BOOK IV. PRESENTATION CHAPTER I GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PRESENTATION UNDER invention, selection, and arrangement, we have considered the methods of finding materials, of estimating their value, and of arranging them so as best to utilize their strength. The product of our work has been embodied in a brief. It sometimes happens that our preparation ends here; the brief itself may be the presentation of our argument. But as a rule other preparation is required. The brief is usually but the foundation-stones and the beams which sustain and shape the building, but which in the end are hidden from view by outward forms that are more sightly and more useful. To achieve our purposes, we generally need to put the materials in more pleasing and effective rhetorical form. Now, in this ultimate presentation of the proof, we need to bear in mind that the labors of argumentation are twofold. In our earlier consideration of the general nature of the art, we have seen that there are two elements in all argumentation: (1) conviction, or the appeal to the reason, which is the act of inducing another to accept the truth of an idea or proposition; and (2) persuasion, or the appeal to the emotions, which is the act of moving the will of another by affecting his feelings. We have further seen that both are essential to effectiveness. How much conviction and how much persuasion to use must be determined by circumstances. In an intercollegiate debate, the element of persuasion is slight. It is usually no more than tact and vigor in the work of conviction. The lawyer before the jury needs a judicious mixture of both. Danton before the French Convention made his appeal wholly to the most turbulent passions of a passionate mob. But though the relative amounts of the two elements may vary, both are almost always necessary for success. Conviction The most important work of conviction is done when the brief is completed. When the materials have been gathered and arranged, it only remains to put the proof in words that will impress it clearly and forcibly on the understanding of those we would convince. To be able to do this, obviously the first requisite is a knowledge of rhetoric. The effect of well-arranged and well-chosen proofs is often neutralized by confused and halting English. The man who cannot express himself is always a weakling in argumentation. Then, in addition to the general principles of rhetoric, there are certain adaptations of these rhetorical principles to the peculiar work of argumentation. A general treatment of rhetorical forms lies beyond the necessary limits of this book. The principles that are peculiar to argumentative composition will be treated in the following chapters on the introduction, the discussion, and the conclusion. Persuasion Persuasion has been defined as the act of moving the will by affecting the emotions. The ultimate aim of argumentation is to make others believe as we desire. This can be done only through the medium of the will. If the volition of the audience or reader is left untouched, our strivings are in vain. Consequently, it is the work of persuasion to establish a connection between the will and the ideas communicated to the intellect by conviction. But the moving power of the human will is emotion. So that persuasion is an appeal to the emotions. Persuasion may come before conviction, or after it, or the two may accompany one another at each step. We may touch the emotions first, to prepare them for the reception of the proof to come. We may first convince, and afterward carry over the effects on the intellect till they reach and compel the will. We may and with best resultsplay on reason and emotion simultaneously, and so keep understanding and volition always in sympathy. However it is done, the essential thing is, that, in some way, reason and emotion shall be brought together and made coöperant to the common end. Professor Robinson, in his excellent book on “Forensic Oratory," has given a classification of the emotions that it is sometimes helpful to have in mind. "That fundamental principle out of which all noble impulses arise is the tendency of human nature toward perfection. . . . Perfection is predicable of human nature as to its action, as to its character, and as to its attainment. A man is perfect as to action when he fulfils his duty; as to character, when his predominant ideas and impulses are pure and virtuous; as to attainment, when he possesses the highest happiness which human nature is able to enjoy. And thus in actual life the fundamental tendency toward perfection manifests itself in three subordinate tendencies: the tendency toward duty, the tendency toward virtue, and the tendency toward happiness.... "These natural dispositions render the heart susceptible to certain impulses, each of which corresponds to some one of the many forms in which the ideas of duty, virtue, and happiness are presented to the mind. The idea of duty yet to be fulfilled awakens zeal; of duty heretofore performed, complacency; of duty which another had omitted, anger; of duty as discharged by another, approbation. The idea of virtue as an attribute of character engenders admiration; as exemplified in individuals, good will, esteem, friendship, or even love for them and emulation of their excellence; as contrasted with vice, abhorrence of the vice itself and aversion or contempt toward those in whose character depravity is manifested. The idea of happiness as possible begets courage, desire, and hope; as unattainable, despair; as already possessed, joy; as derived from others, gratitude; as endangered, fear; as denied to others, pity; as prevented or destroyed by others, indignation. These are the universal impulses to which all men are subject. These are the weapons of the orator to which no human heart can ever be invulnerable.": The course of successful argumentation is, then: (1) to set forth our proofs in such a way that they will be understood and accepted as true; (2) to establish these proofs in connection with some one or more of the emotions, and (3) to rouse the emotions to such a degree that they will move the will. Take for an illustration the advocate. He presents his witnesses, his arguments, his evidence, and so seeks to convince the reason of the jury that his client has the truth on his side. But that is not all. Before making this appeal, he prepares the jury for a favorable reception of his proofs by a tactful appeal to their emotions. He tells them of his own sincerity and longing for justice, and so rouses the instincts of virtue and duty to give him attention and sympathy. As he proceeds he discourses on the demeanor of witnesses, on the "exemplary conduct of his client" and the malice of the parties of the other side, again touching the chords of virtue in his hearers. He appeals to their instincts of happiness, by portraying the misfortunes of his client, as the evidence is made to tell the story. In his peroration he summons them to the performance of their duty. In handling persuasion we have always to con 1 Robinson, "Forensic Oratory," pp. 14-15. |