CHOOSING SUBJECTS

Business English: A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here. CHOOSING SUBJECTS

CHOOSING SUBJECTS

In Chapter X definite subjects were assigned for talks. Getting a subject for yourself sometimes seems difficult; you are likely to think that there is no topic upon which you can say more than a few sentences. Isn't it true that when you are talking to your friends you seldom are at a loss for something to say? Of course, what your companion says often suggests an idea on which you give your opinion. You speak about things that interest you, and the words come fairly easily. Why not apply the same principle to more formal composition, whether oral or written? Unless a subject interests you, do not use it. But be careful that you do not reject it as uninteresting until you have thought about it carefully, considering it from all sides. Often one subject will suggest another akin to it, but more interesting to you because you know more about it. For this reason choose very simple subjects, and become thoroughly familiar with them by thinking or reading about them, before you attempt to explain them.

Sometimes, again, you will find that the subject you have chosen is not good because it is not definite enough. You hardly know where or how to begin to explain it, because it suggests no definite ideas. Perhaps, for instance, you have decided to write on the automobile and can think of nothing to say until you remember that you once saw an automobile race about which you can tell several interesting details; or you have seen an automobile accident and can write on the topic A Runaway Electric. If you can speak or write on a topic taken from your own observation, your composition will probably be good. You know the facts, you have an interest in the subject, and you will very likely say something of interest to others. Subjects taken from school life or neighborhood happenings, especially such things as you yourself have seen, are excellent. Perhaps on your way to school you noticed that several old houses are being torn down. You remember that you heard that a candy factory is to be erected. At once several suggestions for themes will come to you; as, Why the Factory is Being Erected in this Neighborhood, How Neighborhoods Change in a Large City, The Work the Wrecking Company Carries on. Perhaps your father owns property in the neighborhood, and you could write on How Real Estate Values have Changed in this Neighborhood.

Next to your own experience, the best source from which to draw subjects is your reading. This may be divided into (1) books, (2) magazines and newspapers. Recall one of the books that you read in the grammar grades, perhaps The Courtship of Miles Standish. Drawing your material from this source, you can write A Picture of Early Plymouth Days, or a sketch of Miles Standish's character, using the title Practice What You Preach. But to try to tell the whole story to any one in two or three minutes would result in failure, for it would be a subject entirely too big to treat in so short a time. All the interesting details would have to be omitted, and, if the details are omitted, the story loses its vitality.

It is the newspaper or the magazine, however, that offers us the most available source of subjects. Practically all that we know of the modern world and of the wonderful progress being made in invention and discovery, as well as of the accidents and disasters that take place, we have learned first from the newspaper and have verified later by the articles in magazines. Every issue of a newspaper or of a magazine contains suggestions for many subjects. Such magazines as The World's Work, System, The Outlook, The Technical World, and other magazines that deal with technical subjects in a popular way are excellent for this work.

A third important source of subjects is the studies that you are now pursuing. Every new study affords a new point of view, which should suggest many topics for oral and written themes. Sometimes a good subject is the comparison of two of your studies by which you try to show, perhaps, how the one depends on the other.

The subject, of course, is but the beginning of the composition. Developing the subject is fully as important as having a subject to develop. The ability to develop a subject clearly is very important in the business world. A business man sells his goods either by talking or by writing; by the salesman or by the letter and the advertisement. Unless the salesman talks in a convincing way, he probably will sell few goods. He must know not only what to say, but how to say it.

Exercise 154—The Subject as a Whole

First, you must see your subject in its entirety, as one thing. Ask yourself, "Just what does my title mean?" and if you have not as yet selected a title, study your subject from all sides until you can see how to narrow it to certain definite dimensions. Now you have set a sort of fence around your subject. Nothing outside must enter, but nothing inside must escape. The length of the composition you are to write usually helps you decide on the limits of your subject. If you are writing a book on Africa, you might include all that the title suggests to you of exploration, colonization, civilization, and Christianization. But if you are writing a very short theme—not over three pages—it is evident that the subject must be narrowed. Would The Transvaal be good? The Jungles of Africa? Roosevelt in Africa? African Mission Stations? When I think of Africa I think of Stanley?

Which of the following subjects would be good for short compositions, either oral or written? The oral theme should occupy two or three minutes, the written perhaps three pages. What is the objection to a one word subject?

1. Manufacturing.
2. Household uses of electricity.
3. The Constitution of the United States.
4. Why we celebrate the Fourth of July.
5. The destruction of our forests.
6. Europe.
7. The westernizing of China.
8. How railroads build cities.
9. The fire drill at school.
10. Education.
11. The dead letter office.
12. The clearing house.
13. Business.
14. Honesty in business.
15. Physicians should advertise.
16. Paper.
17. How an electric bell works.
18. Electrifying the railroads.
19. How to make candy.
20. Vocational education in Germany.

Exercise 155—The Divisions of the Subject

After you have selected your subject, decide into what divisions it naturally falls. If it is of the proper length, it probably will divide itself into two or three divisions. Each of these will constitute one-half or one-third of your composition, and within each division illustrations, reasons, and explanatory details will appear. Arrange the divisions in the order in which they naturally come, according to their relative time of happening or according to their relative importance, reserving the most important for the last.

Sometimes this sort of division is difficult to make, because a subject can frequently be treated from different points of view, the point of view deciding the divisions. Sometimes you will find that you have made a number of small divisions, in each of which you can say only one or two sentences. This will at once suggest that you have not found the main parts of the subject, but have made unimportant divisions. Again, it may seem that you cannot divide your subject into satisfactory parts. In that case, you probably do not know enough about it. Think about it again, and, if you find that you really cannot divide it, choose another.

Choose one of the following subjects. Is the title definite and clear? If it is not, change it so that it will be. For example, Photography (5) is not a definite title. No one could attempt to explain the entire subject of photography in a few minutes. A better title for a theme would be one of the following: How to Develop a Negative; *How to Intensify *or reduce a Negative; Our Camera Club; The Photography Exhibit at the Art Museum; Kinematography; Flash Light Pictures without Smoke or Odor; The Conditions Necessary for a Good Snap Shot Picture; The Advantages of Using a Developing Machine; How My Camera Helped Pay for My Vacation. Can you suggest still others?

After having selected your title, decide into what divisions the subject naturally falls. For example, let us take (2) below. A Ball Game is not a definite title. Instead, let us choose Last Saturday's Football Game. As stated above, a subject may be treated from different points of view, the point of view deciding the divisions. Thus, in treating Last Saturday's Football Game, we may divide:

a Last Saturday's Football Game I. The first quarter. II. The second quarter. III. The third quarter. IV. The fourth quarter.

b Last Saturday's Football Game I. The excitement for a week before the game. II. The tension during the struggle. III. The celebration after the game.

c The Two Decisive Plays in Saturday's Game I. The long forward pass. II. The end run to the five-yard line.

Still other divisions may be made if we consider the subject from the point of view of the teams or the players themselves. Can you suggest any such divisions?

In the same way choose one of the subjects given below. Change it, if necessary. Then write out the topic of each division in as few words as possible.

1. An important electrical device.
2. A ball game.
3. Getting dinner.
4. The aeroplane.
5. Photography.
6. How styles change.
7. The back-to-the-farm movement.
8. Why oriental rugs are expensive.
9. Wireless telegraphy.
10. The business course in this school.

Exercise 156—The Outline

If your theme consists of more than one division, before you begin to speak or write you should prepare a definite working plan or outline. It should include enough to suggest the first sentence of each division and the more important details within each. The outline will help you in speaking or writing to arrange the topics so that they will follow one another clearly. If you have an outline, there will be much less danger of including details which do not belong to the subject and of omitting details which should appear.

In the following very simple outlines notice the use of indentation:

1
The Problem of Keeping our Cities Clean

I. The cleaning of streets.
(a) In summer.
(1) The cost of sprinkling.
(b) In winter.
(1) The cost of removing snow.
II. The cleaning of alleys.
(a) The disposal of garbage.
III. The smoke nuisance.
(a) Smoke consumers.
(b) Smoke inspection.

2
Public Gymnasiums

I. Definition of a public gymnasium.
(a) Location.
(b) Equipment.
(c) Management.
II. Benefits to the public.
(a) Keeps children off the streets.
(1) Congested districts.
(b) Develops them physically.
(c) Affords them pleasure.
(1) Outdoor and indoor games.
(2) Bathing at beaches connected with gymnasiums.

One more suggestion is in place here. In writing an outline, be careful that you express similar subdivisions of a topic by similar grammatical elements. For example, in the first outline above, (a) under I is a phrase; (b) under I should be a similar phrase. It would be incorrectly worded Winter or What the winter problem is. What is the advantage of such similarity?

Using the divisions you made for one of the subjects under Exercise 155, develop an outline for a theme.

Exercise 157 Choose one of the following subjects; restrict it or expand it, if necessary; select a proper title; write an outline; and then write or deliver your composition, following your outline closely. Notice that the shorter your title the more it includes, and therefore the longer your composition must be to deal adequately with the subject.

1. Giving talks before a class develops self-reliance.
2. Most inventors would not have succeeded without perseverance.
3. The more training a man has, the better chance he has to succeed.
4. Most rich men learned to save early.
5. The value of courtesy in a retail business.
6. The dangers of football.
7. The various methods of heating a house.
8. The sporting page often sells the newspaper.
9. Educational features of the modern newspaper.
10. Our national game.
11. Baseball is a better game than football.
12. The use of machinery has lowered the cost of manufactured articles.
13. How to prevent taking colds.
14. Athletic contests develop courage.
15. Qualities essential to good salesmanship.
16. Our debate with ——.
17. The qualities of a good street car advertisement.
18. A good cartoon.
19. Learning to swim.
20. The trials of washing day.
21. Birds as money savers.
22. Birds as destroyers.
23. Open air as a cure for tuberculosis.
24. Making a raft.
25. Every one should open a savings account.
26. Laziness.
27. Tennis is better than baseball.
28. Our respiratory system.
29. The bad effects of ridicule.
30. The good effects of ridicule.

Exercise 158

Recall one of the books that you have read recently. Name two subjects that it suggests to you and that you can talk about. Write a careful outline for each of them, and be prepared to speak on one.

Exercise 159

Name a subject taken from one of your studies, history for example. Let it be definite enough so that you can tell all the details that you know about it in a speech lasting two or three minutes. Use examples and illustrations to make the subject interesting and clear. Prepare an outline.

Exercise 160

Reproduce an article that you have read in a current magazine. Be careful that you make the material your own before attempting to retell it. Do not under any circumstances try to memorize the article. Understand fully what it says, make an outline of the facts that you wish to reproduce, and then give them as if they were your own ideas. At the beginning of your speech tell the name and date of the magazine from which you are taking the facts.

Exercise 161

As has been said, most of us get our ideas of what is taking place in the world from the articles that we read in current newspapers and magazines. We cannot always form our opinion from what one newspaper on one day says of a particular event. We must read what it says on successive days and, if possible, consult other newspapers on the same subject, for it is well known that not all newspapers are non-partisan. If one in the city is known to be so, that is the paper to read for the material for this exercise. Then, if we can read what one of the magazines says on the same subject, our knowledge will probably be more definite and more nearly true.

Let the class be divided into different sections, representing different kinds of news; for example, national, local, foreign, and business news. Under national news, you can perhaps find articles on national politics, legislative measures being discussed at Washington, rumors of war, immigration; under local news, anything pertaining to the city or the state in which you live; under foreign news, anything of interest to any of the other countries of the world; under business news, the prices of food products, strikes, panics, and their effect on business conditions. These are but suggestions. Such topics change so rapidly that nothing more definite can here be given.

When you have been assigned to one of these divisions, prepare a talk on a topic that you understand thoroughly. Begin your talk with a clear statement of your subject, as explained in Exercise 140; amplify it by details or illustrations; and end with a sentence of conclusion, forecasting the future of your topic or restating what you have proved.

Exercise 162

For a week follow the same current event as recorded in the newspaper, taking notes as you read. Then choose from all your material only those facts that belong strictly to one topic. Write an outline, setting forth the facts in logical order. Deliver the speech, following your outline closely.

Exercise 163

Let the class choose four or six members one week in advance, who are to prepare a debate on a topic of current interest. Let the other members of the class act as judges or volunteer on either side, as the instructor may see fit. Such debates should occur as often as possible.

Exercise 164

About once a month devote a day to the production of a class paper. Let the class choose a name. During the first year let the items be developed into paragraphs. Longer compositions should be reserved for the second year.

Suggestions for Articles for the Paper

1. A column of interesting business items clipped from leading papers.

   
   

2. An important news item that would make a good "story."

   
   

3. Original editorials on one or more of the following: a. Needs or improvements in city, school, or home. b. Recent city news. c. Business news. d. State news. e. National news. f. Foreign news.

   
   

4. Personal experiences, amusing incidents, or anecdotes, preferably of the business world.

   
   

5. For sale advertisements, or "want ads" that the class would understand.

Exercise 165

Criticise the following outlines. Each topic is supposed to represent a division in thought.

1 - The Wheat Harvest

1. A group of reapers.

2. Their costumes.

3. The field.

4. Starting the harvest.

5. Carting the sheaves to the barn.

6. The stacks.

7. The field after the harvest.

   
   

2 - The Tongue

1. What it is.

2. It is a good thing.

3. It instructs.

4. Evils done by the tongue.

5. Especially slander.

6. Conclusion.

   
   

3 - The Newspaper Strike

1. The cause. (a) Strikers want higher wages. (b) Poverty of the families of the strikers. (c) Police have to protect newsboys against strikers.
2. Disadvantages. (a) Newspapers are losing business. (b) Newsboys sympathize with strikers.
3. Riots. (a) Newsboys hurt and newspapers burned. (b) Police cannot watch all sections of city.
4. Conclusion.

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