Chapter 2 What’s the Big Idea?
Exercise 2.1 Subject and Complement
Exercise 3.1 Connect the Dots
There are three reasons why figure 5 is clear and figure 6 is not:
For example, with the lion in figure 5, the proximity of dots to each other (reason 1), the sufficient number of dots (reason 2), and the presence of a “context” (i.e., whiskers and a tail—reason 3) all give a clear picture of the developing image. Figure 6 lacks all three components.
Chapter 4 The Road from Text to Sermon
Exercise 4.1 How to Identify an Author’s Big Idea
Subject: Why you should eat a toad every morning.
Complement: So nothing worse will ever happen.
Exercise 4.2 Three Developmental Questions
Chapter 5 The Arrow and the Target
Exercise 5.2 A Lot Is at Stake!
Exercise 5.3 The Power of Purpose
(Note: The above behaviors could be evaluated as existing in the listeners and therefore needing reinforcement. If the behaviors do not exist in the audience, the purpose statements may be stated differently.)
Chapter 7 Making Dry Bones Live
Exercise 7.1 Move That Stone!
What image comes to your mind as a result of reading the first paragraph?
More than likely no image came to mind. If one did, it was because you took the time to think about it, or it was because you are familiar with Sisyphus’s plight.
What image comes to your mind as a result of reading the second paragraph?
The image is of a person rolling a boulder up a hill only to have it fall back down the hill, only to roll it back up the hill, only to have it roll down the hill, etc., etc., etc. The person in the image is in agony and is exhausted.
Chapter 8 Start with a Bang and Quit All Over
Exercise 8.1 Uncovering a Need
Record some needs of the person in the hotel.
Hope for his desperate situation. Perhaps counseling for family issues. To sober up. A friend. Financial guidance and help.
What is the need Chuck Swindoll is addressing?
The need we have to know why something bad has occurred.
Exercise 8.2 Effective Introductions
Which introduction does the best job of touching a felt need?
Introduction 2.
How does Introduction 2 address a felt need of today’s society?
The speaker here is dealing with the pressure put on a Christian’s sexual purity and the corresponding need to resist temptation.
Exercise 8.3 Inconclusive Conclusions
Specifically, what is missing from the story?
What happens to the mice, the cat, and the bell? Do they place the bell around the cat’s neck? It causes the reader to wonder what happens next.
CONCLUSION 1
Does this ending make the story complete? Yes.
Does this ending make sense to you? No, it is confusing. You don’t know what happens with the cat, the mice, or the bell.
What does the story teach you with this ending? I guess it might teach that you should plan solutions to your problems but then ignore them and get on with what seems to be important. Or that you should plan solutions to your problems but it is easier to not follow through on them.
CONCLUSION 2
Does this ending make the story complete? Yes.
Does this ending make sense to you? Yes, it tells what happens to the cat, the mouse, and the bell.
What does the story teach you with this ending? If we hang together and listen to the wise, we can solve our problems.
CONCLUSION 3
Does this ending make the story complete? Yes.
Does this ending make sense to you? Yes, it tells what happens to the cat, the mouse, and the bell.
What does the story teach you with this ending? It is one thing to be brave in words but another thing to be brave in deeds.
Exercise 8.4 Conclusions with a Burning Focus
What does the speaker specifically want the listener to do in Conclusion 1? In Conclusion 2?
In Conclusion 1 the speaker wants the listeners to rejoice in the face of death.
In Conclusion 2 no action is called for.
How is the listener to do what the speaker suggests in Conclusion 1? In Conclusion 2?
In Conclusion 1 the speaker wants the listener to rejoice by putting his or her trust in the One who holds the keys to death.
In Conclusion 2 the speaker didn’t ask the listener to do anything, so there are no directions.
What might you add to each conclusion that could give the listener some action to take?
For 1 the speaker might have said, “Many of us, like that servant, hope we can outrun death. We plan; we get health checkups; we are careful. Most of that is wisdom, some of that is fear. But we don’t have to fear.”[and then continue his line] “Each of us has an appointment in Samarra. . . .”
For 2, the speaker might have carried his questions about the soldier’s death into the audience’s life. For example, he might have said, “I wonder about you? What do you do when you are afraid? Most of you will never be on a battlefield, but you have other fears that are real. Do you go to Scripture to find strength to face your fears? Is it your habit to seek trust and comfort from God with your fears? We don’t have to fear. Death is not the only certainty. [pause] Rejoicing can be a certainty if we choose to put our faith in the One who holds the keys of life and death.”
Which conclusion best gives the listener something to do? You should have checked the box for Conclusion 1.
Chapter 9 The Dress of Thought
Exercise 9.1 Choosing Words for Clarity
Why are the words not clear? The words are unclear because they are unfamiliar.
Exercise 9.2 You Say Tomato; I Say Tomato Paste
| Abstract | Specific |
| Building | Empire State Building |
| Tool | Writing utensil |
| Road | Route 66 |
| Garment | Pants |
| Holiday | Christmas |
| Vehicle | Cars |
Exercise 9.3 As Bad As It Gets
How many words are in the first sentence of the quoted paragraph in Activity 9.1?
51 words if “2 Samuel 24:2ff” is written “Second Samuel Twenty-four.”
What is the main verb in this sentence?
The main verb is “creates.”
What is the main subject in this sentence?
The subject is wordy: “To aspire to quantify the activity of the Midwestern Region.”
What is the independent clause?
“To aspire to quantify the activity of the Midwestern Region . . . creates tension.”
| Abstract | Specific | Concrete |
| Building | Empire State Building | The local courthouse |
| Tool | Writing utensil | Pencil |
| Road | Route 66 | A local road your audience knows |
| Garment | Pants | Dockers |
| Holiday | Christmas | Christmas 2002 |
| Vehicle | Car | 2012 Ford Taurus |