THE INTRODUCTION--PERSUASION
Every complete argument consists of three parts: introduction,
discussion, and conclusion. Each of these divisions has definite and
specific duties to perform. The work of the introduction is threefold:
(1) to conciliate the audience; (2) to explain the subject; and (3) to
outline the discussion. As the conciliation of the audience is
accomplished by an appeal to the emotions rather than to the reason,
it is properly classified under persuasion. Explaining the proposition
and outlining the discussion are of an expository nature and will be
discussed under the head of conviction.
As has been stated in a previous chapter, the amount of persuasion to
be used in any piece of argumentative work depends entirely upon the
attending circumstances. The subject, audience, author, occasion, and
purpose of the effort must be taken into consideration. But whether
the amount used be great or small, practically every argument should
begin with conciliation. The conciliation of the _audience_--the
word audience is used throughout this book to designate both hearers
and readers--consists of gaining the good will of those to be
convinced, of arousing their interest, and of rendering them open to
conviction. No argument can be expected to attain any considerable
degree of success so long as anything about its author, or anything in
the subject itself, is peculiarly disagreeable to the people it is
designed to affect. If the ill will remains too great, it is not
likely that the argument will ever reach those for whom it is
intended, much less produce the desired result. In addressing Southern
sympathizers at Liverpool, during the Civil War, Beecher had to fight
even for a hearing. The speech of an unpopular Senator frequently
empties the Senate chamber. Men of one political belief often refuse
to read the publications of the opposite party. Obviously, the first
duty of the introduction is to gain the approval of the audience. In
the next place, interest must be aroused. Active dislike is less
frequently encountered than indifference. How many times sermons,
lectures, books have failed in their object just because no one took
any interest in them! There was no opposition, no hostility; every one
wished the cause well; and yet the effort failed to meet with any
attention or response. The argument did not arouse interest--and
interest is a prime cause of attention and of action. In the third
place, the conciliatory part of the introduction should induce the
audience to assume an unbiased, judicial attitude, ready to decide the
question according to the strength of the proof. This result is not
always easy of attainment. Longstanding beliefs, prejudice,
stubbornness must be overcome, and a desire for the truth substituted
for everything else. All this is frequently difficult, but unless an
arguer can gain the good will of the people addressed, arouse their
interest, and render them willing to be convinced, no amount of
reasoning is likely to produce much effect.
Now the question arises, How is it possible to conciliate the
audience? To this query there is no answer that will positively
guarantee success. The arguer must always study his audience and suit
his discourse to the occasion. What means success in one instance may
bring failure in another. The secret of the whole matter is
adaptability. Humor, gravity, pathos, even defiance may at times be
used to advantage. It is not always possible, however, for the orator
or writer to know beforehand just the kind of people he is to address.
In this case it is usually best for him to follow out a few well
established principles that most arguers have found to be of benefit.
MODESTY. Modesty in word and action is indispensable to one who would
gain the friendship of his audience. Anything that savors of egotism
at once creates a feeling of enmity. No one can endure another's
consciousness of superiority even though the superiority be real. An
appearance of haughtiness, self-esteem, condescension, intolerance of
inferiors, or a desire for personal glory will at once raise barriers
of dislike. On the other hand, modesty should never be carried so far
as to become affectation; that attitude is equally despicable.
Personal unobtrusiveness should exist without being conspicuous.
_The arguer should always take the attitude that the cause he is
upholding is greater than its advocate_.
In the following quotations, compare the overbearing arrogance of
Burke's introduction with the simple modesty of Proctor's:--
Mr. Speaker, I rise under some embarrassment occasioned by a feeling
of delicacy toward one-half of the house, and of sovereign contempt
for the other half. [Footnote: Edmund Burke, House of Commons, March
22, 1775.]
Mr. President, more importance seems to be attached by others to my
recent visit to Cuba than I had given it, and it has been suggested
that I make a public statement of what I saw and how the situation
impressed me. This I do on account of the public interest in all that
concerns Cuba, and to correct some inaccuracies that have, not
unnaturally, appeared in reported interviews with me. [Footnote:
Redfield Proctor, United States Senate, March 17, 1898.]
FAIRNESS. Few things will assist an arguer more in securing a
respectful hearing from those who do not agree with him, but whom he
would convince, than the quality of fairness. The arguer should take
the position of one seeking the truth regardless of what it may be. If
he wishes others to look at the question from his standpoint, he will
have to show that he is willing to consider the question from their
point of view. Everything' in the shape of prejudice, everything which
would tend to indicate that he had formed conclusions prior to his
investigation, he must carefully avoid.
In this connection consider the following:--
I very much regret that it should have been thought necessary to
suggest to you that I am brought here to "hurry you against the law
and beyond the evidence." I hope I have too much regard for justice,
and too much respect for my own character, to attempt either; and were
I to make such attempt, I am sure that in this court nothing can be
carried against the law, and that gentlemen, intelligent and just as
you are, are not, by any power, to be hurried beyond the evidence.
Though I could well have wished to shun this occasion, I have not felt
at liberty to withhold my professional assistance, when it is supposed
that I may be in some degree useful in investigating and discovering
the truth respecting this most extraordinary murder. It has seemed to
be a duty incumbent on me, as on every other citizen, to do my best
and my utmost to bring to light the perpetrators of this crime.
Against the prisoner at the bar, as an individual, I cannot have the
slightest prejudice. I would not do him the smallest injury or
injustice. But I do not affect to be indifferent to the discovery and
the punishment of this deep guilt. I cheerfully share in the
opprobrium, how great so ever it may be, which is cast on those who
feel and manifest an anxious concern that all who had a part in
planning, or a hand in executing, this deed of midnight assassination,
may be brought to answer for their enormous crime at the bar of public
justice. [Footnote: Works of Daniel Webster, Vol. VI, p. 51. Little,
Brown & Co., Boston, 1857.]
SINCERITY. Another quality of paramount importance to the arguer is
sincerity. This he must really possess if he is to be eminently
successful. To feign it is almost impossible; some word or expression,
some gesture or inflection of the voice, the very attitude of the
insincere arguer will betray his real feelings. If he tries to arouse
an emotion that he himself does not feel, his affectation will be
apparent and his effort a failure. There are few things that an
audience resents more than being tricked into an expression of
feeling. If they even mistrust that a speaker is trying to deceive
them, that he is arguing merely for personal gain or reputation and
has no other interest in the case, no desire to establish the truth,
they will not only withhold their confidence, but will also become
prejudiced against him. It is usually inviting disaster to champion a
cause in which one is not interested heart and soul. Of course in
class room work the student cannot always avoid taking a false
position, and the training he receives thereby is excellent, but he
cannot make his persuasion of the highest type of effectiveness unless
he honestly and sincerely believes what he says, and feels the
emotions he would arouse.
AN APPEAL TO SOME EMOTION. One of the strongest forms of conciliation
is the direct appeal to a dominant emotion. If an arguer can find some
common ground on which to meet his audience, some emotion by which
they may be moved, he can usually obtain a personal hold that will
overcome hostility and lack of interest. In deciding what emotion to
arouse, he must make as careful and thorough a study of his audience
as he can. In general, the use of conviction need vary but little to
produce the same results on different men; processes of pure reasoning
are essentially the same the world around. But with persuasion the
case is different; emotions are varied, and in each separate instance
the arguer must carefully consider the ruling passions and ideals of
his audience. The hopes and aspirations of a gang of ignorant miners
would differ widely from the desires of an assembly of college
students, or of a coterie of metropolitan capitalists. Education,
wealth, social standing, politics, religion, race, nationality, every
motive that is likely to have weight with the audience should be taken
into consideration. Remembering that he has to choose between such
diverse emotions as ambition, fear, hatred, love, patriotism, sense of
duty, honor, justice, self-interest, pleasure, and revenge, the
arguer must make his selection with the greatest care, and then drive
home the appeal with all the force and eloquence at his command. The
higher and nobler the emotion he can arouse, the greater and more
permanent will be the result. If the audience is such that he can
successfully arouse no higher feeling than that of self-interest or
revenge, he will, of necessity, have to appeal to these motives; but
whenever he can, he should appeal to the noblest sentiments of
mankind.
A famous illustration of the effectiveness of this sort of
conciliation is found in Wendell Phillips' oration entitled _The
Murder of Lovejoy_. By appealing to their reverence for the past,
he silenced the mob that had come to break up the meeting, and in the
end he won over the house that had been packed against him.
We have met for the freest discussion of these resolutions, and the
events which gave rise to them. I hope I shall be permitted to express
my surprise at the sentiments of the last speaker, surprise not only
at such sentiments from such a man, but at the applause they have
received within these walls. A comparison has been drawn between the
events of the Revolution and the tragedy at Alton. We have heard it
asserted here, in Faneuil Hall, that Great Britain had a right to tax
the colonies, and we have heard the mob at Alton, the drunken
murderers of Lovejoy, compared to those patriot fathers who threw the
tea overboard! Fellow citizens, is this Faneuil Hall doctrine?....
Sir, when I heard the gentleman lay down principles which place the
murderers of Alton side by side with Otis and Hancock, with Quincy and
Adams, I thought those pictured lips (pointing to the portraits in the
Hall) would have broken into voice to rebuke the recreant American--
the slanderer of the dead. The gentleman said that he should sink into
insignificance if he dared to gainsay the principles of these
resolutions. Sir, for the sentiments he has uttered, on soil
consecrated by the prayers of Puritans and the blood of patriots, the
earth should have yawned and swallowed him up. [Footnote: American
Orations, Vol. II, page 102. G. P. Putnam's Sons.]
Specific directions for arousing the emotions are hard to give. The
appeal must suit both the audience and the occasion, and until these
are known, suggestions are not particularly helpful. When no better
plan for conciliating an audience seems practicable, speakers and
writers try to arouse _interest_ in the discussion. There are
several convenient methods for accomplishing this result.
1. IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT. One of the commonest methods of arousing
interest in an audience apathetic and indifferent is to impress upon
them the importance and gravity of the question at issue. Matters
thought to be trivial are apt to receive scant attention. This fact is
so universally recognized that many writers and speakers attempt at
the very outset to show that upon the correct solution of the problem
at hand depend serious and far-reaching results. It is seldom enough
merely to state that a subject is important; its seriousness should be
made apparent. This method is very popular. Whenever one feels it
necessary to open an argument with persuasion, but is at loss to know
how to do so, he may well resort to this device. While it does not,
perhaps, constitute the strongest possible appeal, yet it is eminently
serviceable, since, if handled properly, it does arouse interest, and,
moreover, it applies to many cases.
Several examples will show how this method is commonly used:--
Mr. President, the question now about to be discussed by this body is
in my judgment the most important that has attracted the attention of
Congress or the country since the formation of the Constitution. It
affects every interest, great and small, from the slightest concern of
the individual to the largest and most comprehensive interest of the
nation. [Footnote: J. P. Jones, United States Senate, May 12, 1890.]
No city ever had such a problem in passenger transportation to solve,
and no city of any pretensions has solved it much worse. London is not
in the strict sense a town, but rather a "province of houses." The
county of London, as everybody knows, is only a part of the
Metropolis. The four millions and a half of residents enclosed by the
legal ring-fence of the County are supplemented by two millions more
who live in groups of suburbs included within the wide limits of
"Greater London"; while even beyond that large tract of southeastern
England, with its six millions and a half of inhabitants, are many
towns and villages, populous and increasing, which are concerned with
the question of Metropolitan locomotion. [Footnote: The Fortnightly
Review, Jan. 1, 1902.]
2. TIMELINESS OF THE SUBJECT. To show that a subject is timely is
another effective device for arousing interest. As most people wish to
keep pace with the times and face the issues of the day, it is natural
and forceful to introduce an argument by showing that the subject is
being discussed elsewhere, or by showing how an event or sequence of
events places the problem before the public. The arguer calls
attention to the fact that the question does not belong to the past or
to the distant future, but is of immediate interest and must be
settled at once.
As the day of the Cuban Convention for the framing and adoption of a
constitution approaches, the question of Cuban independence assumes
greater, and still greater, proportions, and the eyes of the American
people are beginning to turn anxiously toward the Pearl of the
Antilles. By the time this article appears in print, delegates to the
convention will have been elected, and interest in the convention
itself will have become widespread. The task I have set before me is
briefly to review the situation, and to discuss the probable results
to be expected from a number of causes, remote as well as
proximate.[Footnote: Charles Warren Currier. The Forum, October,
1900.]
The recent objection made in Germany that American prestige might
suffer should there be diminution in our Berlin Embassy's social
brilliancy has stirred Congress from apathy regarding American
representatives abroad. Congressmen are coming to realize that brains,
not money, ought to form the first passport to a candidate's favor,
agreeable adjunct as the money may be. [Footnote: The Outlook, April
18, 1908, p. 844.]
3. APPEAL FOR ONE'S SELF. The safest method of stirring the emotions
is to make an appeal in behalf of the subject, but occasionally a
writer or speaker who is truly sincere, who is contending against
unfortunate circumstances, and is not seeking personal aggrandizement,
may arouse interest by making an appeal on his own behalf. He may
present some personal reason why the audience should be interested and
give him a respectful hearing; he calls attention not primarily to his
subject, but to his connection with it, or to some circumstance in his
own life. This method is hedged about with several pitfalls: it may
expose one to the charge of egotism, of insincerity, or of false
modesty; and it may draw the attention of the audience away from the
matter in hand. To use this method successfully one should possess
consummate tact and thorough knowledge of human nature.
The following opening of a speech by Abraham Lincoln at Columbus,
Ohio, shows how he used this device to gain the sympathy of the
audience:--
Fellow-citizens of the State of Ohio: I cannot fail to remember that I
appear for the first time before an audience in this now great State,--
an audience that is accustomed to hear such speakers as Corwin, and
Chase, and Wade, and many other renowned men; and remembering this, I
feel that it will be well for you, as for me, that you should not
raise your expectations to that standard to which you would have been
justified in raising them had one of these distinguished men appeared
before you. You would perhaps be only preparing a disappointment for
yourselves, and, as a consequence of your disappointment,
mortification for me. I hope, therefore, that you will commence with
very moderate expectations; and perhaps, if you will give me your
attention, I shall be able to interest you in a moderate degree.
[Footnote: Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I, p. 538. Nicolay
& Hay. Century Company.]
These, then, are the suggestions offered for conciliating an audience:
Be modest; be fair; be sincere; and appeal to some strong emotion. To
make this appeal successfully, study your audience. In case of
inability to arouse any stronger feeling, appeal to the interest of
the people by showing that the subject is important, or timely, or
both; or show that you have some personal claim upon the audience.
These directions are far from complete. Anything like an exhaustive
treatment of this subject would in itself constitute a book. The
advice offered here, however, should be of considerable value to one
who has difficulty in getting a written argument or a debate
successfully launched. The student should supplement this chapter with
careful study of the work of proficient writers. If he will notice how
they have gained success in this particular, and if he will imitate
them, he is bound to improve his own compositions. The principal
dangers to be avoided consist of going to extremes. The conciliatory
part of the introduction should not be so meager that it will fail to
accomplish its purpose, nor should it be so elaborate and artificial
as to hamper the onward movement of the argument. The important thing
is to gain the good will and the attention of the audience, and, other
things being equal, the shorter the introduction the better. Further
directions for the spoken argument may be found in the chapter
entitled _Debate_.
EXERCISES
A. Criticise the following introductory passages for persuasiveness,
pointing out specifically the methods of conciliation used, and any
defects that may be found:--
1. The building of the Panama Canal is a topic of interest and
importance to every American. Not only do we wish to see our country
build the canal successfully, but we also desire to see built the best
canal that the world has ever known. There is no doubt that the canal
is necessary; the great loss of time and money, the annual sacrifice
of ships and lives involved in the passage around the "Horn," not to
mention the expense and congestion of the railroad freight systems
across the continent, plainly show the need of quicker ship
communication between the two oceans.
2. I stand here to raise the last voice that ever can be heard this
side the judgment seat of God in behalf of the personal honor and
judicial integrity of this respondent. I fully realize the
responsibilities of my position, and I shall endeavor to meet them as
best I can. I also realize as deeply as any other man can how
important it is not only to my client but to every American man,
woman, and child that justice shall be done and true deliverance made.
3. The opening of the racing season in New York, at the Aqueduct track
on Long Island, gives a fresh opportunity for observation of the
conditions under which horse-racing, and more especially gambling on
horse races, is carried on. The announcement of the racing managers
that certain "reforms" had been inaugurated in the control of the
gambling makes the opportunity of especial interest.
4. I approach the discussion of this bill and the kindred bills and
amendments pending in the two Houses with unaffected diffidence. No
problem is submitted to us of equal importance and difficulty. Our
action will affect the value of all the property of all the people of
the United States, and the wages of labor of every kind, and our trade
and commerce with all the world. In the consideration of such a
question we should not be controlled by previous opinions or bound by
local interests, but with the light of experience and full knowledge
of all the complicated facts involved, give to the subject the best
judgment which imperfect human nature allows.
5. Each generation has the power to shape its own destinies; and had
Washington and his fellow patriots been governed by warnings against a
departure from traditions, our present form of government would never
have been established, the Constitution would have been rejected by
the States, and untold evils would have resulted. Madison, when
arguing for the adoption of the Constitution, met arguments very like
to those now being made in favor of political isolation.
6. As a race they have withered from the land. Their arrows are broken
and their springs are dried up; their cabins are in the dust. Their
council fire has long since gone out on the shore, and their war cry
is fast dying out to the untrodden West. Slowly and sadly they climb
the mountains and read their doom in the setting sun. They are
shrinking before the mighty tide which is pressing them away; they
must soon hear the roar of the last wave, which will settle over them
forever. Ages hence the inquisitive white man, as he stands by some
growing city, will ponder on the structure of their disturbed remains
and wonder to what manner of person they belonged. They will live only
in the songs and chronicles of their exterminators. Let these be
faithful to their rude virtues as men, and pay due tribute to their
unhappy fate as a people.
7. (During the Civil War England largely favored the South. To
counteract this feeling Henry Ward Beecher spoke in many of the
principal cities in behalf of Northern interests. In Liverpool he met
an audience that was extremely hostile. The following is the
introduction to his speech.) For more than twenty-five years I have
been made perfectly familiar with popular assemblies in all parts of
my country except the extreme South. There has not been for the whole
of that time a single day of my life when it would have been safe for
me to go south of Mason and Dixon's line in my own country, and all
for one reason: my solemn, earnest, persistent testimony against that
which I consider to be the most atrocious thing under the sun--the
system of American slavery in a great free republic. (Cheers.) I have
passed through that early period when right of free speech was denied
me. Again and again I have attempted to address audiences that, for no
other crime than that of free speech, visited me with all manner of
contumelious epithets; and now since I have been in England, although
I have met with greater kindness and courtesy on the part of most than
I deserved, yet, on the other hand, I perceive that the Southern
influence prevails to some extent in England. (Applause and uproar.)
It is my old acquaintance; I understand it perfectly-(laughter)-and I
have always held it to be an unfailing truth that where a man had a
cause that would bear examination he was perfectly willing to have it
spoken about. (Applause.) And when in Manchester I saw those huge
placards, "Who is Henry Ward Beecher?" (laughter, cries of "Quite
right," and applause), and when in Liverpool I was told that there
were those blood-red placards, purporting to say what Henry Ward Beecher
has said, and calling upon Englishmen to suppress free speech, I tell
you what I thought. I thought simply this, "I am glad of it."
(Laughter.) Why? Because if they had felt perfectly secure, that you
are the minions of the South and the slaves of slavery, they would
have been perfectly still. (Applause and uproar.) And, therefore, when
I saw so much nervous apprehension that, if I were permitted to speak
--(hisses and applause)--when I found they were afraid to have me
speak--(hisses, laughter, and "No, no!")--when I found that they
considered my speaking damaging to their cause--(applause)--when I
found that they appealed from facts and reasonings to mob law--
(applause and uproar)--I said, no man need tell me what the heart and
secret counsel of these men are. They tremble and are afraid.
(Applause, laughter, hisses, "No, no!" and a voice, "New York mob.")
Now, personally, it is of very little consequence to me whether I
speak here to-night or not. (Laughter and cheers.) But one thing is
very certain, if you do permit me to speak here tonight, you will hear
very plain talking. (Applause and hisses.) You will not find a man--
(interruption)--you will not find me to be a man that dared to speak
about Great Britain three thousand miles off, and then is afraid to
speak to Great Britain when he stands on her shores. (Immense applause
and hisses.) And if I do not mistake the tone and temper of
Englishmen, they had rather have a man who opposes them in a manly
way--(applause from all parts of the hall)--than a sneak that agrees
with them in an unmanly way. (Applause and "Bravo!") Now, if I can
carry you with me by sound convictions, I shall be immensely glad
(applause); but if I cannot carry you with me by facts and sound
arguments, I do not wish you to go with me at all; and all that I ask
is simply FAIR PLAY. (Applause, and a voice, "You shall have it,
too.")
Those of you who are kind enough to wish to favor my speaking,--and
you will observe that my voice is slightly husky from having spoken
almost every night in succession for some time past,--those who wish
to hear me will do me the kindness simply to sit still; and I and my
friends the Secessionists will make all the noise. (Laughter.)
B. On the affirmative side of the following propositions, write
conciliatory introductions, of about two hundred words each, suited to
the audiences indicated:--
AN AUDIENCE OF COLLEGE STUDENTS.
1. All colleges should abolish hazing.
2. Fraternities tend to destroy college spirit.
3. A classical education is not worth while.
4. All colleges should abolish secret class societies.
5. Intercollegiate athletic contests are harmful to a college.
AN AUDIENCE OF WORKINGMEN.
6. Strikes are barren of profitable results.
7. Unions are detrimental to the laboring man.
8. The concentration of great wealth in the hands of a few men
benefits industrial conditions.