In arguing you may take any subject under the sun, from baseball to Bolshevism, for all of them are debated with vehemence.  Any topic for discussion or explanation becomes, when approached from some particular angle, material for argument.  Thus the initial topic in the exercise that follows is “The aeroplane’s future as a carrier of mail.”  You may convert it into a question for debate by making it read:  “The aeroplane is destined to supplant the railroad as a carrier of mail,” or “The aeroplane is destined to be used increasingly as a carrier of transcontinental mail.”  In arguing you may propose for ourself either of two objectives:  (1) to silence your opponent, (2) to refute, persuade, and win him over fairly.  The achievement of the first end calls for bluster and perhaps a grim, barbaric strength; you must do as Johnson did according to Goldsmith’s famous dictum—­if your pistol misses fire, you must knock your adversary down with the butt end of it.  This procedure, though inartistic to be sure, is in some contingencies the only kind that will serve.  But you should cultivate procedure of a type more urbane.  Let your very reasonableness be the most potent weapon you wield.  To this end you should form the habit of looking for good points on both sides of a question.  As a still further precaution against contentiousness you should uphold the two sides successively.

In narrating you should, as a rule, stick to simple occurrences, though you may occasionally vary your work by summarizing the plot of a novel or giving the gist and drift of big historical events.  You should confine yourself, in large part, to incidents in which you have been personally involved, or which you yourself have witnessed, as mishaps, unexpected encounters, bickerings, even rescues or riots.  You should omit non-essentials and make the happening itself live for your hearer; if you can so interest him in it that he will not notice your manner of telling it, your success is but the greater.

Finally, in describing you should deal for the most part with beings, objects, and appearances familiar to you.  Description is usually hard to make vivid.  This is because the objects and scenes are likely to be immobile and (at least when told about) to lack distinctiveness.  Try, therefore, to lay hold of the peculiar quality of the thing described, and use words suggestive of color and motion.  Moreover be brief.  Long descriptions are sure to be wearisome.

EXERCISE — Discourse

1.  Select topics from the following list for discussion or explanation: 

The aeroplane’s future as a carrier of mail
The commercial future of the aeroplane
A recent scientific (or mechanical or electrical) invention
A better type of newspaper—­its contents and makeup
A better type of newspaper—­how it can be secured
The connection between the advertising and news departments