1. Show its present bearing or aspect.
III. State the issues.
IV. Prove.
V. Refute.
VI. Conclude.

Finding the Issues. In debating, since time is so valuable, a speaker
must not wander afield. He must use all his ability, all his material
to prove his contention. It will help him to reject material not
relevant if he knows exactly what is at issue between the two sides.
It was avoiding the issue to answer the charge that Charles I was a
tyrant by replying that he was a good husband. Unless debaters realize
exactly what must be proven to make their position secure, there will
be really no debate, for the two sides will never meet in a clash of
opinion. They will pass each other without meeting, and instead of a
debate they will present a series of argumentative speeches. This
failure to state issues clearly and to support or refute them
convincingly is one of the most common faults of all debating. In
ordinary conversation a frequently heard criticism of a discussion or
speech or article is "But that was not the point at issue at all."
These issues must appear in the preliminary plans, in the finished
brief, and in the debate itself.

The only point in issue between us is, how long after an
author's death the State shall recognize a copyright in his
representatives and assigns; and it can, I think, hardly be
disputed by any rational man that this is a point which the
legislature is free to determine in the way which may appear
to be most conducive to the general good.

THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY: _Copyright_, 1841

Mr. President, the very first question that challenges our
attention in the matter of a league of nations is the
question of whether a war in Europe is a matter of concern
to the United States. The ultraopponents of any league of
nations assert that European quarrels and European battles
are no concern of ours. If that be true, we may well pause
before obligating ourselves to make them our concern. Is it
true?

SENATOR P.J. MCCUMBER: _The League of Nations_,
1919

The best method of finding the issues is to put down in two columns
the main contentions of both sides. By eliminating those entries which
are least important and those which have least bearing upon the
present case the issues may be reduced to those which the debate
should cover. Any possible attempt to cloud the issues on the part of
the opposing si