APPENDIX B : _Additional Exercises in Argumentation_
1. Find in a magazine or newspaper some article in which conviction is
the prime factor.
2. Find in a magazine or newspaper some article in which persuasion is
most used.
3. Give examples from recent observation of discussions which were not
argument as the term is used in this book.
4. Explain how arguments upon a topic of current interest would differ
in material and treatment for three kinds of audiences.
5. The education of the American negro should be industrial not
cultural.
6. To the Cabinet of the United States there should be added a
Secretary of Education with powers to control all public education.
7. Separate high schools for boys and girls should be maintained.
8. It is better to attend a small college than a large one.
9. Women should be eligible to serve as members of the school board.
10. Pupils should be marked by a numerical average rather than by a
group letter.
11. At least two years of Latin should be required for entrance to
college.
12. The honor system should be introduced in all examinations in high
schools and colleges.
13. The study of algebra should be compulsory in high school.
14. Courses in current topics, based upon material in newspapers,
should be offered in all high schools.
15. Every high school should require the study of local civics or
local industries.
16. Regular gymnastic work is more beneficial than participation in
organized athletics.
17. Girls should study domestic science.
18. The kindergarten should be removed from our educational system.
19. Coeducation in schools and colleges is better than segregation.
20. Secret societies should be prohibited in high schools.
21. A magazine or newspaper which copies material from one in which it
first appears should be required by law to compensate the author.
22. Moving picture exhibitions should be more strictly regulated.
23. An exposition produces decided advantages for the city in which it
is held.
24. A county fair is a decided benefit to a rural community.
25. All young men in this country should receive military training for
a period of one year.
26. This city should provide employment for the unemployed.
27. Motor delivery trucks should be substituted for horse-drawn
wagons.
28. Labor unions are justified in insisting upon the re-employment of
members discharged for a cause which they deem unjust.
29. Farmers should study scientific agriculture.
30. Capital and labor should be required by law to settle their
disputes by appeals to a legally constituted court of arbitration
whose decisions should be enforced.
31. In time of peace no member of a labor union should be a member of
a regularly organized military force.
32. Overtime work should be paid for at the same rate as regular work.
33. All work should be paid for according to the amount done rather
than by time.
34. Employers are justified in insisting upon the "open shop."
35. Trade unions are justified in limiting the number of persons
allowed to enter a trade.
36. This state should establish a minimum working wage for women.
37. The street railway company should pave and keep in repair all
streets in which its cars are operated.
38. More definite laws concerning the sale of milk should be passed.
39. This city should institute government by a commission.
40. This city should institute and maintain an adequate system of
public playgrounds.
41. This city should provide more free recreations for its citizens.
42. City government should be conducted by a highly paid municipal
expert hired for the purpose of controlling city affairs exactly as he
would a large business organization.
43. A public building for community interests is a better memorial for
a city to erect than the usual monument or statue.
44. Voting machines should be used in all cities.
45. All public utilities should be owned and operated by the city.
46. Judges should not be elected by popular vote.
47. A representative should vote according to the opinions of his
constituency.
48. This state should provide old-age pensions.
49. Laws should be passed making it impossible to dispose of more than
one million dollars by will.
50. The pure food law should be strictly enforced.
51. Every state should have a state university in which tuition for
its inhabitants should be absolutely free.
52. The Governor of a state should not have the pardoning power.
53. No children below the age of sixteen should be allowed to work in
factories.
54. Laws concerning the sale of substitutes for butter should be made
more stringent.
55. Sunday closing laws should be repealed.
56. The railroads of the United States should be allowed to pool their
interests.
57. The present method of amending the Constitution of the United
States should be changed.
58. This government should insist upon a strict adherence to the
Monroe Doctrine.
59. The American Indian has been unjustly treated.
60. Railroads should be under private ownership but subject to
government control.
61. An educational test should be required of all persons desiring to
enter this country.
62. The United States should own and control the coal mines of the
country.
63. Members of the House of Representatives should be chosen to
represent industries, workers, and professions, rather than
geographical divisions.
64. Woman suffrage carries with it the right to hold office except
where expressly forbidden in existing laws and constitutions.
65. Instead of an extension of suffrage to all women there should be a
restriction from the previous inclusion of all men.
66. All raw materials should be admitted to this country free of duty.
67. All departments of the government should be under the Civil
Service Act.
68. The Civil War pension policy was a wise one.
69. The United States should build and maintain a large navy.
70. A high protective tariff keeps wages high.
71. Letter postage should be reduced to one cent.
72. Laws governing marriage and divorce should be made uniform by
Congress.
73. The present restriction upon Chinese immigration should be
modified to admit certain classes.
74. The standing army of the United States should be increased.
75. This government should establish a system of shipping subsidies.
76. Repeated failure to vote should result in the loss of the right of
suffrage.
77. The United States should not enter into any league of nations.
78. The defeated central powers of Europe should be admitted to full
membership in the League of Nations.
79. Japan should be prevented from owning or controlling any territory
upon the continent which belonged to China.
80. Great Britain should establish Egypt as an independent country.
81. Ireland should be organized as a Dominion similar to Canada and
Australia.
82. The United States should establish a protectorate over Mexico.
83. This country should demand from Germany an indemnity equal to our
expenses in the war.
84. The former Kaiser of Germany and his state officials responsible
for the World War of 1914 should be tried by an international court.
85. All European nations should agree to disarmament.
86. Foreign missions should be discontinued.
87. The Jews of the world should colonize Palestine.
88. Commercial reciprocity should be established between the United
States and South America.
89. This country has no need to fear any aggression from any Asiatic
race.
90. The government system of Great Britain is more truly
representative than that of the United States.
91. A railroad should pay ten thousand dollars to the family of any
employee who meets death by accident while on duty.
92. There is no such thing possible as "Christian warfare."
93. Vivisection should be prohibited.
94. The dead should be cremated.
95. Cigarettes should not be sold to boys under eighteen.
96. Children under fourteen should not be allowed to appear upon the
stage.
97. Socialism is the best possible solution of all labor problems.
98. The Soviet system of government has details applicable to certain
conditions in America.
99. No person should be forced to undergo vaccination.
100. Labor interests can be served best by the formation of a separate
political party.
PUBLIC SPEAKING By CLARENCE STRATTON
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