him understand something which you understand. You would show him that the discovery of America meant merely the fact that America was found to be here, but that colonization meant the coming, not of the explorers, but of the permanent settlers. This form of discourse which makes clear to someone else an idea that is already clear to us is called exposition.

And now suppose your father should say: "Well, you have told me a great deal which I may say is interesting enough, but it seems to me rather useless. What is the purpose of all this study? Why have you spent so much time learning of this one event?" You would of course answer: "Because the discovery of America was an event of great importance."

He might reply: "I still do not believe that." Then you would say: "I'll prove it to you," or, "I'll convince you of it." You would then have undertaken to do what you are now trying to learn how to do better—to argue. For argumentation is that form of discourse that we use when we attempt to make some one else believe as we wish him to believe. "Argumentation is the art of producing in the mind of someone else a belief in the ideas which the speaker or writer wishes the hearer or reader to accept."[1]

You made use of argumentation when you urged a friend to take the course in chemistry in your school by trying to make him believe it would be beneficial to him. You used argumentation when you urged a friend to join the football squad by trying to make him believe, as you believe, that the exercise would do him good. A minister uses argumentation when he tries to make his congregation believe, as he believes, that ten minutes spent in prayer each morning will make the day's work easier. The salesman uses argumentation to sell his goods. The chance of the merchant to recover a rebate on a bill of goods that he believes are defective depends entirely on his ability to make the seller believe the same thing. On argumentation the lawyer bases his hope of making the jury believe that his client is innocent of crime. All of us every day of our lives, in ordinary conversation, in our letters, and in more formal talks, are trying to make others believe as we wish them to believe. Our success in so doing depends upon our skill in the art of argumentation.

SUGGESTED EXERCISES

1. Out of your study or reading of the past week, give an illustration of: (1) narration; (2) description; (3) exposition; (4) argumentation.

2. During the past week, on what occasions have you personally made use of: (1) narration; (2) description; (3) exposition; (4) argumentation?

3. Explain carefully the distinction between description and exposition. In explaining this distinction, what form of discourse have you used?

4. Define argumentation.

5. Skill in argumentation is a valuable acquisition for:

(Give three reasons).
(1)__________________________________________________

(2)__________________________________________________

(3)__________________________________________________

LESSON II

WHAT DEBATE IS

• I. The forms of argumentation:
• • 1. Written.
  • 2. Oral.
• II. The forms of oral argumentation:
• • 1. General discussion.
  • 2. Debate.
• III. The qualities of debate:
• • 1. Oral.
  • 2. Judges present.
  • 3. Prescribed conditions.
  • 4. Decision expected.

Now, since we have decided upon a definition of argumentation, let us see what we mean by the term "debate" as it will be used in this work.

We have said that argumentation is the art of producing in the mind of someone a belief in something in which we wish him to believe.

Now it is obvious that this can be accomplished in different ways. Perhaps the most common method of attempting to bring someone to believe as we wish is the oral method. On your way to school you meet a friend and assert your belief that in the coming football game the home team will win. You continue: "Our team has already beaten teams that have defeated our opponent of next Saturday, and, moreover, our team is stronger than it has been at any time this season." When you finish, your friend replies: "I believe you are right. We shall win."

You have been carrying on oral argumentation.

If, when you had finished, your friend had not agreed with you, your effort would have been none the less argumentation, only it would have been unsuccessful. If you had written the same thing to your friend in a letter, your letter would have been argumentative.

Suppose your father were running for an office and should make a public speech. If he tried to make the audience believe that the best way to secure lower taxes, better water, and improved streets would be through his election, he would be making use of oral argumentation. If he should do the same thing through newspaper editorials, he would be using written argumentation.

Argumentation, then, may be carried on either in writing or orally, and may vary from the informality of an ordinary conversation or a letter to a careful address or thoughtful article.

What, then, is debate as we shall use the word in this work, and what is the relation of argumentation to debate? The term "debate" in its general use has, of course, many senses. You might say: "I had a debate with a friend about the coming football game." Or your father might say: "I heard the great Lincoln and Douglas debates before the Civil War." Although both of you would be using the term as it is generally used, you would not be using it as it will be used in this book, or as it is best that a student of argumentation and debate should use it.

The term "debate," in the sense in which students of these subjects should use it, means oral argumentation carried on by two opposing teams under certain prescribed regulations, and with the expectation of having a decision rendered by judges who are present. This is "debate" used, not generally, as you used it in saying, "I debated with a friend," but technically, as we use it when we refer to the Yale-Harvard debate or the Northern Debating League. In order to keep the meaning of this term clearly in mind, use it only when referring to such contests as these. In speaking of your argumentative conversation with your friend or of the forensic contests between Lincoln and Douglas, use the term "discussion" rather than "debate."

It is true that the controversy between Lincoln and Douglas conformed to our definition of "debate" in being oral; moreover, at least in sense, two teams (of one man each) competed, but there were no judges, and no direct decision was rendered.

Since argumentation, then, is the art of producing in the mind of someone else a belief in the idea or ideas you wish to convey, and debate is an argumentative contest carried on orally under certain conditions, it is clear that argumentation is the broader term of the two and that debate is merely a specialized kind of argumentation. Football is exercise, but there is exercise in many other forms. Debate is argumentation, but one can also find argumentation in many other forms.

The following diagram makes clear the work we have covered thus far. It shows the relation between argumentation and debate, and shows that the specialized term "debate" has the same relation to "discourse" that "football" has to "exercise."