Mutual Work

Mutual Work Stake Work

Originality in Public Speaking

Young people should learn early the need of stating information which they may have obtained, in words of their own. Using without credit other people's language and expression, besides being ethically wrong and despicable, hinders the progress of the individual and re- tards his growth in public speaking. Our present excellent activities in contest work, in the Mutual Improvement Associations, carry with thcjm possibilities of great harm to the contestants, if they are indiffernt about thinking for themselves, and expressing their thoughts in their own words. The individual contestants should carefully watch themselves in this matter, so that plagiarism may be strictly avoided. Wherever it is necessary to use other people's words, or tell other pepple's stories, distinct, credit^ should be given to them by the speakers'. The public speaking contests which are now carried on in our Mutual Improvement Associations are intended to be original on the part of the person who speaks, as far as the construction of the speech is* concerned, and also as far as possible in the development of the argument or story. It is permissible, and really advisable, that the contestants shall be coached, and that they shall receive as much train- ing for the contest as they can get. If they so prefer, they may pat- tern after model orators, and even adopt the style of some favorite orator. It is also legitimate to secure all the criticism from friends and teachers, that they can get, but it is entirely wrong for them to copy other people's words and adopt them as their own, or quote from other writers without giving such writers due credit. Of course, it is not expected that our contestants shall be original in the sense that they are to create everything new, but it is emphatically impressed upon them that they shall avoid the direct use of other writers' or speakers' words and ideas, without acknowledging the sources. In public speaking, particularly among the young, the speakers, it has been noticed, frequently commit to memory paragraphs and pages of other writer's productions and repeat them without proper credit being given to the source. This must be avoided. In order to experience the very best results from our contest work, officers should impress upon the contestants early in the contest the need of getting all the information and help they can to help develop and present their theme but aftre this ;

help and information is received, they themselves must do the think- ing, the construction, and the development of the theme, then deliver it in their own words in a simple, straightforward manner. Wherever they have occasion to quote, proper credit must be given to the source of the information.

A New Year Greeting The Improvement Era has received the Granite Wireless, number one, volume, 2, 1915, a little four-page publication issued by the Mutual Improvement Associations of the Granite Stake of Zion. It is full of encouragement to the members of our organizations and of