must be taken to state it so that
no mere quibbling over the meanings of terms can take the place of real
arguments. Even if the subject of debate is so stated that this is
possible, any self-respecting debater will meet the question at issue
fairly and squarely, preferring defeat to a victory won by juggling with
the meanings of terms.

+75. Is Belief Necessary in Debate?+--If we are really arguing for a
purpose, we should believe in the truth of the proposition which
we support. If the members of the school board were discussing the
desirability of building a new schoolhouse, each would speak in accordance
with his belief. But if a class in school should debate such a question,
having in mind not the determination of the question, but merely the
selection and arrangement of the arguments for and against the proposition
in the most effective way, each pupil might present the side in which he
did not really believe.

EXERCISES

Consider each of the following propositions. Do you believe the
affirmative or the negative?

1. This city needs a new high school building.

2. All the pupils in the high school should be members of the athletic
association.

3. The school board should purchase an inclosed athletic field.

4. The street railway should carry pupils to and from school for half
fare.

5. There should be a lunch room in this school.

6. Fairy stories should not be told to children.

+Theme XLII.+--_Write a paragraph telling why you believe one of the
propositions in the preceding exercise:_

(What questions should you ask yourself while correcting your theme?)

+76. Order of Presentation.+--If you were preparing to debate one of the
propositions in the preceding exercise, you would need to have in mind
both the reasons for and against it. Next you would consider the order in
which these reasons should be discussed. This will be determined by the
circumstances of each debate, but generally the emphatic positions, that
is, the first and the last, will be given to those arguments that seem to
you to have the greatest weight, while those of less importance will
occupy the central portion of your theme.

+77. The Brief.+--If, after making a note of the various advantages,
examples, and other arguments that you wish to use in support of one of
the propositions in Section 75, you arrange these in the order in which
you think they can be most effectively presented, the outline so formed is