Page:In defense of Harriet Shelley, and other essays.djvu/188

 MARK TWAIN

really what a Reply is for. Broadly speaking, its function is to refute as you will easily concede. That leaves something for the other person to take hold of: he has a chance to reply to the Reply, he has a chance to refute the refutation. This would have happened if you had written it out instead of dictating. Dictating is nearly sure to unconcentrate the dictator s mind, when he is out of practice, con fuse him, and betray him into using one set of literary rules when he ought to use a quite different set. Often it betrays him into employing the RULES FOR CONVERSATION BETWEEN A SHOUTER AND A DEAF PERSON as in the present case when he ought to employ the RULES FOR CONDUCTING DIS CUSSION WITH A FAULT-FINDER. The great founda tion-rule and basic principle of discussion with a fault-finder is relevancy and concentration upon the subject; whereas the great foundation-rule and basic principle governing conversation between a shouter and a deaf person is irrelevancy and persistent desertion of the topic in hand. If I may be allowed to illustrate by quoting example IV., section 7, from chapter ix of &quot;Revised Rules for Conducting Conversation between a Shouter and a Deaf Per son,&quot; it will assist us in getting a clear idea of the difference between the two sets of rules:

Shouter. Did you say his name is WETHERBY?

Deaf Person. Change? Yes, I think it will. Though if it should clear off I

Shouter. It s his NAME I want his NAME.

Deaf Person. Maybe so, maybe so; but it will only be a shower, I think.

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