her novel called 
 " AndreY' I cannot do better than wind up these rambling remarks 
 with some of her words on this question: "Poesy cannot die. 
 Should she find for refuge but the brain of a single man she would 
 yet have centuries of Me, for she would leap out of it like the lava 
 from Vesuvius and mark out a way for herself among the most pro- 
 saic realities. Despite her overturned temples and the false gods 
 adored among their rums, she is immortal as the perfume of the 
 flowers and the splendor of the skies." 
 
 "New York Times" Book Review. 
 
364 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 ADDRESS TO CHAIRMAN AT DIRECTORS' MEETING, 
 BY CHARLES M. CABOT 
 
 In the March [1911] number of the AMERICAN MAGAZINE there 
 appeared an article dealing with certain economic conditions ob- 
 taining among the employees of this corporation, chiefly those 
 employed in the steel mills at or near Pittsburgh. It is not my 
 purpose at this tune to enter into a discussion as to the merits of the 
 article referred to, except to express my belief that, if the state- 
 ments there made are true, the conditions so revealed constitute 
 a serious menace to the continued success of this corporation, both 
 in its business as an employer of labor and in its reputation as an 
 organization which has been willing at all times to deal openly and 
 frankly with industrial conditions. I believe that it is the right 
 of the stockholders of this corporation to be fully informed as to the 
 truth of the statements contained in this article, in order that, if 
 such statements are found to be based on facts, the stockholders 
 may consider whether or not some action should be taken by the 
 officers of this corporation with a view to remedying the relations 
 that now obtain between this corporation and its employees. 
 
 Stenographic report published in "American Magazine." 
 
 PART OF SPEECH BEFORE TEACHERS* MEETING, BY LULU ML 
 
 M'CORMICK, PRINCIPAL OF CENTRAL SCHOOL, 
 
 CHEYENNE, WY. 
 
 When Mr. Fee asked me to select a topic and lead a discussion 
 this afternoon, I naturally saw an opportunity of focusing your 
 attention on the matter that is giving me the most worry. You 
 may well forgive the egotism of dragging my own problems into the 
 limelight. I give you my word I would rather listen to the woes 
 of any one of you indeed I would rather sit through the rehearsal 
 of the woes of each and every one of you, than to stand up here 
 before you and tell my own. But if there is relief in telling troubles 
 to one policeman, as somewhere I have heard there is, great good 
 should come from confiding in fifty teachers. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 365 
 
 Let me tell you then, in the strictest confidence of course, that 
 my people waste a tremendous lot in energy in school and that 
 I waste a deal of it myself. Do your people and do you? If your 
 people and you do not, why am I so much stupider as to allow my 
 people to do so, and to do it myself? It isn't that I want to, and 
 it isn't that the children want to, and it certainly isn't that I want 
 the children to but waste it we do. 
 
 And now to tell you how we do it. The pupils fritter it away 
 in careless preparation of assigned lessons, in recitations, the direct 
 result of the careless preparation, and in miserably spelled and 
 atrociously punctuated scribbles when it comes to written work, a 
 second direct result of the careless preparation. All this after ten 
 weeks of the best I could do for them. However, I hope to be 
 able to do more for them after Mr. Schwiering gives his talk on 
 Teaching Jack How to Study. One big waste of pupils' energies 
 will have been eliminated when we succeed in teaching our girls 
 and boys how to concentrate on a lesson and really master it. 
 
 But this is not all not even the worst. When I give a direction 
 there are pupils hi my room who still hesitate and finish up some- 
 thing else before obeying. This after ten weeks. I have pupils 
 who still can not copy accurately. I have pupils who still dream 
 over an open book during study periods as though the theory of 
 elbow absorption had not been exploded long ago. I have pupils 
 who still play nervously with pencils or erasers, pupils who still 
 tap with fingers or feet, pupils (dear, sweet girls these are) who still 
 smile cheerfully across the aisle, some hardened criminals who even 
 whisper and yet, and yet there isn't one really bad youngster in 
 my whole class, not one who does any of these awful things mali- 
 ciously but the energy they waste is enormous, and the energy 
 I waste worrying about it is little less. 
 
 Waste the word haunts many of my waking and some of my 
 sleeping moments.. I think of it when I see a boy tapping aimlessly 
 with his pencil and realize how his mind is stagnating while that 
 pencil taps. I can multiply the time it takes me to call him back 
 to earth by the number of us in the room, and have the definite 
 waste of time but who can estimate his loss of energy and mine? 
 
366 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 One pair of wandering eyes during an explanation dissipates my 
 enthusiasm; and energy whole horse powers of it goes glim- 
 mering when in history note books I find here an extra " e " in Henry, 
 there a missing "a" hi boundary, or any other evidence of gross 
 carelessness in copying. 
 
 The point I have tried to make so far is that my pupils waste 
 force: first, by not knowing how to apply it to the subject in hand; 
 second, by habits of idleness, carelessness, irresponsibility; and, 
 third, that I lose real teaching power by being annoyed when these 
 habits are not abandoned. 
 
 Perhaps I am over-fussy. One of my cleverest girls implied 
 as much hi her last composition. The subject was, "How Can I 
 Improve?" And she defended every fault to which I had ever 
 called her attention. She hasn't many serious ones. Her very 
 deadliest sin happens to be smiling, and in its defense she actually 
 quoted "Laugh and the world laughs with you." She moralized 
 too on the fact that so many things commendable everywhere else 
 were wrong hi school. If you didn't smile at home you were called 
 a grouch; if you did in school, you were called down. Her epigrams 
 amused me, but failed to swerve me from my desire to develop a 
 more intense application to work. 
 
 By permission of the author. " The Tribune," Cheyenne, Wy. 
 
 ADDRESS AT SESSION OF NATIONAL CHILD LABOR COMMITTEE 
 BY JANE ADDAMS, HULL HOUSE, CHICAGO 
 
 THE OPERATION OF THE ILLINOIS CHILD LABOR LAW 
 
 It is very gratifying to state the situation for Illinois. For 
 while hi the nation as a whole child labor is growing that is, we 
 are having each year hi America more children at work than was 
 true of the previous we are able to say that that statement is not 
 true of Illinois. There has been a decided decrease in Illinois in 
 the number of children at work during the last four years. Not- 
 withstanding the annual increase hi the population, and hi spite of 
 the fact that our manufactures are increasing, we have a very 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 367 
 
 decided decrease in the number of children working both actually 
 and proportionately. In 1901, in proportion to the total number of 
 workers the child workers in Illinois was 4.1 per cent.; in 1902 it 
 was 3.7 per cent., and in 1903 it was 2.9 per cent., and in 1904 it 
 was 1.9 per cent., so you see they are steadily and rapidly de- 
 creasing. 
 
 Mr. Davies, the State Factory Inspector, who has attended the 
 various conventions, says that this is the lowest number of children 
 in proportion to the adult working population of any State in the 
 Union. And if we take this statement in connection with the other 
 statement that we have heard here, that Illinois is the third manufac- 
 turing State hi the Union, we have reason to be proud of our show- 
 ing, and we are proud to have the Governor preside at a meeting 
 when we can make such a good report to him for his State. 
 
 Another interesting development in regard to Illinois comes 
 hi connection with the educational test provided in our child labor 
 law, for, while it is difficult to have any practical statistics on child 
 labor, some of the things happening in Illinois since the new child 
 labor law went into effect are most significant. Our law not only 
 requires an educational test, but it provides a place in which it shall 
 be made, and this test for all the public and parochial schools of 
 Chicago being made in one place, enables us to know how many 
 children receive the certificates each year, and something more about 
 them. The total number of children who have received certificates 
 in the last three years for the Chicago office has been 26,886. Out 
 of that number we know they can all read and write something. 
 I am sorry to say that they cannot all read and write English, but 
 they can read and write some language, and the large majority of 
 them, of course, read and write English. We have the satisfaction 
 of knowing that, of the nearly 27,000 children who have gone to 
 work in Illinois in the past four years, they have all passed the 
 literacy test. They have, further, all been weighed and measured, 
 which may be an inaccurate test, but it affords, at any rate, a guar- 
 anty outside of the parents' word that they have attained an average 
 height and age. That is something to know. For a long time we 
 did not know how many children were at work, how much they 
 
368 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 knew, nor of what size they were whether they were big enough 
 for the age of fourteen years or only big enough for the age of ten. 
 
 The increased attendance in the schools has been very marked 
 since this law has been enforced. If the parents are once thor- 
 oughly convinced and the illiterate parents, most of all that a 
 child cannot go out and earn money until he can read and write, of 
 course they will see to it that their children learn to read and write 
 as quickly as possible. We have taken some statistics from a 
 school in the stock-yards district, and the increase in the attendance 
 in the fourth and fifth grades is very marked. The attendance in 
 one school in the fifth grade for the year before the law went into 
 effect averaged 53, in the year after the law had been put into effect 
 in the fifth grade in the same school it averaged 159 pupils. Allow- 
 ing something for the natural increase in population, it would still 
 leave a very large proportion, which was to be accounted for only by 
 the enforcement of the new law. And this educational test is re- 
 sulting in good in other ways: it is slowly remedying one of the 
 worst evils of immigration. It has been the custom for many years 
 for immigrants already settled here to bring over boys and girls who 
 were but remotely related to them and too young to protect them- 
 selves, in order to exploit them. They took all their wages in 
 return for scanty food and shelter, but now that these children 
 must learn to read and write before they can go to work it is no 
 longer profitable to have them sent over, and I assure you there is 
 a very marked decrease in this enforced immigration in those 
 States in which the educational provision is rigidly enforced. 
 
 The child labor law is, further, having a marked influence upon 
 the immigrant as he slowly learns that a child cannot go to work 
 until he has reached a certain physical and mental welf-being, that 
 there is a standard in American life, and it seems to some of us that 
 all these things afford a much better way for new people to learn 
 about America than that they should merely be able to repeat the 
 Constitution of the United States. 
 
 I want to say just a word in regard to the dangers surrounding 
 our new child labor law. We, too, have had our long-continued 
 trouble with the glass workers. I suppose legislation in regard to 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 369 
 
 child labor has never been attempted but what its friends at the 
 legislature have encountered the lobbyists from the glass works. 
 We have been told that all the glass works will move out of the 
 State of Illinois if we have a rigid child labor law, and yet each year 
 we find that the glass works have extended and improved their 
 plants, and that at least two firms have moved into the State since 
 this law has been enacted and enforced. So that we no longer fear 
 them, but there is a feature of the child labor law in Illinois that is 
 at present sustaining sharp attack from the theatrical people, and it 
 is just here where public opinion may be of great value. If a child 
 under sixteen years is allowed to play in any theater after seven 
 o'clock the law is violated, and to make any exception to the law is 
 most dangerous. Just imagine an honest farmer at the next session 
 of the legislature saying, "You make an exception for the people 
 in Chicago, you allow the children to play in the theaters at night, 
 but you won't allow a boy to make an honest living in the glass 
 works." One can easily see that the entire law would be weakened. 
 
 Two cases of the infraction of the law by theatrical people are 
 now awaiting decision in the Superior Court of Illinois, and another 
 case has been indicted before the grand jury, and we will have to wait 
 for the judge's opinion as to the application of the law to theaters. 
 
 But in the meantime it will make a great difference if when this 
 law is broken at the theatrical performances the public would protest 
 and declare that it attended the theater to see the art of acting 
 and not the exploitation of children. We like to see a child on 
 the stage because it moves our sympathies and touches our sensi- 
 bilities; we say that it is true to life, and we think that we like acting 
 of that kind, when, on the contrary, it is the lack of acting which 
 we like, the touch of reality which the child brings to the stage. . . . 
 
 Let us see if we cannot put aside this emotionalism and stand by 
 the child labor law from the side of art as well as humanity. It is 
 easy to discuss the wrongs of the South and to agitate for laws 
 affecting manufacturers, but here in Chicago where in relation to 
 the theaters the law touches us directly we are in sympathy with 
 the law, and here is an opportunity to aid in its enforcement, and 
 I hope that we will all endeavor to do our share. 
 
 By permission of National Child Labor Committee. 
 
370 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 PORTION OF ADDRESS BEFORE INDIANA T. M. C. A. 
 
 BY FAIRFAX HARRISON, 
 PRESIDENT, CHICAGO, INDIANAPOLIS & LOUISVILLE R. R. 
 
 THE EVIL CONSEQUENCES TO INDUSTRY OF THE EXISTING CONFLICT 
 
 Perhaps the greatest evil of this conflict is visited actually or 
 potentially upon the public, which is entitled to a uniform and 
 uninterrupted conduct of the transportation facilities on which it 
 depends more and more every year, but it is not proposed to go into 
 that important phase of the question here. Our subject is the effect 
 upon the parties to the conflict. 
 
 There are three recognizable consequences of this conflict which 
 have had an evil effect upon the capital invested in railroads and 
 as many of injurious effect upon labor. Let us examine them in 
 turn. 
 
 Not the least element of the growing strength of labor in this 
 conflict is that labor is to-day popular, in the sense in which control 
 of political policy is accomplished in a progressive democracy by 
 what is popular. It represents votes and is heeded by legislatures. 
 Its attitude of conflict with the management of the railways, which 
 represent the capital invested in them, was not the cause of the 
 assumption of the power of regulation of the railways by govern- 
 ment; the managers themselves are responsible for that, but, since 
 regulation became an accomplished fact, the activity of labor in 
 the legislature has been the inspiration of many of the laws of un- 
 necessary and oppressive regulation which have been enacted. I am 
 myself an advocate of regulation of the railways by government, 
 but I am unable to blink the fact that what we have had has not 
 always been what we may fairly expect to have, the regulation which 
 considers all alike. In the period of adjustment of the last few 
 years the experience of every railway manager has been that many 
 of the measures of regulation of railways have been futile and merely 
 wasteful of money sorely needed for improvement of facilities which 
 have in consequence been postponed. Many of these measures 
 have originated in mere opportunism of the politician, who, seeking 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 371 
 
 to commend himself to his constituents by adroit insistence upon 
 minor wrongs, secures the enactment of a general law prescribing 
 an invariable and expensive practice for the operation of all railroads, 
 the suggestion for which had its origin hi the failure of a particular 
 railroad hi respect of its handling of a particular shipment; but there 
 are those also, and they are not few, which have been the direct 
 consequence of the conflict of labor and capital. The managements 
 of the railways have not been esteemed by legislatures in recent 
 years for historical reasons which are not creditable to either of 
 them, and it has been as easy for organized labor as for the ambitious 
 politician to secure the passage of a law to make a railroad wince. 
 
 But more serious than this is the effect upon the railroads of the 
 steady demands of labor for fixed and invariable increases of wages. 
 There is no railway manager to-day, I venture to assert, who does 
 not want all his employees to be well paid, to share in prosperity 
 when prosperity exists, and to be rewarded by promotion for efficient 
 and loyal services. If he is not able to give this feeling expression 
 in all deserving cases it is because his constant cost for the numeri- 
 cally most important classes of labor has increased in greater pro- 
 portion than the increases of revenue out of which that cost must 
 come. The margin necessary for the successful administration of 
 any industry has been thereby progressively narrowed, until the 
 point of danger to credit even of the most prosperous roads is now 
 distinctly visible, as anyone can testify who has railroad securities 
 for sale which he bought ten years ago. This is a situation which 
 would be difficult in an industry which could stand still, but in an 
 industry of which the life is growth, it discourages those who are 
 invited to risk the new capital necessary to make even the improve- 
 ments, which, by increasing efficiency, will reduce expenses and so 
 widen the margin again; much less will the funds be forthcoming 
 for the improvements demanded by the public for comfort and 
 convenience. In the end the tendency jeopards the very capital 
 already invested. 
 
 Another consequence of the conflict in its effect upon capital is 
 perhaps irrevocably accomplished already. It is the change which 
 uncertainty of income has had upon the point of view of investors. 
 
372 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Time was when railroad stocks were a favorite form of investment, 
 not only because they promised substantial profit by increment of 
 value, but because they spelled stability of income. To-day rail- 
 road stocks are not in favor, and whenever money is now invested 
 in railroads (except in extraordinary cases, each of which has its 
 historical explanation), the form of investment is the bond. In 
 other words, the investor is no longer a partner in the business, or, 
 to use the good old Elizabethan word, an adventurer; but has 
 become a money lender. He prefers the right to foreclose a mort- 
 gage to an uncertain chance of a profit secured by good management 
 and efficient operation. The capital already invested hi the original 
 construction of a railway suffers the consequence of this change of 
 investing opinion, for it must now stand as the margin of the new 
 investor and must risk being wiped out for his benefit and security. 
 Whenever, as has happened in recent years, a railroad is faced by 
 unconcerned and unyielding demands of labor at a time when it is 
 unable both to respond to them and to maintain its credit, this risk 
 is imminent. It is a consequence of war. 
 
 As it concerns labor, the conflict is not less dangerous in its conse- 
 quences. We hear much to-day of the increased cost of living. 
 It is urged as a ground for advancing wages, even when the inability 
 of the industry to do so and continue to prosper is apparent. The 
 argument is that those who produce what the industry markets are 
 entitled to the first consideration in the provision of the necessaries 
 of life, and where that argument is supported by facts it is most 
 persuasive. It is not, however, as sound an argument in the rail- 
 way industry to-day as it was some years ago. While the cost of 
 certain necessaries of life has indubitably increased, the scale of 
 living of the railway employee has increased in greater ratio and 
 not the least factor in this has been the increases in railway wages. 
 This is the vicious circle of prosperity. I read the other day an old 
 book, Robert Wallace's " Dissertation on the Numbers of Mankind," 
 published in 1753, before the days of political economy, and there 
 came upon a suggestive comment on this subject: 
 
 " Operose manufactures of linen, wool and silk, toys and curiosities 
 of wood, metals or earth, elegant furniture, paintings, statues, and 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 373 
 
 all the refinements of an opulent trading nation, tend," he says, 
 "to multiply men's wants, make the most necessary and substantial 
 things dearer and in general increase the expenses of living." 
 
 This is an eighteenth century expression of a thought which an 
 American of our time, who represents in his own life the success of 
 individual initiative, industry and economy, has well phrased in 
 the notable epigram that " It is not the high cost of living from which 
 we suffer but the cost of high living. " There is many an American 
 railway employee who, if he searches his heart, will admit that the 
 large increases in wages which have been secured for him in recent 
 years have brought him very little real comfort. I was talking 
 the other day with a locomotive engineer who is thirty-five years 
 old and has drawn handsome pay for most of his industrial life. He 
 told me that his father, who had been a runner on the same road, 
 had saved and left behind him $6,000, living meanwhile a self- 
 respecting life on very much less wages than his son now gets. 
 
 "Not only have I been unable to save anything," said the son 
 to me, "but I have spent some of the old man's savings." 
 
 "What did you do with your last increase in pay?" I 
 asked. 
 
 "Well, my wife said that the neighbors thought she should have 
 a silk dress, and the girls wanted a piano, and so it went; in the end 
 I did not find myself any better off than I was before. " 
 
 This means, if it means anything, that the present position of 
 labor in its conflict with capital is deemed to justify the expecta- 
 tion of continued increases in pay without regard to industrial 
 conditions, an assurance which breeds habits of extravagance which 
 are harmful to the individual. In other words, the increased pay 
 is a factor in creating the high cost of living. 
 
 As the conflict is now waged, the lion's share goes to the most 
 powerful organization, and the weak among the employees alone 
 suffer. It is an indisputable fact that some classes of railway em- 
 ployees are now highly paid, both actually and relatively, and that 
 other classes are not on the same basis in proportion to the value 
 of their services. This is an inequality in the same industry which 
 one can understand is intolerable to a spirited man, and indeed pro- 
 
374 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 duces some of the worst consequences of the present system, both 
 upon the employer and employee, but chiefly upon the latter. 
 
 Finally, the present system, which required in the beginning a well 
 disciplined and cohesive organization for self protection, now 
 results sometimes in stifling the ambition of the individual by an 
 assurance of drab uniformity of treatment. It is not necessary to 
 press the point. The warmest advocates of conservatively managed 
 labor unions, and I am proud to include myself hi the number, 
 recognize the danger and the risk of this necessity of the system. 
 
 What, then, of the future, if the present conflict continues? 
 
 For the management of industry the conflict has been a stimulus 
 to greater efficiency and the economical investment of new capital. 
 As the wages of labor increased, an attempt to offset the increased 
 expense by economy in operation has resulted, and vast sums have 
 been spent, for example, in reducing grades and increasing power, 
 to secure greater unit train loads, but the limit to this kind of 
 economy is in sight, if it has not been reached. The candid fact 
 is that, although other branches of industry are at this moment enjoy- 
 ing great prosperity, the railroads, doing the largest business in 
 their history and passing through their treasuries the largest reven- 
 ues they have ever realized, are in a more precarious condition than 
 ever they have been, such is the burden of their expenses. It is ab- 
 solutely necessary to the railroads that something shall be done to 
 relieve the present tense situation and enable them to face the 
 future with confidence, and I believe that the way to accomplish 
 this is to settle the conflict of labor and capital in the railway indus- 
 try on an enduring basis. Other remedies are mere salves on that 
 sore. 
 
 For labor also the future is not assured under existing conditions. 
 Already there have been expressions of discontent on the part of 
 other classes of the community with what they call the preferred 
 position of railroad labor. The most industrious and successful 
 farmers and storekeepers in the country along the line seldom make 
 as much net money in the year as do the railway employees stationed 
 at those towns, and nothing like as much as those they see going 
 by on the trains. They are, however, a large numerical majority 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 375 
 
 of those who pay freight charges, and they now complain against the 
 freight rates largely because they think these rates might be less 
 if such relatively high wages were not paid to certain classes of 
 railroad employees. If that class of the community speaks it is 
 likely to be heard in the legislatures more sympathetically than the 
 railroad managements are heard. All it lacks at the moment is 
 organization and this it can learn from the successful experience 
 of labor. 
 
 Whenever any class of society becomes so powerful as, in the abuse 
 of its power, to affect injuriously the lives, liberty or the pursuit of 
 happiness of or by any other considerable class or classes of society, 
 the consequence, under the existing regime, is for government to 
 lay the heavy hand of regulating authority upon it. This may 
 happen sooner or later, but it is inevitable. Eighteen months ago, 
 in a public address, reasoning from the same premises, I ventured 
 to predict that the public press could not escape such legislation; 
 and we find to-day an act of Congress regulating newspapers on 
 the statute books. It is not impossible that organized labor may 
 hereafter be faced with a strong and sustained public control of 
 its activities. It would be the logic of the last phase of the present 
 conflict. [Mr. Harrison then suggests a remedy.] 
 
 By permission of the author. "Railway Gazette." 
 
 REPLY BY CHARLES EVANS HUGHES TO COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO 
 
 NOTIFY HIM OF HIS NOMINATION FOR MAYOR OF 
 
 NEW YORK CITY, OCTOBER 9, 1905* 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Notification Committee: 
 You summon me to what you believe a public duty, and I shall 
 
 not answer that summons by referring to considerations merely 
 
 personal however important they might be if the question were one 
 
 of personal preference. 
 You and the others who have urged me to accept the nomination 
 
 have not rested the request upon the basis of partisan obligation, 
 
 Addresses and Papers of Charles Evans Hughes, G. P. Putman's 
 Sons. By permission. 
 
376 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 but upon the more secure foundation of duty to the community. 
 It has been impressed upon me that the Republican party is seek- 
 ing to raise a standard to which, regardless of party, all men may 
 resort who desire to see our city free from the pervasive influence 
 of an organization whose motive is gain and not service. 
 
 I am not insensible to this appeal, and I fully appreciate the re- 
 sponsibility of the position in which, against my will, I have been 
 placed. The letters which I have received and the personal appeals 
 which have been made show very clearly that there is a division of 
 sentiment as to the course I should pursue, and that either action I 
 might take would be viewed with extreme disfavor by men whose 
 judgment I respect and of whose sincerity there can be no question. 
 
 In this dilemma I have simply to do my duty as I see it. In my 
 judgment I have no right to accept the nomination. A paramount 
 public duty forbids it. It is not necessary to enlarge upon the im- 
 portance of the insurance investigation. That is undisputed. It 
 is dealing with questions vital to the interests of millions of our 
 fellow citizens throughout the land. It presents an opportunity 
 for public service second to none, and involves a correlative respon- 
 sibility. I have devoted myself unreservedly to this work. It com- 
 mands all my energies. It is imperative that I continue hi it. 
 You have frankly recognized that it must continue unembarrassed 
 and with unimpaired efficiency. But it is entirely clear to me that 
 this cannot be if I accept the nomination. 
 
 You know how desirous I have been that the investigation 
 should not be colored by any suggestion of political motive. What- 
 ever confidence it has inspired has been due to absolute inde- 
 pendence of political considerations. It is not sufficient to say 
 that an acceptance of this nomination, coming to me unsought 
 and despite an unequivocal statement of my position, would not 
 deflect from my course by a hair's breadth, and that I should re- 
 main, and that you intend that I should remain, entirely untram- 
 meled. The non-political character of the investigation and its 
 freedom from bias either of fear or favor, not only must exist, but 
 must be recognized. I cannot permit them by any action of 
 mine to become matters of debate. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 377 
 
 There are abundant opportunities for misconstruction. Doubt- 
 less many abuses will remain undisclosed, many grievous wrongs 
 to which the evidence points from time to time may be found 
 unsusceptible of proof, many promising clues will be taken up in 
 vain. Were I with the best of intentions to accept the nomination, 
 it is my conviction that the work of the investigation would be 
 largely discredited; its motives would be impugned and its integrity 
 assailed. To many it would appear that its course would be shaped 
 and its lines of inquiry would be chosen, developed, or abandoned as 
 political ambition might prompt or political exigency demand. 
 
 Such a situation would be intolerable. There is only one course 
 open. The legislative inquiry must proceed with convincing dis- 
 interestedness. Its great opportunities must not be imperilled by 
 alienating the support to which it is entitled or by giving the 
 slightest occasion for questioning the sincerity and single-minded- 
 ness with which it is conducted. 
 
 There is, however, another consideration which is to me con- 
 clusive. The work of the investigation is laborious and exacting. 
 It taxes the strength of the counsel of the committee to its limit. 
 It is performed under great strain. Whatever success is gained is 
 the result of unremitting toil and undivided attention. There is 
 no wizardry hi it. 
 
 It is idle to suppose that, if I accepted your nomination, I could 
 do my part of the work of the investigation efficiently. I may 
 be pardoned for saying that I am a better judge of what that work 
 requires than any one apart from my associates. It requires every 
 moment of available time. It requires endeavor secure from in- 
 terruption and a mind free from distraction. It has been suggested 
 that it would not be necessary for me to make an active canvass, 
 that I should not be obliged to make a speech, to attend a meeting, 
 or even write a letter. In effect, you ask me to enter upon a cam- 
 paign hi which important questions should be discussed and 
 brought home to the conscience of the people with my mouth 
 closed and my hands tied. Apart from a natural disinclination 
 to place myself in such a position, I believe the plan to be wholly 
 impracticable. But, assuming it to be carried out as fully as is 
 
378 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 contemplated, it would still leave a large demand upon time and 
 nervous energy which would be inexorable and would introduce 
 an element of distraction most injurious to the investigation. I 
 do not believe that the man lives, and certainly I am not the man, 
 who, while a candidate for the mayoralty, could perform with 
 proper efficiency that part of the work which has been devolved 
 upon me in the pending inquiry. If I were to accept the nomina- 
 tion for the high office of Mayor of this city, I should be obliged to 
 curtail this work, and this I have no right to do. 
 
 For your expression of confidence I thank you. The honor you 
 would confer upon me I most highly esteem. Your generous ap- 
 proval and the unanimity and enthusiasm with which the nomina- 
 tion was made I warmly appreciate. But I have assumed obliga- 
 tions of the first importance which make it impossible for me to 
 meet your wishes. I must therefore respectfully decline the 
 nomination. 
 
 ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BY CHARLES 
 W. ELIOT, HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
 
 USES OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS* 
 
 Before we can talk together to advantage about the value of 
 education in business, we ought to come to a common understanding 
 about the sort of education we mean and the sort of business. 
 Nobody doubts that primary and grammar school training are 
 useful to everybody; or that high school training is advantageous 
 for a clerk, salesman, commercial traveler, or skilled workman; 
 or that technical or scientific school training is useful to an engineer, 
 chemist, electrician, mechanician, or miner. Our question is, of 
 what use is the education called "liberal" to a man of business? 
 The education called liberal has undergone a great expansion 
 during our generation, and is now, in the best institutions, thor- 
 oughly conformed to modern uses. All universities worthy of the 
 name even the oldest and most conservative now supply a 
 
 *By permission of the author. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 379 
 
 broad and free range of studies, which includes the ancient sub- 
 jects, but establishes on a perfect equality with them the new and 
 vaster subjects of modern languages and literature, history, political 
 science, and natural science. We must not think of the liberal 
 education of to-day as dealing with a dead past with dead lan- 
 guages, buried peoples, and exploded philosophies; on the con- 
 trary, everything which universities now teach is quick with life 
 and capable of application to modern uses. They teach indeed 
 the languages and literature of Judea and Greece and Rome; but 
 it is because those literatures are instinct with eternal life. They 
 teach mathematics, but it is the mathematics mostly created within 
 the lifetime of the older men here present. In teaching English, 
 French, and German they are teaching the modem vehicles of all 
 learning just what Lathi was in mediaeval times. As to history, 
 political science, and natural science, the subjects themselves and 
 all the methods by which they are taught may properly be said 
 to be new within a century. Liberal education is not to be justly 
 regarded as something dry, withered, and effete; it is as full of sap 
 as the cedars of Lebanon. 
 
 And what sort of business do we mean? Surely the larger sorts 
 of legitimate and honorable business; that business which is of 
 advantage to both buyer and seller, and to producer, distributor 
 and consumer alike, whether individuals or nations, which makes 
 common some useful thing which has been rare, or makes accessible 
 to the masses good things which have been kept within reach only 
 of the few; that great art of production and exchange which through 
 the centuries has increased human comfort, cherished peace, fos- 
 tered the fine arts, developed the pregnant principle of associated 
 action, and promoted both public security and public property. 
 
 With this understanding of what we mean by education on the 
 one hand and business on the other, let us see if there can be any 
 doubt as to the nature of the relations between them. The business 
 man in large affairs needs keen observation, a quick mental grasp 
 of new subjects, and a wide range of knowledge. Whence come 
 these powers and attainments either to the educated or to the 
 uneducated save through practice and study? But education 
 
380 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 is only early systematic practice and study under guidance. The 
 object of all good education is to develop just these powers ac- 
 curacy in observation, quickness and certainty in seizing upon the 
 main points of a new subject, and discrimination in separating the 
 trivial from the important in great masses of facts. This is what 
 liberal education does for the physician, the lawyer, the minister, 
 the scientist. This is what it can do also for the man of business; 
 to give a mental power is one of the main ends of the higher educa- 
 tion. Is not active business a field in which mental power finds 
 full play? Again education imparts knowledge, and who has 
 greater need to know economics, history, and natural science than 
 the man of business? 
 
 Farther, liberal education develops a sense of right, duty, and 
 honor; and more and more, in the modern world, large business 
 rests on rectitude and honor, as well as on good judgment. Educa- 
 tion does this through the contemplation and study of the moral 
 ideals of our race; not in drowsiness or dreaminess or in mere vague 
 enjoyment of poetic and religious abstractions, but in the resolute 
 purpose to apply spiritual ideals to actual life. The true univer- 
 sity fosters ideals, but always to urge that they be put into practice 
 in the real world. When the universities hold up before their youth 
 the great Semitic ideals which were embodied in the Decalogue, they 
 mean that those ideals should be applied in politics. When they 
 teach their young men that Asiatic ideal of unknown antiquity, 
 the Golden Rule, they mean that their disciples shall apply it to 
 business; when they inculcate that comprehensive maxim of 
 Christian ethics, "Ye are all members of one another," they mean 
 that this moral principle is applicable to all human relations, 
 whether between individuals, families, states, or nations. 
 
 Again, higher education has always made great account of the 
 power of expression in speech and writing, whence has risen an 
 opinion that liberal education must be less useful to the man of 
 business than to the lawyer or minister, because the business man 
 has less need than they of this power. Have we not all seen, in 
 recent years, that leading men of business, particularly those who 
 act for corporations, have great need of a highly trained mind of 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 381 
 
 clear and convincing expression? Business men need in speech 
 and writing all the Roman terseness and French clearness; the 
 graces and elegancies of literary style they may indeed dispense 
 with, but not with the greater qualities of compactness, accuracy, 
 and vigor. It is a liberal education indeed which teaches a youth 
 of fair parts and reasonable industry to speak and write his native 
 language strongly, accurately, and persuasively. That one at- 
 tainment is sufficient reward for the whole long course of twelve 
 years spent in liberal study. 
 
 But you say: This is all theory; what are the facts with regard 
 to the connection between higher education and successful business 
 life? Among the young men who have graduated from Harvard 
 University within forty years there have been many cases of rapid 
 advancement from the bottom to the top of the business corpora- 
 tions in great variety. A young man leaves college at twenty-three 
 and goes into a cotton mill at the bottom; and in four years he is 
 superintendent. Another lands in a western city, three days 
 after his graduation, without a dollar, and without a friend in the 
 city, and ten years afterward he is the owner of the best establish- 
 ment for printing books in that city. A young man six years out of 
 college is superintendent of one of the largest woolen mills in the 
 United States. Another a little older is the manager of one of 
 the most important steel works in the country. These are but 
 striking examples of a large class of facts. 
 
 Successful business men themselves give no doubtful answer to 
 the questions we are considering. Successful business men, with 
 the rarest exceptions, wish their sons to be educated to the highest 
 point the sons can reach. No matter whether the father be himself 
 an educated man or not, when his success in business has given him 
 the means of educating his children he is sure to desire that they 
 receive a liberal education whether they are going into business 
 or not. 
 
 Finally, liberal education is an end in itself apart from all its 
 utilities and applications. When we teach a child to read, our pri- 
 mary aim is not to decipher a way-bill or a receipt, but to kindle its 
 imagination, enlarge its vision, and open for it the avenues of 
 
382 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 knowledge. The same is true of a liberal education in its utmost 
 reach. Its chief objects for the individual are development, in- 
 spiration, and exaltation; the practical advantages which flow from 
 it are incidental, not paramount. 
 
 For the community the institutions of higher learning do a like 
 service. They bring each successive generation of youth up to 
 levels of knowledge and righteousness which the preceding genera- 
 tion reached in their maturity. Public comfort, ease and wealth 
 are doubly promoted by them; but their true and sufficient 
 ends are knowledge and righteousness. 
 
 SPEECH BY HORACE GREELEY AT THE FRANKLIN BANQUET, 
 NEW YORK, 1870 
 
 Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, if I were required to say for which 
 of Franklin's achievements he deserved most and best of man- 
 kind, I should award the palm to his autobiography so frank, 
 so sunny, so irradiated by a brave, blithe, hearty humanity. For if 
 our fathers had not largely by the aid of his counsel, his labors, 
 his sacrifices achieved their independence at the first effort, they 
 would have tried it again and again until they did achieve it; if he 
 had not made his immortal discovery of the identity of electricity 
 with lightning, that truth would nevertheless have been at length 
 demonstrated; but if he had not so modestly and sweetly told us 
 how to wrestle with poverty and compel opportunity, I do not 
 know who beside would or could have done it so well. There is not 
 to-day, there will not be in this nor hi the next century, a friend- 
 less, humble orphan, working hard for naked daily bread, and glad 
 to improve his leisure hours hi the corner of a garret, whom that 
 biography will not cheer and strengthen to fight the battle of life 
 buoyantly and manfully. I wish some human tract society would 
 present a copy to every poor lad in the United States. 
 
 But I must not detain you. Let me sum up the character of 
 Franklin in the fewest words that will serve me. I love and revere 
 him as a journeyman printer who was frugal and didn't drink; a 
 parvenu who rose from want to competence, from obscurity to 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 383 
 
 fame, without losing his head; a statesman who did not crucify 
 mankind with longwinded documents or speeches; a diplomatist 
 who did not intrigue; a philosopher who never loved, and an office- 
 holder who did not steal. So regarding him, I respond to your 
 sentiment with "Honor to the memory of Franklin." 
 
 "The World's Best Orations," Copyright by Ferd. P. Kaiser 
 Pub. Go. 
 
 ADDRESS BY HENRY VAN DYKE 
 COMMERCE* 
 
 There is a nobility of trade which has its traditions of glory, its 
 laws of honor, its history of usefulness, and its purpose of beneficence 
 to all mankind. There is an order of the Golden Fleece to which 
 the world owes its greatest discoveries and its largest advances in 
 civilization. It was founded in the palmy days of Greece, but it 
 has survived to the present day, and we need not look far to find 
 its knights of labor, of adventure, of honor, and of generous succor 
 to the oppressed. 
 
 Who sneers at commerce? Is it the lover of liberty? Let him 
 remember that the greatest battles for freedom have been fought 
 by mercantile nations. It was commercial Holland that defied 
 the tyranny of Spain; it was the merchantmen of England that 
 shattered the Armada on the stormy waters of the channel; it was 
 a band of trading colonies that set up the standard of liberty in 
 the new world; and but for the freely offered wealth and the 
 nobly sacrificed lives of our mercantile classes, I leave it to you to 
 say whether our new Republic would not now be dismembered 
 and dishonored. 
 
 Who sneers at commerce? Is it the devotee of learning? Let 
 him remember that it was the traders of Phoenicia who gave let- 
 ters to Greece; it was the maritime states of Greece who adorned 
 the world with poetry, and philosophy, and art; it was the age of 
 England's commercial supremacy which brought the highest 
 
 *By permission of the author. 
 
384 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 glory to her universities. It is in great part the liberality of mer- 
 chants which has established on our shores those great institutions 
 of learning Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell. Let 
 him remember the little commercial city of Leyden, and her im- 
 perishable example. For when her heroic siege was ended when 
 she had won her unparalleled victories against armies, ships, can- 
 non, pestilence, flood, and famine when the Prince of Orange in 
 his unbounded gratitude came and asked her to choose her reward 
 that little city of Dutch merchants chose not gold, nor freedom 
 from taxes, but a university, and the reward of her defense became 
 the light of Europe. Who sneers at commerce? Is it the friend 
 of peace? Let him remember that commerce has created and 
 established the system of international law; that there is no spot of 
 land to-day upon which the rights of property and person are more 
 secure than upon the high seas. Let him remember that "every 
 ship that sails the ocean is a pledge of peace to the extent of its 
 value; every white sail a more appropriate symbol of peace than 
 the olive branch itself." 
 
 Who sneers at commerce? Is it the preacher of Christianity? 
 Let him remember that it was the trade of Thessalonica which 
 caused the gospel to sound forth from that city into all the world; 
 it was the enterprise of commerce which opened the closed gates of 
 China, and Japan, and Corea, to the missionary, and made possible 
 those triumphant advances of Christianity of which we are begin- 
 ning to hear the first footfalls, and for whose completion we must 
 look to the consecrated wealth of mercantile communities. Let 
 the church understand her opportunity and her task. Convert 
 commerce and you have found "The Knight-Errant of the Cross." 
 Convince those who reap the honorable gains of trade that their 
 wealth has its sacred obligation as well as its great privileges, that 
 the richest man is not he who has the most money, but he who 
 makes the best use of what he has, that great possessions are a 
 royal trust from God to be employed for the benefit of mankind, 
 and then the noble order of true commerce will become the trans- 
 forming and uplifting power of our modern civilization. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 385 
 
 PART OF ADDRESS BEFORE COLLEGE WOMEN'S RALLY IN INTEREST 
 
 OF GOUCHER COLLEGE* 
 BY M. CAREY THOMAS, PRESIDENT OF BRYN MAWR COLLEGE 
 
 Madam Chairman of the Women's Campaign Committee, College 
 Women of the Goucher Faculty, Goucher College Students, 
 Fellow College Women of Baltimore, and Friends who have 
 met with us: 
 
 We have come together to-night to devise ways and means of 
 saving Goucher College. Since 1888 Goucher College has been 
 doing its work in our midst. Goucher has practically never had 
 any endowment. It is only by tremendous sacrifices of personal 
 effort and private means that Goucher has been enabled to give to 
 the girls of Baltimore, Maryland, and other states an excellent 
 college education. For the past twenty-four years we have seen 
 the College literally making bricks without straw before our eyes. 
 Without visible resources or endowment stately building has been 
 added to stately building, well-equipped laboratory to well-equipped 
 laboratory. Under the shadow of our great Johns Hopkins Univer- 
 sity, inspired by its traditions and helped by its teaching, Goucher 
 has maintained a faculty of men and women scholars of peculiar 
 fitness. Despite its failing fortunes they have stood by the college, 
 accepting small salaries in return for academic freedom and congenial 
 work. Quietly and without advertisement Goucher College has 
 been doing its good work. . . . 
 
 The time has surely now come for Baltimore and Maryland to 
 take over Goucher College as a gift of inestimable value, to support 
 it generously, and makes it truly their own. All the great and 
 prosperous states of the United States maintain colleges for women 
 within their territory. And those that have no women's colleges 
 are now making great sacrifices to found them. Only by a college 
 education can the women of a modern state be fitted to bear and 
 rear sons and daughters who will make it enlightened and prosper- 
 ous. Only so can the women teachers of a state be fitted to teach 
 
 *By permission of the author. 
 
386 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 its children as they should be taught. Only so can the women 
 of a state themselves be fitted to meet their heavy civic respon- 
 sibilities. 
 
 All Maryland's great northern, middle, and western neighbors 
 (except Delaware, which has only one hundred and fifty-seven 
 men studying in its one college, and New Jersey) are educating 
 their women in their own colleges. . . . 
 
 In many far western and Pacific coast states there is not a single 
 college in the state that is not open to women. Its college-bred 
 young men and women are rapidly bringing prosperity and com- 
 mercial success to the west. A friend of mine, a wise and much 
 traveled woman, told me a few years ago that she had had occasion 
 to go through the state of Kansas twice at an interval of thirty 
 years, staying in the families of Kansas farmers on each visit. The 
 first time she found discouragement, worn-out wives, tired and 
 silent husbands, and ill cared for children. The second tune, after 
 thirty years' interval, the farmers' homes were transformed. Books 
 and magazines were everywhere. Both farmers and farmers' wives 
 had been graduated from the state university. They were intellec- 
 tually alert and materially successful; the children were receiving 
 the best possible schooling and boys and girls alike were headed 
 straight for the state university. Everywhere she found hope and 
 confidence, intellectual interest and curiosity, happiness and 
 prosperity. 
 
 How is it possible at a time like this when we are really begin- 
 ning to understand what the college education of women means to 
 a community that our own state of Maryland should stand by and 
 see Goucher College closed for lack of $230,000? How is it possible 
 that the city of Baltimore can seriously consider losing Goucher 
 College? At the present time the only five cities in the United 
 States which have the distinction of possessing two or more colleges 
 belonging to Class I are Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago 
 and Baltimore. It is almost impossible to estimate how much this 
 means to a great city in prestige, commercial prosperity, and true 
 progress. Within the past few years the great English commercial 
 cities of Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham have poured out 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 387 
 
 money like water to support their recently founded great city 
 universities which are giving an excellent college education to their 
 sons and daughters. No great city can afford nowadays not to 
 provide liberally for the college education of its girls. . . . 
 
 Women's colleges are in a very different position from men's 
 colleges. Almost all large fortunes are in the hands of men, and 
 very few men realize as yet the necessity of giving girls a thorough 
 college education. Wealthy men are continually giving large sums 
 to men's colleges. Wealthy women give to men's education in 
 memory of their fathers, husbands or sons more frequently and in 
 larger amounts than wealthy men give to women's education. 
 Men's colleges also receive large gifts from their alumni. Unlike 
 men's colleges, it is impossible for women's colleges to appeal for 
 funds to then* wealthy graduates. Women, especially young 
 women, have not the disposal of much money. They are not 
 engaged in business. Each dollar raised by a college for women 
 represents many times the effort of a dollar raised by a college for 
 men. Women's colleges are one and all inadequately endowed. 
 And yet women's colleges must be adequately endowed because 
 wherever the choice is given, as in the east of the United States, 
 parents and girls themselves seem to prefer separate colleges for 
 women to co-educational colleges. Unless women's colleges are 
 as liberally endowed as men's colleges women studying in them 
 will receive an inferior education. Our hope for the future lies in 
 great part in the girls now in college. They will be the leaders of 
 thought and of action among women. We cannot possibly give 
 them an education too broad or too deep. 
 
 After all what do college women mean to a community? What 
 do Goucher graduates mean to Baltimore? If we study the occu- 
 pations of the graduates of Goucher College we find that about 
 thirty-five and one-half per cent are married; about twenty-seven 
 and one-half per cent are teaching; about five per cent are doing 
 social and religious work as Young Woman's Christian Association 
 secretaries, missionaries, social workers, etc.; about two and one- 
 third per cent are engaged in business; and about twenty-eight 
 per cent are unmarried and engaged in no wage-earning occupation. 
 
388 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 Our knowledge of similar statistics makes us reasonably sure that 
 about fifty per cent of these Goucher graduates, and also of their 
 sisters who have not been to college, will in time marry. Marriage 
 seems to depend not on college education but on social surround- 
 ings. Careful studies of thousands of college women and their 
 sisters, or women relatives nearest in age, show that marriage 
 depends on the social group and is not affected by whether men or 
 women have been to college. College women marry a year or two 
 later than their non-college-bred sisters, but they seem to marry 
 better educated men, that is, more men who have been to college, 
 which we should expect, and also men who are making larger in- 
 comes than the men whom their non-college-bred sisters marry, 
 perhaps because they are less dependent on marriage for support 
 and can choose more deliberately. Also our statistics show that 
 college women average a fraction more children per marriage, and 
 that fewer of their children die in infancy, also that there are fewer 
 breakdowns after marriage among college women than among their 
 non-college-bred sisters. A new statistical study based on ten thou- 
 sand college women is now set up in type and will be published in a 
 few months. There is every reason to believe that college mothers, 
 like college fathers, make the best parents in the world. Also 
 college women are hi a position to select the best fathers for their 
 children because they can support themselves without marrying 
 the wrong man. If we believe, as we all must, in eugenics (proper 
 heredity), and euthenics (proper environment), how can we not 
 believe that college-bred mothers are of inestimable value in a 
 community? Think also of the other multifold social and civic 
 activities that these college mothers will engage in. They will 
 have leisure, opportunity, and training. College men have train- 
 ing, but it is very seldom that they have the necessary leisure. 
 The late Mrs. Sarah Platt Decker, who was president of the Fed- 
 eration of Women's Clubs for so long, was not herself a college 
 woman, but she used often to say in public that wherever she went 
 throughout the length and breadth of the United States the young 
 college women were what she called "West Pointers," and were 
 leading other women in the great battle of civilization. Reformers 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 389 
 
 tell me that however remote may be the town they visit, however 
 desperate the cause they champion, whether it be child labor, 
 factory legislation, or consumers' league agitation, good roads, pure 
 food, or white slavery, there is always some college woman there 
 ready to come to the rescue of good citizenship and turn defeat into 
 victory. Wherever I go in this country or abroad men and women 
 introduce themselves to me to tell me of the good works of some 
 Bryn Mawr graduate who has married and is living perhaps in some 
 frontier town. All presidents of women's colleges have a like 
 experience. 
 
 When we speak in this way of college women we do not mean 
 that women who have not been to college are not in many cases as 
 efficient and generally serviceable. They are. But what we do 
 mean is that, given the same brain power, the same energy, the 
 same love for human service, the same gracious, womanly character, 
 a college education raises all the wonderful personality of such a 
 woman, as of such a man, to the nth power, and moreover often 
 makes of a very ordinary sort of person a well-trained and efficient 
 instrument and also a very happy human being. No truly loving 
 parents should be satisfied without sending their girls to college, 
 whatever they may do with then* boys. It is the best imaginable 
 kind of insurance for a woman against unhappiness and ill 
 fortune. 
 
 The fifty per cent of Goucher graduates who, in all probability, 
 will not marry will be in the main self-supporting citizens of Mary- 
 land. Over one-half of them will become enthusiastic, effective 
 teachers of the children of Baltimore, Maryland, and neighboring 
 states; others will carry on the social and reform work of the city 
 of Baltimore. The annual incomes of these college women will 
 average from $1,000 to $1,500 a year for at least forty years. Each 
 wage-earning college woman will add from $40,000 to $60,000 in 
 cash to the yield of the state in which she lives. Our statistics 
 show that college women earn at least as much as this and also that 
 they are longer lived than other women, and thus continue their 
 work over a larger period of time. The commercial value of the 
 college women in any state can be roughly approximated, but their 
 
390 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 spiritual and mental value to our city and our state is beyond our 
 calculation. 
 
 We may perhaps think that our Baltimore girls can get a college 
 education by going to college outside of the state say two hours 
 by rail to Bryn Mawr, or four hours by rail to New York, but this 
 is not the case. A study was made in 1912 of the incomes of the 
 families of the boys and girls studying in the college department of 
 the great municipal university of the city of Cincinnati. It was 
 found that thirty-five per cent came from homes where the family 
 income was less than $1,500 a year and forty per cent from homes 
 where the total family income was from $1,500 to $2,500. Such 
 boys and girls cannot possibly leave home to go to college. More- 
 over, every college creates its own students and becomes a center 
 of intellectual light in its own community. Bryn Mawr College 
 is filling Philadelphia with college graduates who would never have 
 gone to college had the college not been at then* very doors. The 
 public schools of Philadelphia now prepare girls for Bryn Mawr 
 College and the Philadelphia girls' high school has become one of 
 the best college preparatory schools in the United States. Bryn 
 Mawr's graduates are teaching in most of the public schools of the 
 state. When Bryn Mawr opened in 1885 there was not a high 
 school in the state which taught Latin, French or German. There 
 was not a private school that could prepare girls for college. This 
 is equally true of Goucher College. When Goucher opened in 1888 
 the Bryn Mawr School of Baltimore, founded in 1885, was the 
 only school in Maryland that could prepare for college. Now 
 ambitious girls in every part of Maryland, and, above all, in Balti- 
 more, look to Goucher College as the goal of their desire. Thirty- 
 three graduates of the Baltimore high schools entered its freshman 
 class this autumn. Let us stop to think what it means to a city to 
 have its girls inspired to train themselves for life in such a college. 
 Think what it means for the next generation to be born of college 
 educated mothers. . . . 
 
 We who gather here to-night, we college women of Baltimore, 
 know from our own experience what the closing of Goucher College 
 will mean to the city of Baltimore, and to the girls of Baltimore. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 391 
 
 It will mean to the girls of Baltimore the shutting of an open door 
 of splendid opportunity of special training for wifehood, motherhood, 
 social service, and happy self-support. It will mean to the city of 
 Baltimore and the state of Maryland a degradation of its school 
 system because of lack of college-trained teachers, a lessening of its 
 intelligent birth rate, a marked diminution of its activities for social 
 betterment, a lowering of its commercial and moral supremacy. 
 It will mean the passing from our midst of Goucher College and the 
 shining vision of women's college education which Dr. Goucher 
 has called into being for us with the flame of a great desire and a still 
 greater achievement. 
 
 We college women cannot let this terrible misfortune befall our 
 beloved Baltimore. Let us pledge ourselves to-night to use all 
 our powers of persuasion and reasoning in presenting the case of 
 Goucher College to everyone who has the power to avert this great 
 catastrophe. The great sum of $770,000 has already been condi- 
 tionally promised. This three-quarters of a million will all collapse 
 and fall to pieces like a dome of shivered glass if the remaining 
 $230,000 cannot be obtained. What will each one in this audience 
 do to save Goucher College? 
 
 CLOSING SPEECH OF PROGRESSIVE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN, 1912, 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE 16,000 PEOPLE IN MADISON SQUARE 
 
 GARDEN, NEW YORK, BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT.* 
 
 Friends, perhaps once in a generation, perhaps not so often, there 
 comes a chance for the people of a country to play their part wisely 
 and fearlessly in some great battle of the age-long warfare for 
 human rights. To our fathers the chance came in the mighty 
 days of Abraham Lincoln, of the man who thought and toiled and 
 suffered for the people with a sad, patient and kindly endeavor. 
 To our forefathers the chance came in the troubled years that 
 stretched from the tune when the first Continental Congress 
 gathered to the time when Washington was inaugurated as first 
 President of the Republic. 
 
 *By permission of the author. 
 
392 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 To us in our turn the chance has now come to stand for liberty 
 and righteousness as in their day these dead men stood for liberty 
 and righteousness. Our task is not as great as theirs. Yet it is 
 well-nigh as important. Our task is to profit by the lessons of the 
 past and to check in time the evils that grow around us, lest our 
 failure to do so may cause dreadful disaster to the people. We 
 must not sit supine and helpless. 
 
 We must not permit the brutal selfishness of arrogance and the 
 brutal selfishness of envy each to run unchecked its evil course. If 
 we do so, then some day smoldering hatred will suddenly kindle 
 into a consuming flame, and either we or our children will be called 
 on to face a crisis as grim as any which this Republic has ever 
 seen. 
 
 It is our business to show that nine-tenths of wisdom consists in 
 being wise in time. Woe to our Nation if we let matters drift, if 
 in our industrial and political life we let an unchecked and utterly 
 selfish individualistic materialism riot to its appointed end! That 
 end would be widespread disaster, for it would mean that our 
 people would be sundered by those dreadful lines of division which 
 are drawn when the selfish greed of the haves is set over against the 
 selfish greed of the havenots. There is but one way to prevent 
 such a division, and that is to forestall it by the kind of movement 
 in which we are now engaged. 
 
 Our movement is one of resolute insistence upon the rights and 
 full acknowledgment of the duties of every man and every woman 
 within this great land of ours. We war against the forces of evil, 
 and the weapons we use are the weapons of right. We do not set 
 greed against greed or hatred against hatred. Our creed is one 
 that bids us be just to all, to feel sympathy for all, and to strive for 
 an understanding of the needs of all. 
 
 Our purpose is to smite down wrong. But toward those who 
 have done the wrong we feel only the kindliest charity that is com- 
 patible with causing the wrong to cease. We preach hatred to no 
 man, and the spirit in which we work is as far removed from vin- 
 dictiveness as from weakness. We are resolute to do away with the 
 evil, and we intend to proceed with such wise and cautious sanity 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 393 
 
 as will cause the very minimum of disturbance that is compatible 
 with achieving our purpose. 
 
 Do not forget, friends, that we are not proposing to substitute 
 law for character. We are merely proposing to buttress character 
 by law. We fully recognize that, as has been true in the past, so 
 it is true now, and ever will be true, the prime factor in each 
 man's or woman's success must normally be that man's or 
 woman's own character character, the sum of many qualities, 
 but above all of the qualities of honesty, of courage and of com- 
 mon sense. 
 
 Nothing will avail a nation if there is not the right type of char- 
 acter among the average men and women, the plain people, the 
 hard-working, decent-living, right-thinking people, who make up 
 the great bulk of our citizenship. I know my countrymen; I know 
 that they are of this type. But it is in civil life, as it is in war. In 
 war it is the man behind the gun that counts most, and yet he can- 
 not do his work unless he has the right kind of gun. In civil life, 
 in the everyday life of our Nation, it is individual character which 
 counts most; and yet the individual character cannot avail unless 
 in addition thereto there lie ready to hand the social weapons which 
 can be forged only by law and by public opinion operating through 
 and operated upon by law. 
 
 Again, friends, do not forget that we are proposing no new 
 principles. The doctrines we preach reach back to the Golden 
 Rule and the Sermon on the Mount. They reach back to the 
 Commandments delivered at Sinai. All that we are doing is to 
 apply those doctrines in the shape necessary to make them avail- 
 able for meeting the living issues of our own day. We decline to 
 be bound by the empty little cut-and-dried formulas of bygone 
 philosophies, useful once, perhaps, but useless now. 
 
 Our purpose is to shackle greedy cunning as we shackle brutal 
 force, and we are not to be diverted from this purpose by the appeal 
 to the dead dogmas of a vanished past. We propose to lift the 
 burdens from the lowly and the weary, from the poor and the 
 oppressed. We propose to stand for the sacred rights of childhood 
 and womanhood. Nay, more, we propose to see that manhood 
 
394 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 is not crushed out of the men who toil, by excessive hours of 
 labor, by underpayment, by injustice and oppression. 
 
 When this purpose can only be secured by the collective action 
 of our people through their governmental agencies, we propose so 
 to secure it. We brush aside the arguments of those who seek to 
 bar action by the repetition of some formula about "States' rights" 
 or about "the history of liberty" being "the history of the limita- 
 tion of governmental power," or about the duty of the courts 
 finally to determine the meaning of the Constitution. We are for 
 human rights and we intend to work for them hi efficient fashion. 
 
 Where they can be best obtained by the application of the 
 doctrines of States' rights, then we are for States' rights. Where, 
 in order to obtain them, it is necessary to invoke the power of the 
 Nation, then we shall invoke to its uttermost limits that mighty 
 power. We are for liberty. But we are for the liberty of the op- 
 pressed, and not for the liberty of the oppressor to oppress the 
 weak and to bind burdens on the shoulders of the heavy laden. 
 It is idle to ask us not to exercise the power of the Government 
 when only by the power of the Government can we curb the greed 
 that sits in high places, when only by the exercise of the Govern- 
 ment can we exalt the lowly and give heart to the humble and the 
 down-trodden. 
 
 We care for facts and not for formulas. We care for deeds and 
 not for words. We recognize no sacred right of oppression. We 
 recognize no divine right to work injustice. We stand for the 
 Constitution. We recognize that one of its most useful functions 
 is the protection of property. But we will not consent to make of 
 the Constitution a fetish for the protection of fossilized wrong. We 
 call the attention of those who thus interpret it to the fact that, 
 in that great instrument of justice, life and liberty are put on a full 
 level with property, indeed, are enumerated ahead of it in the order 
 of their importance. 
 
 We stand for an upright judiciary. But where the Judges claim 
 the right to make our laws by finally interpreting them, by finally 
 deciding whether or not we have the power to make them, then we 
 claim the right ourselves to exercise that power. We forbid any 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 395 
 
 men, no matter what their official position may be, to usurp the 
 right which is ours, the right which is the people's. We recognize 
 in neither court nor Congress, nor President, any divine right to 
 override the will of the people expressed with due deliberation in 
 orderly fashion and through the forms of law. We Progressives 
 hold that the words of the Declaration of Independence, as given 
 effect to by Washington and as construed and applied by Abraham 
 Lincoln, are to be accepted as real, and not as empty phrases. 
 
 We believe that hi very truth this is a government by the people 
 themselves, that the Constitution is theirs, that the courts are 
 theirs, that all the governmental agents and agencies are theirs. 
 We believe that all true leaders of the people must fearlessly stand 
 for righteousness and honesty, must fearlessly tell the people what 
 justice and honor demand. But we no less strongly insist that it 
 is for the people themselves finally to decide all questions of public 
 policy and to have their decision made effective. In the platform 
 formulated by the Progressive party we have set forth clearly and 
 specifically our faith on every vital point at issue before this people. 
 
 We have declared our position on the trusts and on the tariff, 
 on the machinery for securing genuine popular government, on the 
 method of meeting the needs of the farmer, of the business man and 
 of the man who toils with his hands, hi the mine or on the railroad, 
 in the factory or in the shop. There is not a promise we have made 
 which cannot be kept. There is not a promise we have made that 
 will not be kept. Our platform is a covenant with the people of 
 the United States, and if we are given the power we will live up 
 to that covenant in letter and hi spirit. 
 
 We know that there are hi life injustices which we are powerless 
 to remedy. But we know also that there is much injustice which 
 can be remedied, and this injustice we intend to remedy. We 
 know that the long path leading upward toward the light cannot be 
 traversed at once, or in a day, or hi a year. But there are certain 
 steps that can be taken at once. These we intend to take. Then, 
 ; +aken these first steps, we shall see more clearly how to 
 walk still further with a bolder stride. 
 
 We do not intend to attempt the impossible. But there is much, 
 
396 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 very much, that is possible in the way of righting wrong and rem- 
 edying injustice, and all that is possible we intend to do. We intend 
 to strike down privilege, to equalize opportunity, to wrest justice 
 from the hands that do injustice, to hearten and strengthen men 
 and women for the hard battle of We. We stand shoulder to 
 shoulder in a spirit of real brotherhood. We recognize no differences 
 of class, creed or birthplace. We recognize no sectionalism. 
 
 Our appeal is made to the Easterner no less than to the Westerner. 
 Our appeal is made to the Southerner no less than to the Northerner. 
 We appeal to the men who wore the gray just as we appeal to the 
 men who wore the blue. We appeal to the sons of the men who fol- 
 lowed Lee no less than to the sons of the men who followed Grant; 
 for the memory of the great deeds of both is now part of the com- 
 mon heritage of honor which belongs to all our people wherever 
 they dwell. 
 
 We firmly believe that the American people feel hostility to no 
 man who has honestly won success. We firmly believe that the 
 American people ask only justice, justice each for himself and 
 justice each for all others. They are against wickedness in rich 
 man and poor man alike. They are against lawless and murderous 
 violence exactly as they are against the sordid materialism which 
 seeks wealth by trickery and cheating, whether on a large or a 
 small scale. 
 
 They wish to deal honestly and hi good faith with all men. They 
 recognize that the prime national need is for honesty, honesty in 
 public life and in private life, honesty in business and in politics, 
 honesty in the broadest and deepest significance of the word. We 
 Progressives are trying to represent what we know to be the highest 
 ideals and the deepest and most intimate convictions of the plain 
 men and women, of the good men and women, who work for the 
 home and within the home. 
 
 Our people work hard and faithfully. They do not wish to shirk 
 then- work. They must feel pride in the work for the work's sake. 
 But there must be bread for the work. There must be a time for 
 play when the men and women are young. When they grow old 
 there must be the certainty of rest under conditions free from the 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 397 
 
 haunting terror of utter poverty. We believe that no life is worth 
 anything unless it is a life of labor and effort and endeavor. We 
 believe in the joy that comes with work, for he who labors best is 
 really happiest. 
 
 We must shape conditions so that no one can own the spirit of 
 the man who loves his task and gives the best there is in him to 
 that task, and it matters not whether this man reaps and sows and 
 wrests his livelihood from the rugged reluctance of the soil or 
 whether with hand or brain he plays his part in the tremendous 
 industrial activities of our great cities. 
 
 We are striving to meet the needs of all these men, and to meet 
 them in such fashion that all alike shall feel bound together in the 
 bond of a common brotherhood, where each works hard for himself 
 and for those dearest to him, and yet feels that he must also think 
 of his brother's rights because he is in very truth that brother's 
 keeper. Seven months ago in this city, almost at the beginning 
 of the present campaign, I spoke as follows : 
 
 "The leader for the time being, whoever he may be, is but an 
 instrument, to be used until broken and then to be cast aside; and 
 if he is worth his salt he will care no more when he is broken than 
 a soldier cares when he is sent where his life is forfeit in order that 
 the victory may be won. In the long fight for righteousness the 
 watchword for all of us is spend and be spent. It is of little matter 
 whether any one man fails or succeeds ; but the cause shall not fail, 
 for it is the cause of mankind. We, here in America, hold in our 
 hands the hope of the world, the fate of the coming years, and shame 
 and disgrace will be ours if in our eyes the light of high resolve is 
 dimmed, if we trail in the dust the golden hopes of men." 
 
 Friends, what I said then I say now. Surely there never was a 
 greater opportunity than ours. Surely there never was a fight 
 better worth making than this. I believe we shall win, but win or 
 lose I am glad beyond measure that I am one of the many who in 
 this fight have stood ready to spend and be spent, pledged to fight 
 while life lasts the great fight for righteousness and for brotherhood 
 and for the welfare of mankind. 
 
398 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 INAUGURATION ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON,* 
 MARCH 4, 1913 
 
 There has been a change of Government. It began two years 
 ago, when the House of Representatives became Democratic by a 
 decisive majority. It has now been completed. The Senate 
 about to assemble will also be Democratic. The offices of President 
 and Vice-President have been put into the hands of Democrats. 
 What does the change mean? That is the question that is upper- 
 most in our minds to-day. That is the question I am going to 
 try to answer, hi order, if I may, to interpret the occasion. 
 
 It means much more than the mere success of a party. The 
 success of a party means little except when the Nation is using that 
 party for a large and definite purpose. No one can mistake the 
 purpose for which the Nation now seeks to use the Democratic 
 Party. It seeks to use it to interpret a change in its own plans 
 and point of view. Some old things with which we had grown 
 familiar, and which had begun to creep into the very habit of our 
 thought and of our lives, have altered their aspect as we have lat- 
 terly looked critically upon them, with fresh, awakened eyes; have 
 dropped their disguises and shown themselves alien and sinister. 
 Some new things, as we look frankly upon them, willing to com- 
 prehend their real character, have come to assume the aspect of 
 things long believed in and familiar, stuff of our own convictions. 
 We have been refreshed by a new insight into our own life. 
 
 We see in many things that life is very great. It is incom- 
 parably great in its material aspects, in its body of wealth, in the 
 diversity and sweep of its energy, in the industries which have 
 been conceived and built up by the genius of individual men and 
 the limitless enterprise of groups of men. It is great, also, very 
 great, in its moral force. Nowhere else in the world have noble 
 men and women exhibited in more striking forms the beauty and 
 the energy of sympathy and helpfulness and counsel hi their efforts 
 to rectify wrong, alleviate suffering, and set the weak hi the way 
 of strength and hope. We have built up, moreover, a great system 
 
 * By permission of the author. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 399 
 
 of government, which has stood through a long age as in many 
 respects a model for those who seek to set liberty upon foundations 
 that will endure against fortuitous change, against storm and acci- 
 dent. Our life contains every great thing, and contains it in rich 
 abundance. 
 
 But the evil has come with the good, and much fine gold has been 
 corroded. With riches has come inexcusable waste. We have 
 squandered a great part of what we might have used, and have 
 not stopped to conserve the exceeding bounty of nature, without 
 which our genius for enterprise would have been worthless and 
 impotent, scorning to be careful, shamefully prodigal as well as 
 admirably efficient. We have been proud of our industrial achieve- 
 ments, but we have not hitherto stopped thoughtfully enough to 
 count the human cost, the cost of lives snuffed out, of energies 
 overtaxed and broken, the fearful physical and spiritual cost to 
 the men and women and children upon whom the dead weight and 
 burden of it all has fallen pitilessly the years through. The groans 
 and agony of it all had not yet reached our ears, the solemn, moving 
 undertone of our life, coming up out of the mines and factories and 
 out of every home where the struggle had its intimate and familiar 
 seat. With the great Government went many deep secret things 
 which we too long delayed to look into and scrutinize with candid, 
 fearless eyes. The great Government we loved has too often been 
 made use of for private and selfish purposes, and those who used it 
 had forgotten the people. 
 
 At last a vision has been vouchsafed us of our life as a whole. We 
 see the bad with the good, the debased and decadent with the sound 
 and vital. With this vision we approach new affairs. Our duty 
 is to cleanse, to reconsider, to restore, to correct the evil without 
 impairing the good, to purify and humanize every process of our 
 common life without weakening or sentimentalizing it. There has 
 been something crude and heartless and unfeeling in our haste to 
 succeed and be great. Our thought has been "Let every man look 
 out for himself, let every generation look out of itself," while we 
 reared giant machinery which made it impossible that any but 
 those who stood at the levers of control should have a chance to 
 
400 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 look out for themselves. We had not forgotten our morals. We 
 remembered well enough that we had set up a policy which was 
 meant to serve the humblest as well as the most powerful, with an 
 eye single to the standards of justice and fair play, and remembered 
 it with pride. But we were very heedless and in a hurry to be great. 
 
 We have come now to the sober second thought. The scales of 
 heedlessness have fallen from our eyes. We have made up our 
 minds to square every process of our National life again with the 
 standards we so proudly set up at the beginning and have always 
 carried at our hearts. 'Our work is a work of restoration. 
 
 We have itemized with some degree of particularity the things 
 that ought to be altered, and here are some of the chief items: A 
 tariff which cuts us off from our proper part hi the commerce of 
 the world, violates the just principles of taxation, and makes the 
 Government a facile instrument in the hands of private interests; 
 a banking and currency system based upon the necessity of the 
 Government to sell its bonds fifty years ago and perfectly adapted 
 to concentrating cash and restricting credits; an industrial system 
 which, take it on all its sides, financial as well as administrative, 
 holds capital in leading strings, restricts the liberties and limits the 
 opportunities of labor, and exploits without renewing or conserving 
 the natural resources of the country; a body of agricultural activities 
 never yet given the efficiency of great business undertakings or 
 served as it should be through the instrumentality of science taken 
 directly to the farm, or afforded the facilities of credit best suited 
 to its practical needs; water courses undeveloped, waste places 
 unreclaimed, forests untended, fast disappearing without plan or 
 prospect of renewal, unregarded waste heaps at every mine. We 
 have studied as perhaps no other nation has the most effect ivc 
 means of production, but we have not studied cost or economy as 
 we should either as organizers of industry, as statesmen, or as in- 
 dividuals. 
 
 Nor have we studied and perfected the means by which govern- 
 ment may be put at the service of humanity, in safeguarding the 
 health of the Nation, the health of its men and its women and its 
 children, as well as their rights in the struggle for existence. This is 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 401 
 
 no sentimental duty. The firm basis of government is justice, 
 not pity. These are matters of justice. There can be no equality 
 of opportunity, the first essential of justice in the body politic, 
 if men and women and children be not shielded in their lives, their 
 very vitality, from the consequences of great industrial and social 
 processes which they cannot alter, control, or singly cope with. 
 Society must see to it that it does not itself crush or weaken or 
 damage its own constituent parts. The first duty of law is to keep 
 sound the society it serves. Sanitary laws, pure food laws, and 
 laws determining conditions of labor which individuals are powerless 
 to determine for themselves are intimate parts of the very business 
 of justice and legal efficiency. 
 
 These are some of the things we ought to do, and not leave the 
 others undone, the old-fashioned, never-to-be-neglected, funda- 
 mental safeguarding of property and of individual right. This is 
 the high enterprise of the new day: to lift everything that concerns 
 our life as a Nation to the light that shines from the hearthfire of 
 every man's conscience and vision of the right. It is inconceivable 
 that we should do this as partisans; it is inconceivable we should 
 do it in ignorance of the facts as they are or in blind haste. We 
 shall restore, not destroy. We shall deal with our economic system 
 as it is and as it may be modified, not as it might be if we had a 
 clean sheet of paper to write upon; and step by step we shall make 
 it what it should be, hi the spirit of those who question their own 
 wisdom and seek counsel and knowledge, not shallow self-satis- 
 faction or the excitement of excursions whither they cannot tell. 
 Justice, and only justice, shall always be our motto. 
 
 And yet it will be no cool process of mere science. The Nation 
 has been deeply stirred, stirred by a solemn passion, stirred by the 
 knowledge of wrong, of ideals lost, of Government too often de- 
 bauched and made an instrument of evil. The feelings with which 
 we face this new age of right and opportunity sweep across our 
 heart-strings like some air out of God's own presence, where justice 
 and mercy are reconciled and the judge and the brother are one. 
 We know our task to be no mere task of politics, but a task which 
 shall search us through and through, whether we be able to under- 
 
402 ORAL COMPOSITION 
 
 stand our time and the need of our people, whether we be indeed 
 their spokesmen and interpreters, whether we have the pure heart 
 to comprehend and the rectified will to choose our high course of 
 action. 
 
 This is not a day of triumph ; it is a day of dedication. Here mus- 
 ter, not the forces of party, but the forces of humanity. Men's 
 hearts wait upon us; men's lives hang in the balance; men's hopes 
 call upon us to say what we will do. Who shall live up to the great 
 trust? Who dares fail to try? I summon all honest men, all 
 patriotic, all forward-looking men, to my side. God helping me, 
 I will not fail them, if they will but counsel and sustain me! 
 
 Speeches excellent for study of plan and expression. 
 
 BEVERIDGE, ALBERT J. Speech at Progressive National Con- 
 vention, 1912. Frances E. Willard. The Meaning of the Times. 
 
 BRYAN, WM. J. Signs of the Times. Speech explaining vote, 
 at Democratic National Convention, 1912. W. J. Bryan: A Tale 
 of Two Conventions. 
 
 CARLYLE, THOMAS. The Edinburgh Address, University of 
 Edinburgh, 1866. The World's Best Orations. 
 
 CHOATE, JOSEPH. Rufus Choate. Best American Orations, etc. 
 
 DEPEW, CHAUNCEY M. One Hundredth Anniversary of the 
 Inauguration of President Washington. Orations and After-dinner 
 Speeches of Chauncey M. Depew. 
 
 ELIOT, CHARLES W. The Durable Satisfactions of Life. 
 GRADY, HENRY W. The New South. In various collections. 
 
 INGALLS, JOHN J. Speech on Benj. H. Hill, U. S. Senate, Jan. 25, 
 1883. World's Best Orations. 
 
TOPICS AND ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 403 
 
 McKiNLEY, WILLIAM. At Dedication of Grant Monument. 
 World's Best Orations. Last Address, at Buffalo Exposition. Best 
 American Orations. 
 
 PHILLIPS, WENDELL. Wm. Lloyd Garrison. Speeches, Letters 
 and Addresses. 
 
 ROOT, ELIHU. Opening Speech at Republican National Con- 
 vention, 1912. W. J. Bryan: A Tale of Two Conventions. Speech 
 in U. S. Senate, Jan. 22, 1913, on Panama Canal Tolls. Con- 
 gressional Record. 
 
INDEX 
 
 ( References are to pages ) 
 
 Ability to speak, value of, 6 ff. 
 
 Accuracy, value of, 235 ff. 
 
 ADAMS, C. F., 221. 
 
 ADAMS, F. W., 49. 
 
 ADDAMS, JANE, 298, 361. 
 
 ADDISON, DeCoverley Papers, top- 
 ics on, 323 ff. 
 
 Address in interests of Goucher 
 College, 385. 
 
 Address to Teachers, 364. 
 
 Address of Welcome, 359, 366. 
 
 Addresses suggested for study, 
 355-400; list of, 402. 
 
 Adjectives, use of, 89, 121. 
 
 Adverbs, use of, 89, 121. 
 
 Allusion, 93. 
 
 Ambiguity, 83, 122. 
 
 Analogy, argument from, 263, 288. 
 
 Anecdotes, 30, 164, 166, 168, 173, 
 180. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon, 106 ff. 
 
 Antithesis, 92. 
 
 Application, in conclusion, 56; in 
 paragraph development, 66. 
 
 Argumentation, nature, 257 ; kinds, 
 267; occasions for, 257 ff.; state- 
 ment of question, 269 ff., 271, 
 274; evidence, 261 ff.; tests 
 of evidence, 263 ff.; flaws in 
 reasoning, 265; mistakes of 
 pupils, 279 ff.; briefs, 269 ff., 
 277, 282, 285; direct proof, 274; 
 refutation, 288 ff., 295; intro- 
 duction, 270 ff . ; conclusion, 279, 
 285, 287, 293, 295, 297 ff.; de- 
 bating, 293 ff.; specimens of 
 argument, 289 ff., 301, 304, 375, 
 385; topics for, 81, 268, 275 ff., 
 281 ff., 300, 312, 313, 325, 327, 
 333, 339 ff., 343, 352. 
 
 Articulation. See enunciation. 
 
 Arrangement, of points, 39, 60, 
 
 248, 295; sentences, 62, 83, 84, 
 
 91, 123; details, 175, 189, 204, 
 
 ^08. 
 ASQUITH, Premier, Tribute to 
 
 Whitelaw Reid, 250. 
 Audience, nature of, 27; relation 
 
 to subject, 24, 28; inspiration 
 
 by, 13, 125; control of, 12, 14, 
 
 15, 17, 126. 
 Authority, for pronunciation, 157; 
 
 for use of words, 117, 119; as 
 
 evidence, 262, 265. 
 Auxiliary verbs, 86 ff.; shall and 
 
 will, 87 ff.; would, should, 87; 
 
 have, 90; can, 121. 
 AYCOCK, Governor, 231. 
 
 Balanced sentence, 91. 
 
 Balkan Conference, Welcome to, 
 361. 
 
 BANKHEAD, Congressman, 272. 
 
 Barbarisms, 118. 
 
 Bases of classification, 35, 37. 
 
 Bearing, 14, 126. 
 
 BEESELEY, L., 217. 
 
 Beginning, 242. See setting, in- 
 troduction. 
 
 BENTON, G. P., 217. 
 
 BEVERIDGE, A. J., Trusts, 232. 
 
 Bible Tercentenary, Addresses, 
 356 ff. 
 
 Biography, 165; topics for, 190 ff., 
 248 ff., 328, 329, 335, 338 ff. 
 
 ELAINE, J. G., 71. 
 
 Body, use of, 14 ff., 125 ff. 
 
 Books, use of, 33; value of, 262, 
 265. 
 
 Breathing, 135, 150; exercises, 136. 
 
 Brief, preparation of, 269 ff.; 
 examples, 277, 282, 285. 
 
 405 
 
406 
 
 INDEX 
 
 BRINCKERHOFF. ELBERT, 356. 
 BROWN, Mrs. J. M., 183. 
 BRYAN, W. J., Introduction to 
 
 speech, 47; introduction of, 355, 
 
 356; Mexican travel, 207. 
 BRYCE, JAMES, 74. 
 BURKE, EDMUND, description of, 
 
 211; extracts from, 72, 246; 
 
 topics on, 326. 
 BURNS, ROBERT, topics on, 328. 
 
 CABOT, C. M., Speech at Directors' 
 Meeting, 364. 
 
 CARLYLE, topics on, 328. 
 
 CARREL, Dr. ALEXIS, welcome to, 
 359; response of, 360. 
 
 Case, 88. 
 
 Cause and effect, as method, 66, 
 71, 73, 82; in plot, 174, 175. 
 
 Celtic, 106. 
 
 Central idea, 64, 177, 189, 238. 
 See theme. 
 
 Change in educational emphasis, 
 3ff. 
 
 Character portrayal, method, 175, 
 184, 193, 210; illustrations, 
 186 ff . ; topics, 185 ff . 
 
 Child Labor Law, Operation of, 
 366. 
 
 Choice of subject, 24 ff., 27 ff ., 173, 
 183, 200, 238, 260, 269, 270, 
 299. 
 
 CLARK, CHAMP, 188. 
 
 Classification, importance of, 34: 
 bases of for outline, 35, 37; of 
 figures, 92; of narrative, 165; of 
 description, 198; of exposition, 
 225; of argument, 267; of forms 
 of speech, 163. 
 
 Clauses, use of in sentences, 65, 83, 
 84. 
 
 Clearness, 35, 60, 64; in subject, 
 43, 269: in introduction, 43, 45. 
 in conclusion, 55, 56; in words, 
 122; in sentences, 83, 92; in 
 paragraphs, 64; in narration, 
 164. 171, 174, 175, 184; in ex- 
 position, 227; in argument, 269, 
 311; in reasoning, 265, 280, 288; 
 in enunciation, 148 ff., 157, 158; 
 by figures, 92. 
 
 Climax, for emphasis, 66, 248, 
 295; in narrative, 175, 177; in 
 sentences, 84. 
 
 Clive and Hastings, topics on, 340. 
 
 Closing address of political cam- 
 paign, ROOSEVELT, 391. 
 
 Coherence, nature, 244; how ob- 
 tained in whole speech, 39, 245, 
 295; in paragraphs, 65, 67; in 
 sentences, 83; in exposition, 
 244 ff.; in argument, 295. See 
 transition. 
 
 Colloquialism, 119. 
 
 Commemorations, 25. 
 
 Commerce, 383. 
 
 Comparison and contrast, as 
 method of outline classification, 
 35; in paragraph development, 
 67, 68, 72, 79; for clearness, 
 92; of adjectives, 89. 
 
 Comprehensiveness, 35, 36, 240, 
 274. 
 
 Conciliation with America, topics 
 on, 326. 
 
 Conciseness, 84, 252. 
 
 Conclusion, 54 ff.; reasons for, 
 54 ff.; kinds of, 55; examples of, 
 67 ff., 297 ff., 362 ff.; in exposi- 
 tion, 242; in argument, 293, 295, 
 297. 
 
 Concord in sentences, 83, 84. 
 
 Conditions of good speaking, 21 ff. 
 
 Conjunctions, use of, 65, 83. 
 
 Consequences to industry of existing 
 conflict, 370. 
 
 Consonants, how formed, 149 ff.; 
 elision of, 104, 158; exercises, 
 151 ff., 158 ff. 
 
 Conversation, lost art, 16; value in 
 narrative, 185; examples, 186; 
 topics for practice, 193, 332, 
 346 ff., 351. 
 
 COOKE, R. J., 297. 
 
 Criticism, 253 ff. 
 
 CUMMINGS, A. J., 180, 211, 221. 
 
 Debate, occasions, 257 ff.; ques- 
 tion, 269, 271, 274; planning of, 
 269 ff.; conduct of, 294 ff.; topics 
 for. See topics for argumenta- 
 tion. 
 
INDEX 
 
 407 
 
 DeCoverley papers, topics on, 323 ff. 
 
 Definition, words, 113; method of 
 paragraph, 66, 67; examples of 
 68, 231 ff.; kind of exposition, 
 225; in argument, 271; topics 
 for, 78, 230. 
 
 DENNISON, ELSA, 57. 
 
 Derivation of words, 104, 108 ff.; 
 exercises, 113 ff. 
 
 Description, 198 ff.; purpose, 45, 
 193, 198, 200, 215; nature, 198, 
 224; choice of subject, 200; 
 method, 200 ff.; point of view, 
 
 200, 201; fundamental image, 
 
 201, 202, 204, 210; details, 198, 
 201, 202, 206, 209, 210; ar- 
 rangement, 206 ; wording, 214 ff . ; 
 general impression, 201, 216; of 
 building, 202, 204; of landscape, 
 206 ff.; of object, 199, 205; of 
 person, 199, 210 ff., 212 ff.; of 
 animal, 199, 214; sounds, color, 
 etc., 216 ff . ; scene of action, 220, 
 222; examples, 199, 202 ff., 
 206 ff., 210 ff., 216 ff., 220 f.; 
 topics, 199, 204 ff., 208, 212 ff., 
 216, 222, 223, 323, 332, 335, 
 348, 350. 
 
 Details, selection of, 175, 177, 188, 
 206, 209, 251; arrangement of, 
 175, 189, 202, 204, 210; in de- 
 scription, 198, 201, 202, 206, 
 208, 209, 210; in narration, 177, 
 184, 188; paragraph develop- 
 ment by, 66, 76. 
 
 DICKENS, extract from, 203; topics 
 on, 330. 
 
 Diction, 117 ff.; purity, 118 ff.; 
 propriety, 120 ff. ; precision, 122; 
 examples, 68, 74, 75, 216 ff., 
 378 ff., 400 ff.; exercises, 119, 
 121, 122. 
 
 DOWLING, VICTOR, 356. 
 
 Effectiveness of subject, 24 ff., 
 27 ff., 170, 173, 200; of attitude, 
 126 ff., 128; of presentation, 35, 
 40, 55, 295; of words, 92, 214 
 ff. 
 
 ELIOT, C. W., Uses of Education for 
 Business, 378. 
 
 ELIOT, GEORGE, topics on Silas 
 Marner, 332. 
 
 Emotions, appeal to, 8, 12, 164, 
 170, 192 ff., 295. 
 
 Emphasis, reasons for, 65; how to 
 obtain, 140; in whole speech, 40, 
 175, 190, 248; in paragraph, 65, 
 67; in sentence, 84; in words, 
 143; by facial changes, 128; by 
 bearing, 127; by gesture, 131; 
 by voice, 140 ff. 
 
 Ending, 175, 242. See conclusion. 
 
 Enunciation, 148 ff.; exercises, 
 151 ff. 
 
 Epigram, 93. 
 
 Euphony, 90, 115. 
 
 EVERETT, EDWARD, 68. 
 
 Evidence, 261 ff . ; testing of, 263 ff ., 
 
 Examples, in paragraph develop- 
 ment, 66, 74, 75, 80; in argu- 
 ment, 261. See illustrative ma- 
 terial. 
 
 Explanation (see exposition), 45, 
 271; method in paragraph, 66, 
 78. 
 
 Exposition, 224 ff.; purpose, 225, 
 272; nature, 224; kinds, 225; 
 outlines for, 40, 41, 243; com- 
 pared with other forms, 207, 224, 
 257, 259; clearness in, 227; ac- 
 curacy in, 235 ff.; unity in, 238; 
 coherence in, 244 ff.; emphasis 
 in, 248; conciseness in, 252; in 
 argument, 272, 294; examples, 
 67 ff., 207, 227 ff., 231 ff., 249 ff., 
 259, 272, 355-375, 378, 391^02; 
 topics for, 76, 78 ff., 230, 234, 
 236, 237 f., 239, 248 ff., 252 ff., 
 317-322, 323-355. 
 
 Expression, 61, 62; necessity for, 
 7, 61; manner of, 6f., 163; 
 through body, 14 ff., 125 ff.; 
 face, 128; eye, 15; gestures, 
 129 ff . ; voice, 135 ff . 
 
 Extemporaneous speech, value of, 
 61. 
 
 Eyes, power of, 14, 15, 17, 126; 
 use of, 126. 
 
 Facial expression, 128. 
 FARLEY, Cardinal, 48. 
 
408 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Figures of speech, 92 ff.; use, 92; 
 
 kinds, 92 ff . ; examples, 99 ff . 
 Force, 138, 141. See emphasis. 
 Foreign words, 112, 116, 119. 
 Form, of discourse, 163, 198, 207, 
 
 224, 257 ; of outline (see outline) ; 
 
 of brief (see brief). 
 Formation of sounds, 149 ff . 
 Formation of words, 110, 112; 
 
 method, 114; exercises, 113, 114. 
 French influence on language, 110. 
 Fundamental image, 201, 202, 
 
 204, 210. 
 Franklin, Benjamin, address on, 
 
 382. 
 
 GATNOR, W. J., 290, 355. 
 
 General terms, 122. 
 
 Gesture, 129 ff.; use of, 129 ff.; 
 
 nature of, 130 ff.; meaning of, 
 
 130 ff.; exercises, 132 ff. 
 Gettysburg, description of army, 
 
 220; introductions to speeches 
 
 on, 51. 
 
 Golden Treasury, topics on, 344. 
 GRAGO, Congressman, 293. 
 Greek, derivations from 112 ff. 
 GREELEY, HORACE, address by,382. 
 GREER. Bishop, address by, 357. 
 GREY, Earl, address by, 361. 
 
 HADLEY, A. T., 53. 
 
 HARDY, THOMAS, address by, 362. 
 
 HARRISON, FAIRFAX, address by, 
 370. 
 
 HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL, 172, 
 202. 
 
 HEDGES, JOB, 181, 227, 231. 
 
 HIGGINSON, T. W., 211. 
 
 HILL, J. J., 70. 
 
 History, Nature of, 166, 169; top- 
 ics from, 78, 177, 189, 230, 326, 
 331, 338, 340, 343, 345, 347. 
 
 History of language, 101 ff., 113. 
 
 History of question, 44, 270, 273. 
 
 HOMER, The Odyssey, topics on, 
 334. 
 
 HOWELLS, W. D., 207, 218. 
 
 Hyperbole, 93. 
 
 HUGHES, CHARLES E., Reply to 
 Committee, 375. 
 
 Idylh of the King, topics on, 354. 
 
 Illustrative material, addressee, 
 249 f., 355 ff.; description, 199, 
 202 ff., 206 ff., 210 ff., 216 ff., 
 220 f.; narration, 70, 178 ff., 182, 
 186 ff.; exposition, 67 ff., 207, 
 227 ff., 231 ff., 249 ff., 259, 272, 
 355-375, 378, 391-400; argu- 
 ment, 289 ff., 301, 304, 375, 385; 
 outlines, 40, 41, 77, 194 ff., 243; 
 briefs, 277, 282, 285; introduc- 
 tion, 46 ff., 172 ff., 272 ff ., 362 ff . ; 
 conclusion, 57 ff., 297 ff., 362 ff . ; 
 paragraphs, 67 ff., 245, 289 ff.; 
 sentences, 91, 97, 247 ; words, 104, 
 106, 110, 116. 118 ff.; gesture, 
 127, 133; modulation, 138 ff. 
 
 Impression, importance of, 55, 66; 
 methods of making, 14, 40, 55, 
 215; in description, 201, 210, 215; 
 in argument, 295; in narration, 
 184. 
 
 Impropriety of diction, 121. 
 
 Inaugural address of President 
 Wilson, 398. 
 
 Incident, 174, 176 ff., 180 f., 184, 
 186. 
 
 Individuality, 209, 213. 214. 
 
 Influence of speech, 8 ff., 11 ff. 
 
 Initial incident, 174. 
 
 Interest, of subject, 27 ff.; of 
 title, 29; in speaking, 10, 17; in 
 introduction, 44, 45; in narra- 
 tion 165, 177, 184, 191 ff.; 
 methods of arousing, 39, 44, 45, 
 184, 191 ff., 193, 198, 200, 270. 
 
 Interrogation, 93. 
 
 Introduction, 43 ff.; reasons for, 
 43 ff.; kinds of, 44 ff.; in de- 
 scription, 200; in narration, 171; 
 in exposition, 242; in argument, 
 270 ff . ; examples of, 46 ff ., 172 ff ., 
 272 ff., 362 ff. ; exercises, 45, 172, 
 242. 272. 
 
 Introduction of speakers, 355, 356. 
 
 Irony, 92. 
 
 IRVING, topics for Sketch-book, 335. 
 
 Ivanhoe, topics for, 346. 
 
 JONES, Congressman, 291. 
 Julius Caesar, topics on, 349. 
 
INDEX 
 
 409 
 
 KING, T. S., 57. 
 KULP, E. J., 289. 
 
 LANGLEY, Congressman, 298. 
 
 Language, history of, 101 S., 113; 
 use of, 6 ff.; necessity for pre- 
 serving, 115 ff.; study of, 3 ff. 
 
 Latin derivatives, 106, 108, 109, 
 112, 113, 114. 
 
 LEWIS, Congressman, 298. 
 
 Library, use of, 33. 
 
 LINCOLN, extract from, 59; topics 
 on, 337. 
 
 Link paragraphs, 75, 245. 
 
 Lips, 150. 
 
 MACAULAY, extract from, 143; 
 
 topics on, 340 ff . 
 Macbeth, topics on, 351. 
 McCoRMicK, L., address by, 364. 
 MCKNIGHT, description of Burke, 
 
 211. 
 Magnetism, nature of, 13; power 
 
 of; 14; sources of, 13, 14, 17. 
 Main points in outline, 36 ff., 239, 
 
 240; in brief, 274, 295. 
 Mannerisms, 126, 130, 132. 
 Material, sources of, 31 ff., 261 ff.; 
 
 value of, 263 ff.; use of, 33 ff., 
 
 269, 274, 280; arrangement of 
 
 (see outlines, briefs), 33 ff. 
 Merchant of Venice, topics on, 
 
 350. 
 
 MERIMEE, PROSPER, 220. 
 Metaphor, 92. 
 Metonymy, 93. 
 Middle English, 111. 
 MILTON, topics on Minor Poems, 
 
 341. 
 
 Misformed words, 118. 
 MITCHEL, J. P., address by, 359. 
 MITCHELL, JOHN, 73. 
 Mode, 86. 
 
 Modulation of voice, 138 ff. 
 MONDELL, Congressman, 274. 
 MUNSEY, FRANK, 59. 
 
 Narration, 163 ff.; nature, 164; 
 purpose, 45, 56, 168 flf.; kinds, 
 165 fif.; setting, 171 ff., 177; 
 
 theme, 173 ff.; plot, 174 ff.; ini- 
 tial incident, 174; incidents, 176, 
 184, 188; rising action, 175; 
 turning point, 175; falling ac- 
 tion, 175; ending, 175; charac- 
 ters, 184 ff.; technique, 188 ff.; 
 conversation, 185, 193; interest, 
 165, 175, 177, 184, 191 ff.; 
 examples, 70, 178 ff., 182, 186 ff.; 
 exercises, 167, 172, 175 ff., 177 
 180, 181, 184, 185 ff., 189 ff., 
 193 ff. See topics, narrative. 
 
 NEILL, C. P., 74. 
 
 Narrowing of subject, 29 ff., 270, 
 319. 
 
 Naturalness, 18; of bearing, 126; of 
 speech, 138, 141, 142, 144, 146; 
 of style, 61, 214; of gesture, 129, 
 131. 
 
 Nervousness, cure for, 19, 60, 129, 
 135. 
 
 Newly coined words, 118. 
 
 NICHOLSON, M., 204. 
 
 Norman-French, 110. 
 
 Norse, 108. 
 
 Note-taking, method, 33 ff . 
 
 Observation, 32. 
 
 Obsolete words, 118. 
 
 Odyssey, topics on, 334. 
 
 Old French, 109. 
 
 Opinion, expression of, 252 ff . 
 
 Oratory, vogue of, 316; power of, 
 8 ff . ; present fashion, 92. 
 
 Order, in mental processes, 35, 
 163; in arrangement of points, 
 39, 189, 248, 295; in paragraphs, 
 65; in sentences, 83, 84, 91. 
 
 Oregon Trail, topics on, 345. 
 
 Organs of speech, 149 ff . 
 
 Outlines, 34 ff . ; use of, 34 ff . ; bases 
 for, 35; form, 36 (see examples 
 of); main points, 36 ff., 239 ff.; 
 sub-points, 39, 241; for narra- 
 tive, 193 ff.; for exposition, 40, 
 41, 77, 243; for argument (see 
 brief); examples of, 40, 41, 77, 
 243,494 ff.; exercises for, 36 ff., 
 43,11193, 236 ff., 239 ff ., 242, 253, 
 255, 317, 318, 319 ff. (see brief). 
 
 OWEN, Senator, 229, 299. 
 
410 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Palate, 149. 
 
 PALGRAVE, topics on Golden Treas- 
 ury,^. 
 
 Paragraphs, 62 ff.; history of, 63; 
 use of, 62, 64; kinds, 66, 67, 75, 
 245; unity, 64, 67; coherence, 
 65, 67; emphasis, 65, 67; plan 
 for, 77; topic sentence, 64; in- 
 troductory, 44, 75; concluding, 
 55, 75; link, 75, 245; methods, 
 66,76, 78 ff.; examples, 67 ff., 
 245, 289 ff.; topics, 76, 78 ff.; 
 exercises, 67, 76, 78 ff. 
 
 Parallel structure, 84. 
 
 PARKMAN, 218; Oregon Trail, top- 
 ics on, 345. 
 
 Participial phrases, use of, 83. 
 
 Pause, 147. 
 
 Periodic sentence, 91. 
 
 Personality of speaker, 12 ff ., 15. 
 
 Personification, 92. 
 
 Personsfrequentlyusingspeech, 7ff. 
 
 Pitch, 143 ff . 
 
 Place of speaking, 125. 
 
 Planning, necessity for, 34 ff., 123; 
 method, 34 ff. ; narration, 193 ff. ; 
 description, 200 ff.; exposition, 
 239 ff.; argument, 269 ff. See 
 outlines, briefs. 
 
 Plays. See topics. 
 
 Plot (see narrative), 174 ff. 
 
 Point of view, 64, 83, 189, 200, 
 201, 202. 
 
 Political speech at mass meeting, 
 example, 391. 
 
 Position, of body, 125 ff.; of hand, 
 129 ff. 
 
 Power of speech, 8 ff., 11 ff. 
 
 Precision, 122. 
 
 Prefixes, 105, 113. 
 
 Preparation, 23 ff. 
 
 Prepositions, use of, 89 f . 
 
 Present use, of words, 118, 119; in 
 style, 92. 
 
 Probability, in narration, 192; in 
 argument, 264. 
 
 Pronouns, use of, 65, 88; ambigu- 
 ity, 83 ; case of , 88. 
 
 Pronunciation, 104, 156 ff.; how to 
 learn it, 157; common mistakes, 
 157 ff.; exercises, 157-160. 
 
 Proof, nature of, 261 ff.; methods 
 of, 261 ff., 274; paragraph de- 
 velopment by, 66, 69, 71, 81. 
 
 Proportion, whole talk, 188, 248; 
 paragraph, 65. 
 
 Proposition, 269, 271, 274, 294. 
 
 Propriety of diction, 120. 
 
 Provincialisms, 119. 
 
 Purity of diction, 118. 
 
 Purpose of speech, 6 ff . ; of specific 
 talks, 24; of narration, 56, 168; 
 of description, 45, 193, 198, 200, 
 215; of exposition, 225; of argu- 
 ment, 257. 
 
 Quality of voice, 138 ff. 
 Question. See proposition. 
 
 Rate of speech, 146 ff. 
 
 Reading, use of for information, 
 32, 262; objections to as ex- 
 pression, 17 ff. 
 
 Reasoning, 262, 265, 280, 288, 293. 
 
 Reasons for speech, 3 ff. 
 
 Rebuttal, 295. 
 
 REDFIELD, W. C., extracts from 
 speeches, 49, 58, 304. 
 
 Redundancy, 84. 
 
 REED, T. B., 57. 
 
 REID, WHITELAW, tributes to. 
 249 ff. 
 
 Refutation, 288 ff ., 295. 
 
 Repetition, 55, 66, 90, 91, 114, 
 252. 
 
 Reply to nomination, 375. 
 
 Response to address of welcome, 
 360. 
 
 Response to yift, 362. 
 
 ROOSEVELT, THEODORE, 46, 391. 
 
 ROOT, ELIHU, 69, 76, 403. 
 
 Roots and stems, 112 ff. 
 
 RUSKIN, 68. 
 
 SCOTT, Ivanhoe, topics on, 346. 
 
 SEELYE, L. C., 69. 
 
 Sentences, 82 ff . ; kinds, 91 ; gram- 
 matical, 91; rhetorical, 91; 
 theme, 45; topic, 64; introduc- 
 tory (see introduction) ; conclud- 
 ing, 64 (see conclusion) ; transi- 
 tional, 247; rules for, 83 ff.; 
 
INDEX 
 
 411 
 
 unity, 83; coherence, 83; em- 
 phasis, 84; clearness, 83; con- 
 cord, 84; harmony, 90; variety, 
 91; examples of, 91, 97, 247; 
 inorrect, 85, 86, 88 ff., 94 ff.; 
 extrcises, 93, 94, 97, 121, 122. 
 
 Sequence of tenses, 85. 
 
 Setting, 171 ff. 
 
 SHAKSPERE, topics on, 348; Mer- 
 chant of Venice, 350 ff.; Julius 
 Ccssar, 349; Macbeth, 351 ff. 
 
 Simile, 92. 
 
 Silas Marner, topics on, 332. 
 
 Simplicity, 92, 124, 170. 
 
 Sketch-Book, IRVING, topics on, 
 335. 
 
 Slang, 119. 
 
 Smoothness, 163; of sound, 90; in 
 sentences, 90; of transition, 65, 
 245, 247; in introduction, 44, 45; 
 in conclusion, 55, 56. 
 
 Solecisms, 120. 
 
 Speech, reasons for, 3 ff., 17 ff . ; oc- 
 casions for, 6 ff . ; power of, 8 ff ., 
 1 Iff.; organs of, 149. 
 
 Speech better than reading, 17 ff. 
 
 Stage fright, prevention of, 19, 60, 
 135. 
 
 Statement of question, 269, 271, 
 294. 
 
 Statement of subject, 29, 43, 269, 
 271. 
 
 Stems, 112 ff. 
 
 STEVENSON, R. L., 218; topics on, 
 352 ff. 
 
 STIMSON, H. L., extracts from 
 speech, 47, 60. 
 
 Style, 61, 83, 92, 123. 
 
 Subject, conditions governing 
 choice of, 24 ff.; suitability of, 
 27, 28, 30; narrowing of, 29 ff., 
 238, 270, 319; unity of, 238; 
 statement of, 29, 43, 269, 271, 
 294. 
 
 Sub-points in outline, 39, 241; in 
 brief, 279. 
 
 Suffixes, 105, 114. 
 
 Summaries, assignments for, 176, 
 252; use of, 55, 293, 295. 
 
 Suspense, 191. 
 
 Synonyms, 114, 122. 
 
 TAFT, W. H., extracts from 
 speeches, 51, 54, 301. 
 
 Tale of Two Cities, topics on, 331. 
 
 TALMAGE, T. DEW., 204, 207, 219. 
 
 Tautology, 84. 
 
 TAYLOR, Senator, 71. 
 
 Technical subjects, 28. 
 
 Technical terms, 119. 
 
 TENNYSON, Idylls of the King, top- 
 ics on, 354. 
 
 Tenses, use of, 85. 
 
 Theme, 45, 173, 175. 
 
 Theme sentence, 45, 242. 
 
 Theory, 66, 237, 263, 311 ff. 
 
 THOMAS, M. CAREY, address by. 
 385. 
 
 Teeth, use of, 150. 
 
 Titanic disaster, account of, 70, 182. 
 
 Title, 29. 
 
 Tongue, use of, 150. 
 
 Topic sentence, 64. 
 
 Topics, argumentative, 81, 268, 
 275 ff., 281 ff., 300, 312, 325, 
 327, 333, 339 ff., 343, 352; bio- 
 graphical, 190 ff., 248 ff., 328, 
 329, 335, 338 ff.; book reviews, 
 253, 329, 341, 346; civic topics, 
 78, 79, 230, 237 ff ., 281 ff ., 300 ff ., 
 319, 320, 322; descriptive, 199, 
 205, 208, 212 ff., 216, 222 223, 
 323, 332, 335, 348, 350; exposi- 
 tory, 76, 78 ff., 230, 234, 236, 
 237, 238, 239, 248 ff., 252 ff., 
 317-322, 323-355; historical, 
 78 ff., 177, 189, 230, 326, 331, 
 338, 340, 343, 345, 347; indus- 
 trial, 76, 82, 240, 318; local, 76, 
 239, 252, 254, 256, 318; narra- 
 tive, 176 ff., 181, 184, 186, 189 ff., 
 197, 323, 332, 343, 346 ff., 
 350 ff., 352, 353, 354; para- 
 graph, 76, 78 ff.; plays, 79, 176, 
 189, 222, 254 (see Shakspere}', 
 scientific, 76, 78 ff., 82 ff., 214, 
 230 ff., 248, 312; social, 80 ff., 
 236 ff., 255 ff., 319; for senior 
 orations, 319; for special occa- 
 sions, 317, 318; on college en- 
 trance literature, 322 ff. 
 
 Transition, words, 65; sentences, 
 247; paragraphs, 245. 
 
412 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Travels with a Donkey, topics on, 
 
 353. 
 
 Treasure Island, topics on, 352. 
 Trusts, 232. 
 Turning point, 175. 
 
 Unity, of subject, 238; of treat- 
 ment, 171, 189, 239; of para- 
 graph, 64, 67; of sentence, 83. 
 (See central idea.) 
 
 Uses of Education for Business. 
 378. 
 
 VAN DYKE, HENRY, 75, 219, 383. 
 
 Variety, in sentences, 91; in tone, 
 138 ff. 
 
 Verbosity, 84. 
 
 Verbs, agreement with subject, 84; 
 forms, 85; misuse of, 120; auxil- 
 iaries, 86 ff., 121; tenses, 85; 
 mode, 86. 
 
 Vividness, in narration, 164, 193; 
 in description, 198, 214; in 
 words, 92, 214, 295. 
 
 Vocabulary, 112, 114, 117; exer- 
 cises, 113 f., 115, 216. 
 
 Voice, power of, 15; use of, 135 ff.; 
 modulation, 138 ff.; quality, 
 138 ff.; tone, 138 ff.; pitch, 
 143 ff. 
 
 Vowels, how formed, 150; elision 
 of, 104, 157, 158, 159; exercises. 
 151 ff., 157 ff. 
 
 WASHINGTON, BOOKER T., 46. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, description of, 
 211 ; extract from, 246. 
 
 WHARTON, EDITH, 218. 
 
 WHITE, S. E., 212. 
 
 WILLIAMS, TALCOTT, 250. 
 
 WILSON, WOODROW, 48, 59, 72; 
 Inaugural, 398. 
 
 Words, 101 ff.; history of, 101 ff.; 
 building of, 114; definition of, 
 113 ff., 120 ff.; use of, 120, 121, 
 122, 123, 214, 216; pronuncia- 
 tion of, 156 ff.; enunciation o.\ 
 148 f.; exercises, 113, 114, 115, 
 119, 121, 122, 151, 153 ff., 216. 
 
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