iety of
uses. In such expository passages the transition and connecting words
are mainly expressions of place and relative position such as _to the
right, above, below, to the rear, extending upwards at an angle of
sixty degrees, dividing equally into three sections._ Such indications
must never be slighted in spoken explanations. They keep the material
clear and exact in the hearer's comprehension. The speaker, remember,
can never assume that his audience is bound to understand him. His
task is to be so clear that no single individual can fail to
understand him.

Importance. It has already been stated--in the chapter on
planning--that topics may be arranged in the order of their
importance. This same scheme may be used in delivery of expository
matter. A hearer will follow the explanation if he be led gradually up
the ascent; he will remember most clearly the latter part of the
passage. If this include the prime factor of the information he will
retain it longest and most clearly. You should listen to speeches of
explanations critically to judge whether the plans are good. Should
you make a list of the number of times any of the plans here set down
appears you will be struck by the fact that while other orders are
quite frequent, this last principle of leading up to the most
important outranks all the others. It may be simply a form of one of
the others previously enumerated in which time order, or contrast, or
cause to effect is followed simply because that does bring the most
important last in the discussion. Such an arrangement answers best to
the response made to ideas by people in audiences. It is a principle
of all attempts to instruct them, to appeal to them, to stimulate
them, to move them, that the successive steps must increase in
significance and impressiveness until the most moving details be laid
before them. Analyze for yourself or for the class a few long
explanations you have listened to, and report whether this principle
was followed. Does it bear any relation to concluding a speech with a
peroration?

Combinations of Methods. While any one of the foregoing methods may be
used for a single passage it is not usual in actual practice to find
one scheme used throughout all the explanatory matter of the speech.
In the first place, the attention of the audience would very likely
become wearied by the monotony of such a device. Certain parts of the
material under explanation seem to require one treatment,