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This concise, accessible text teaches  how to write logical, cohesive arguments and how to evaluate the arguments of others.

 

Key Benefits:

Integrating writing skills with critical thinking skills, this practical book teaches how to draw logical inferences, identify premises and conclusions and use language precisely. Readers also learn how to identify fallacies and to distinguish between inductive and deductive reasoning. Ideal for any composition class that emphasizes argument, this text includes coverage of writing style and rhetoric, logic, literature, research and documentation.

 

Key Topics:

Research

Documentation

Argument'

This concise, accessible text teaches how to write logical, cohesive arguments and how to evaluate the arguments of others. Key Benefits: Integrating writing skills with critical thinking skills, this practical book teaches how to draw logical inferences, identify premises and conclusions and use language precisely. Readers also learn how to identify fallacies and to distinguish between inductive and deductive reasoning. Ideal for any composition class that emphasizes argument, this text includes coverage of writing style and rhetoric, logic, literature, research and documentation. Key Topics: Research Documentation Argument

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Guide to Readings

Preface

1. Thinking and Writing–A Critical Connection

Thinking Made Visible

The Power of Writing Persuasively

THE ADVENT OF E-MAIL

Critical Thinking

CRITICAL THINKING AS SELF-DEFENSE

AN OPEN MIND–EXAMINING YOUR WORLD VIEW

MEDIA LITERACY

Audience and Purpose

WRITING ASSIGNMENT 1 Considering Your Audience and Purpose

Writing as a Process

STRATEGIES FOR GENERATING IDEAS

THE FIRST DRAFT

THE TIME TO BE CRITICAL

ONE WRITER’S PROCESS

REASON, INTUITION, IMAGINATION, AND METAPHOR

WRITING ASSIGNMENT 2 Your Writing Process

He or She?

What You Can Expect from This Book

MORE THAN ONE APPROACH

COLLABORATION

SHARPENING SENTENCE SKILLS AND INCREASING COHERENCE

Enjoying the Challenge of Thinking and Writing

SUMMARY

KEY TERMS

2. Inference–Critical Thought

What Is an Inference?

HOW RELIABLE IS AN INFERENCE?

vii

What Is a Fact?

FACTS AND JOURNALISM

What Is a Judgment?

Achieving a Balance Between Inference and Facts

FACTS ONLY

SELECTING FACTS

INFERENCES ONLY

Reading Critically

WRITING ASSIGNMENT 3 Reconstructing the Lost Tribe

Making Inferences–Analyzing Images

Making Inferences–Writing About Fiction

WRITING ASSIGNMENT 4 Interpreting Fiction

SUMMARY

KEY TERMS

3. The Structure of Argument

Premises and Conclusions

Distinguishing Between Premises and Conclusions

Standard Form

Ambiguous Argument Structure

WRITING ASSIGNMENT 5 Creating a Political Handout

Standard Form, Essay Organization, and Revision

WRITING ASSIGNMENT 6 Responding to an Editorial

Argument and Explanation–Distinctions

Logical Relationships Between Ideas–Joining Words and Coherence

CHOICE OF JOINING WORDS

REVISING FOR COHERENCE

Hidden Assumptions in Argument

DANGERS OF HIDDEN ASSUMPTIONS

HIDDEN ASSUMPTIONS AND STANDARD FORM

HIDDEN ASSUMPTIONS AND AUDIENCE AWARENESS

SUMMARY

KEY TERMS

4. Written Argument

Focusing Your Topic

THE ISSUE

viii D E T A I L E D C O N T E N T S

THE QUESTION AT ISSUE

THE THESIS

TWO KINDS OF THESIS STATEMENTS

Shaping a Written Argument–Rhetorical Strategies

THE INTRODUCTION

THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR ARGUMENT

HOW MANY PREMISES SHOULD AN ARGUMENT HAVE?

THE CONCLUSION

A Dialectical Approach to Argument

ADDRESSING COUNTERARGUMENTS

HOW MUCH COUNTERARGUMENT?

REFUTATION AND CONCESSION

ROGERIAN STRATEGY

WHEN THERE IS NO OTHER SIDE

Logical Joining of Contrasting and Concessive Ideas

THE CONCESSIVE SENTENCE

More on Coherence

Sample Essays

Four Approaches to Writing Arguments

WRITING ASSIGNMENT 7 Arguing Both Sides of an Issue

WRITING ASSIGNMENT 8 Taking a Stand

WRITING ASSIGNMENT 9 Exploring an Argument in Depth–An Alternative

WRITING ASSIGNMENT 10 Collaborating on a Complex Issue–A Group

Approach

SUMMARY

KEY TERMS

5. The Language of Argument–Definition

Definition and Perception

CONTROLLING THE DISCOURSE

DEFINING OURSELVES

DEFINITION AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

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