for a city paper. Paste the news item on the first page of your theme.

C. Write a brief comment on the last sermon or lecture you have listened to. First state its theme or central idea. Then reproduce the two or three main ideas. If your own comment is on the sermon or lecture as a whole, reserve your comment until the end. If it is on several things, introduce it piecemeal where it is most pertinent.

D. Explain by setting up a series of comparisons and contrasts, one of the following: (1) Men of thought and men of action. (2) Wit and humor. (3) Manual Training School and Trade School. (4) Education and training. (5) Single-entry and doubleentry bookkeeping. (6) News writing and editorial writing. (7) Hem-stitch and lock-stitch.

E. Explain, by dividing and defining, one of the following: (1) Joints in woodworking. (2) Seams in dressmaking. (3) Strokes in rowing. (4) Door-hinges. (5) Systems of physical culture. (6) Methods of piano-playing.

F. Figures 10 and 11 are illustrations by different artists of a certain passage of Dickens's David Copperfield. If you have read David Copperfield, find the passage, and point out and explain the differences in the pictures.

CHAPTER X.

ARGUMENTATION.

I. Simple Argumentation and Informal Debating.

124. By argumentation a person tries to convince others that they ought to believe or to act as he wishes them to believe or to act. The very fact that he makes. the attempt implies that there are at least two ways, more or less reasonable, of believing or acting in regard to the matter which he has at heart. There would be no room for argument about the matter if all thought alike about it. Suppose that the question has arisen in the school circles of your town whether the single long session with a very short noon and early dismissal, or the double session plan (such as prevails in the lower grades) is best for your High School; and suppose that you have thought about it and personally are in favor of the former. Your reasons are sufficient for you, and probably also for others who think as you do. Perhaps they run about in this fashion:

The Single-Session Plan is Better. Because

1. It wastes less time for nooning.

2. It saves several daylight hours for work at home or for earning money if that is necessary.

3. It gives opportunity for out-of-door exercise at favorable hours.

4. It necessitates learning how to study alone, at home, thus increasing self-reliance.

These and other good reasons are convincing to yourself, and they may be convincing to some other people who are indifferent about the matter and who have not heard any arguments from those who believe in the double-session plan. But you may be sure that those who believe in the double session have good reasons too, and that if the single-session idea is to prevail, you will have to find out what their reasons are and prepare yourself to deal with these.

By talking with people at home and in school about the question, and by reading whatever has been written on the subject, you find out what reasons the advocates of the double session have for believing as they do. Perhaps you discover that they believe that

The Double-Session Plan is Better.

Because

1. It gives time for a warm dinner at home, at midday.

2. It leaves two hours before six for work at home, or for earning money.

3. It keeps young people off the streets in the afternoon hours.

4. It enables them to get most of their lessons in study periods at school.

Now it becomes clear to you that as these reasons cannot be neglected or ignored, the work of argumentation is twofold in dealing successfully with a controversy:

1. It is constructive in part, involving the presentation of reasons in favor of your own view. Such reasons are called Direct Proof.

2. It is destructive in part, requiring attention to the doubts and objections that exist in the minds of those who think differently from yourself, and the effort to overthrow or counterbalance the arguments in which these doubts and objections are expressed. This is called Indirect Proof or Refutation.

Every question has two sides. Study and understand both sides, no matter which you advocate.

125. Assignments on the Work of Argumentation.

A. Select one of the following. Make a list (as above) of reasons for or against the proposition. Also make a list of the reasons which will probably be offered by those who think differently from yourself. Bring both lists to class.

1. The village or township high school gives more thorough training than the big city high school.

2. Monday is better than Saturday for the weekly school holiday. 3. The Commercial Course is better than the Manual Training Course.

4. The study of mathematics is more profitable than the study of English.

5. Physical training is more important than mental training. 6. Football is a better school sport than baseball.

7. The study of history is more profitable than the study of fiction.

8. A five-minute recess every hour is better than one fifteenminute recess each half-day.

9. Study at home is better than study in school.

10. Bookkeeping is more important than Latin.

B. Think of all the reasons you can in favor of the death penalty for murder. As you think of a reason make a written

note of it. Then compare your list of notes with the following brief. Which of your arguments has the writer of this brief anticipated? Which has he evidently not thought of? Which of his arguments are direct? Which are refutation? What answer can you make to some of his arguments? Write your answer.

Proposition: Capital punishment should be abolished.

Because

A. It does not protect society from murder. For
1. Murders are still committed, though the
penalty has existed thousands of years.
2. Juries acquit many whom they would con-
vict were the penalty life imprisonment.

B. It is immoral in its influence. For

1. It imperils the lives of innocent people wrongfully accused of murder.

2. It destroys the idea that human life is sacred. For

a. It takes human life.

3. If an innocent man is convicted and hanged, the mistake cannot be corrected.

4. The penalty is not applied impartially. For a. Much depends on the skill and eloquence of the defendant's lawyer.

b. Men of great wealth are rarely convicted, while the friendless criminal is rarely acquitted.

5. There is no reforming influence in capital punishment. For

a. It takes no account of heredity and environment as causes of crime.

C. Its abolition has been followed by good results. For 1. In Michigan, Maine, and Wisconsin, murders have decreased since it has been abolished.