Writing Arguments : A Rhetoric with Readings

by Ramage, John D.; Bean, John C.; Johnson, June C

• ISBN13: 9780205648368
• ISBN10: 0205648363
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-07
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

The market-leading guide to arguments, Writing Arguments ,8/e has proven highly successful in teaching readers to read arguments critically and to produce effective arguments of their own.

Argument is a part of our daily lives. Whether we use or are confronted by it through the written or the spoken word, we rely on and encounter it often. Yet what exactly constitutes an effective argument? How do we construct one? And how are we able to recognize an ineffective argument? These topics, and many more, are the focus of this book on writing arguments. This book presents four approaches to argument: the enthymeme, Toulmin's system of analyzing arguments, stasis theory on categories of claims, and the three classical appeals of logos, pathos and ethos.

With a strong focus on the argument as a social act, the book treats the argument as a means of clarification, truth-seeking and persuasion, thereby highlighting the power of debate and dialectic. Writers, teachers, debaters, lawyers, and others using argument.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Overview of Argument

Argument: An Introduction

What Do We Mean by Argument?

Argument Is Not a Fight or a Quarrel

Argument Is Not Pro-Con Debate

Arguments Can Be Explicit or Implicit

Let the Facts Decide, Not Fear

The Defining Features of Argument

Argument Requires Justification of Its Claims

Argument Is Both a Process and a Product

Argument Combines Truth Seeking and Persuasion

Argument and the Problem of Truth

A Successful Process of Argumentation: The Well-Functioning Committee Gordon Adams (student)

ldquo;Petition to Waive the University Mathematics Requirementrdquo;

Conclusion

Argument as Inquiry: Reading and Exploring

Finding Issues to Explore

Do Some Initial Brainstorming

Be Open to the Issues All Around You

Explore Ideas by Freewriting

Explore Ideas by Idea-Mapping

Explore Ideas by Playing the Believing and Doubting

Game Placing Texts in a Rhetorical Context

Genres of Argument

Cultural Contexts: Who Writes Arguments and Why?

Analyzing Rhetorical

Context and Genre Reading to Believe an Argumentrsquo;s Claims

Amnesty?

Summary Writing as a Way of Reading to Believe

Practicing Believing: Willing Your Own Belief in the Writerrsquo;s Views

Reading to Doubt

Thinking Dialectically

Questions to Stimulate Dialectic Thinking

Why Blame Mexico?

Three Ways to Foster Dialectic Thinking

Conclusio

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