The Language of Argument

by Burton, Larry W.; McDonald, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780321245113
• ISBN10: 0321245113
• Edition: 11th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-01
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

The brevity of the arguments offers instructors the opportunity to have students read an argument and write about it in a single class period. Contains readings chosen to create excitement, controversy, and powerful classroom discussions, including topics on Prozac, the Internet, cancer-causing power lines, Powerball, AIDS Research, the embargo on Cuba, impotence, adultery, Cultural literacy, euthanasia, and bilingual education.

Table of Contents

Thematic Contents	xvii
Preface	xxvii
PART ONE FORMS OF ARGUMENT	1	(180)
Persuasive Writing	3	(24)
WIN YOUR AUDIENCE	3	(1)
DEFINE THE ISSUE	4	(2)
MAKE YOUR CASE	6	(1)
EXERCISES	7	(20)
Identifying Jack the Ripper	8	(5)
Caleb Carr
Help Wanted Immediately!	13	(3)
Can't Read? Can't Write? Break Education Monopoly	16	(3)
Cal Thomas
Dr. Durant Demonstrates Psychokinesis	19	(2)
Redstone Wire Service	19	(2)
Color Me Pro-Choice	21	(2)
Mitchell Farnum
Of Paul De Man and Deconstruction	23	(11)
Alice Krache
Induction	27	(22)
IS THE SAMPLE KNOWN?	28	(1)
IS THE SAMPLE SUFFICIENT?	29	(1)
IS THE SAMPLE REPRESENTATIVE?	29	(2)
POLLING	31	(1)
OCCAM'S RAZOR	32	(1)
EXERCISES	33	(1)
ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS	34	(15)
I'm Proof: The War on Drugs Is Working	35	(3)
Charles Van Deventer
Capital Punishment? Not in a Just America	38	(2)
Cynthia Tucker
We Don't Need Immigrants	40	(2)
Dan Stein
Ban Boxing	42	(2)
Robert E. McAfee
Smoking Is Very Glamorous	44	(2)
American Cancer Society
Fast Food Terror: A Tale of Two Cities	46	(9)
Timothy Wheeler, M.D.
Deduction	49	(23)
ARE THE PREMISES TRUE?	50	(1)
IS THE LANGUAGE UNAMBIGUOUS?	50	(1)
IS THE SYLLOGISM VALID?	51	(2)
INDUCTION OR DEDUCTION?	53	(1)
EXERCISES	54	(1)
ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS	55	(17)
Ebonics Be a Complex Issue	56	(3)
Bill Cosby
Death Penalty Deters Violent Crime	59	(3)
Senator Strom Thurmond
Justice Department Detects Discrimination Against Native Americans	62	(3)
John Leo
All in Favor of "Gun Control," Raise Your Right Hand	65	(2)
A Broader Approach to Respect for Life	67	(2)
Jerry Darring
The Case Against Funding Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research	69	(10)
Anton-Lewis Usala, M.D.
Fallacies	72	(25)
FALSE ANALOGY	72	(1)
PRESUMED CAUSE-EFFECT	73	(3)
BEGGING THE QUESTION	76	(1)
IGNORING THE QUESTION	76	(2)
FALLACIES IN OTHER FORMS	78	(1)
EXERCISES	78	(1)
ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS	79	(18)
Left-Handers (Those Sickos) Got No Reason To Live!	81	(2)
Roger L. Guffey
The Campaign Trail: Onward, Christian Soldiers	83	(3)
Quin Hillyer
How Would You Like the Police to Investigate Your Miscarriage?	86	(2)
Planned Parenthood
Sizism-One of the Last "Safe" Prejudices	88	(4)
Sally E. Smith
Pave the Stupid Rainforests!	92	(2)
Ed Anger
Women Priests? Never!	94	(13)
S.L. Varnado
Argument by Authority	97	(29)
EXPERT TESTIMONY	97	(4)
BIASED TESTIMONY	101	(2)
DISTORTING QUOTATIONS	103	(2)
EXERCISES	105	(2)
ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS	107	(19)
America's Founding Fathers on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms	108	(4)
National Rifle Association
Tracking the Werewolf	112	(3)
Fred A. Dobson
How Prozac Saved My Marriage	115	(3)
Tanya Kowalsy
What Jesus Said About Homosexuality	118	(2)
Dignity/USA
Who Killed Martin Luther King, Jr.?	120	(3)
Jim Aucoin
There Is No Safe Sex	123	(10)
Robert C. Noble
Semantic Argument	126	(29)
SNARL AND PURR WORDS	126	(4)
INDIRECT STATEMENT	130	(1)
PERSUASIVE STYLE	131	(1)
EXERCISES	132	(1)
ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS	133	(22)
How to Win Arguments	135	(3)
Dave Barry
Psychometry: Getting the Vibrations	138	(7)
David St. Clair
How I Learned Not to Worry and Love the NCAA	145	(2)
Jud Blakely
Which Would You Rather Put on Your Kids' Cereal?	147	(2)
Sugar Association
Greed and Overconsumption Are Killing the Rainforest	149	(3)
Randall Hayes
Women Can Dump Jerks Without Help of Lawyers	152	(10)
Judy Jarvis
Statistics	155	(26)
AVERAGES	155	(1)
QUESTIONABLE FIGURES	155	(2)
IRRELEVANT NUMBERS	157	(1)
HOMEMADE STATISTICS	158	(2)
ENHANCING A STATISTIC	160	(1)
EXERCISES	161	(1)
ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS	162	(21)
Terrorism and You-The Real Odds	163	(3)
Michael L. Rothschild
100,000 Beer Commercials?	166	(5)
Anheuser-Busch
Is It Sports, the Weather or Love of God That Keeps Us Married?	171	(3)
William R. Mattox, Jr.
The Growing Inmate Population	174	(2)
New York Times
God Bless America	176	(2)
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
No, Virginia, There Isn't a Santa Claus!	178	(3)
Bruce Handy
PART TWO ARGUMENT FOR ANALYSIS	181	(86)
Here She Is: Miss Divorced America	183	(2)
Mona Charen
Would You Take a House Call From Dr. Kevorkian?	185	(4)
Faye Girsh, Ed. D.
Supersizing of America	189	(2)
Ellen Goodman
I Had Liposuction Instead	191	(1)
American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons
Bilingual Education Fails Test, Exposing Deeper Problem	192	(2)
USA Today
The Baby Grew Up to Be a Monster	194	(1)
John DeRosier
Give Hotel Guests a Bible-Free Room	195	(2)
Annie Laurie Gaylor
One Nation 'Under God'	197	(1)
Sverre Tinglum
Let's Not Blame Wrestling for All the Violence	198	(1)
R.W. Peterson
The Supreme Court Also Legalized Slavery	199	(1)
Breen
Entrance to High School Should Not Be Automatic	200	(2)
Carol Jago
Women Don't Belong in the Cockpit!	202	(2)
Ed Anger
Federal Foolishness and Marijuana	204	(2)
Jerome P. Kassirer, M.D.
A Lot of Campus Rapes Start Here	206	(1)
Santa Monica Hospital
Making Sheep: Possible, but Right?	207	(2)
Timothy Backous
The Whole Scoop on Coffee	209	(3)
Health After	50	(162)
Impotence: Ever Since Brad Went Vegetarian	212	(1)
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
Let's Do Away With Safety	213	(1)
Lawrence A. Bullis
In Defense of Lies	214	(2)
John Leo
Asking God to Cheat in Sports	216	(2)
Dexter Martin
Young Children Need Moral Instruction in School	218	(2)
Jack Valenti
They're Forgetting Someone	220	(1)
Media: Right to Life of Michigan Educational Fund
School Vouchers Okay	221	(2)
Rod Paige
Dying Is Not A Solely Private Decision	223	(2)
Our Sunday Visitor
So I Have a Vitamin Gap, Big Deal	225	(1)
Council for Responsible Nutrition
Vitamin C Can Help You Win the Lottery	226	(2)
Ann Victoria
Our Youth Aren't Learning Our History	228	(2)
Herbert London
Little Girls Shouldn't Count Calories	230	(2)
Deborah Mathis
Handgun Freedom: Where Have All the Feminists Gone?	232	(2)
Michael S. Brown, M.D.
Butter: Now More Than Ever the Natural Choice	234	(1)
National Dairy Board
Equal Treatment Is Real Issue-Not Same-Sex Marriage	235	(2)
USA Today
For a Better Life, Don't Eat Any Beef	237	(2)
Dean Ornish
Chief Justice Should Obey Federal Court	239	(2)
Mobile Register
That's Racial Profiling	241	(1)
Mike Ramirez
Step 1 Toward Greatness: Win Powerball	242	(3)
Jim Watts
Simple Trade-Off Is Key to Finding Time to Read	245	(2)
John Sledge
Diary of an Unborn Child	247	(2)
Roswell: A Little Less Balance, Please	249	(2)
Art Levine
When You Give Blood...	251	(1)
American Red Cross
America Needs a Flag-Protection Amendment	252	(2)
Senator Bob Dole
Blame It on Dr. Jekyll	254	(1)
Luke Thompson
Biologist: Creationism Is 'Bad Religion'	255	(2)
Brian J. Axsmith
Does Hollywood Market Violence to Children?	257	(3)
Mitch Albom
Should Priests Marry?	260	(2)
Martin Ridgeway
NAACP Should Back Less TV Viewing	262	(2)
Cynthia Tucker
Is It Any Wonder the Prisons Are Full?	264	(1)
Dakin
Reasonable Rate of Divorce Can Be Good for Society	265	(2)
Philip D. Harvey
PART THREE LITERARY ARGUMENT	267	(36)
My Mistress' Eyes-Sonnet CXXX	269	(1)
William Shakespeare
From Henry V St. Crispin's Day	270	(2)
William Shakespeare
To His Coy Mistress	272	(2)
Andrew Marvell
Death, Be Not Proud	274	(1)
John Donne
From Paradise Lost, Book IX	275	(2)
John Milton
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman	277	(4)
Mary Wollstonecraft
A Modest Proposal	281	(7)
Jonathan Swift
From Northanger Abbey-"Oh! It Is Only a Novel!"	288	(1)
Jane Austen
My Last Duchess	289	(2)
Robert Browning
I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General	291	(1)
W.S. Gilbert
The Declaration of Independence as Adopted by Congress	292	(3)
Do We Really Need Another Biography of Jane Austen?	295	(8)
Irene B. McDonald
PART FOUR EIGHT RULES FOR GOOD WRITING	303	(62)
Rule 1: Find a Subject You Can work-with	305	(3)
EXERCISES	306	(2)
Rule 2: Get Your Facts	308	(8)
VISIT THE LIBRARY	308	(2)
USE YOUR TELEPHONE	310	(1)
USE NEW TECHNOLOGY	311	(1)
WRITE FOR FACTS YOU NEED	312	(1)
EXERCISES	313	(1)
ALTERNATE EXERCISES	314	(2)
Rule 3: Limit Your Topic to Manageable Size	316	(2)
EXERCISES	317	(1)
Rule 4: Organize Your Material	318	(5)
THE INTRODUCTION	318	(1)
THE BODY	319	(1)
THE CONCLUSION	320	(2)
EXERCISES	322	(1)
Rule 5: Make Your Writing Interesting	323	(5)
TRUISMS	323	(1)
CLICHES	323	(2)
GENERALIZED LANGUAGE	325	(1)
INFLATED LANGUAGE	326	(1)
EXERCISES	327	(1)
Rule 6: Make Your Writing Emphatic	328	(5)
AVOID WORDINESS	328	(1)
WRITE IN THE ACTIVE VOICE	329	(1)
EXPRESS YOUR MAIN IDEA IN THE SUBJECT-VERB OF YOUR SENTENCE	330	(1)
DO NOT WASTE THE ENDS OF YOUR SENTENCES	330	(1)
KEEP YOUR SENTENCES RELATIVELY SHORT	331	(1)
KEEP YOUR DOCUMENT AS SHORT AS POSSIBLE	331	(1)
EXERCISES	332	(1)
Rule 7: Avoid Language That Draws Attention to Itself	333	(5)
SEXIST LANGUAGE	333	(1)
REPETITION	334	(1)
DANGLING AND MISPLACED MODIFIERS	334	(1)
ELABORATE FIGURES OF SPEECH	335	(1)
FAULTY PARALLELISM	335	(1)
AWKWARD CONSTRUCTIONS	336	(1)
ABRUPT CHANGES IN TONE	336	(1)
EXERCISES	337	(1)
Rule 8: Avoid Mechanical Errors	338	(19)
PUNCTUATION	338	(5)
APOSTROPHES, QUOTATION MARKS, ITALICS, AND CAPITAL LETTERS	343	(7)
ABBREVIATIONS	350	(1)
NUMBERS	351	(1)
SPELLING	352	(2)
EXERCISES	354	(3)
Final Reminders	357	(8)
CREDIT YOUR SOURCES	357	(1)
USE YOUR SPEAKING VOICE	357	(1)
GET HELP FROM FRIENDS	358	(1)
MAKE IT NEAT	359	(1)
REMEMBER YOUR AUDIENCE	359	(1)
REMEMBER YOUR PURPOSE	360	(2)
BE SMART	362	(3)
Appendixes	365	(44)
EXERCISES FOR REVIEW	366	(8)
SUBJECTS FOR ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS	374	(8)
GOOD WORDS, BAD WORDS, AND PERSUASIVE WORDS	382	(5)
WRITING A BUSINESS LETTER	387	(6)
MAKING A SPEECH	393	(5)
THE MLA SYSTEM FOR CITING SOURCES	398	(11)
Index	409