Everything's an Argument with 2016 MLA Update

by Lunsford, Andrea A.; Ruszkiewicz, John J.; Walters, Keith

• ISBN13: 9781319085759
• ISBN10: 131908575X
• Additional ISBN(s): 9780312538620, 9781319056278
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2016-07-07
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's
• More Book Details

Summary

Learn to analyze the arguments that surround you every day and to create their own through coverage of five core types of arguments in Everything's an Argument with 2016 MLA Update.

Author Biography

Andrea Lunsford, Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor of English emerita and former Director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford University, joined the Stanford faculty in 2000. Prior to this appointment, Lunsford was Distinguished Professor of English at The Ohio State University (1986-2000). She has also been Associate Professor and Director of Writing at the University of British Columbia (1977-86). Currently a member of the faculty of the Bread Loaf School of English, Professor Lunsford earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Florida and completed her Ph.D. in English at The Ohio State University (1977).

Professor Lunsford's scholarly interests include contemporary rhetorical theory, women and the history of rhetoric, collaboration and collaborative writing, current cultures of writing, intellectual property and composing, style, and technologies of writing. She has written or coauthored many books, including Essays on Classical Rhetoric and Modern Discourse; Singular Texts/Plural Authors: Perspectives on Collaborative Writing; and Reclaiming Rhetorica: Women in the History of Rhetoric, as well as numerous chapters and articles. For Bedford/St. Martin’s, she is the author of The St. Martin's Handbook, The Everyday Writer, EasyWriter, and Writing in Action; the co-author (with John Ruszkiewicz) of Everything’s an Argument and (with John Ruszkiewicz and Keith Walters) of Everything’s an Argument with Readings; and the co-author (with Lisa Ede) of Writing Together: Collaboration in Theory and Practice.

Professor Lunsford has conducted workshops on writing and program reviews at dozens of North American universities, served as Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, as Chair of the Modern Language Association Division on Writing, and as a member of the MLA Executive Council.

John J. Ruszkiewicz is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin where he has taught literature, rhetoric, and writing for more than thirty-five years. A winner of the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award, he was instrumental in creating the Department of Rhetoric and Writing in 1993 and directed the unit from 2001-05. He has also served as president of the Conference of College Teachers of English (CCTE) of Texas, which gave him its Frances Hernández Teacher—Scholar Award in 2012. For Bedford/St. Martin's, he is coauthor, with Andrea Lunsford, of Everything’s An Argument; coauthor, with Jay T. Dolmage, of How to Write Anything with Readings; and the author of How To Write Anything and A Reader's Guide to College Writing.

Table of Contents

Preface 
Part 1: Reading and Understanding Arguments  

1. Everything Is an Argument  
Why We Make Arguments  
Occasions for Argument  
Kinds of Argument 
STASIS QUESTIONS AT WORK  
Appealing to Audiences  
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT 

2. Arguments Based on Emotion: Pathos
Reading Critically for Pathos
Using Emotions to Build Bridges
Using Emotions to Sustain an Argument
Using Humor
Using Arguments Based on Emotion

3. Arguments Based on Character: Ethos
Thinking Critically About Arguments Based on Character
Establishing Trustworthiness and Credibility
Claiming Authority
Coming Clean about Motives
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT

4. Arguments Based on Facts and Reason: Logos
Thinking Critically About Hard Evidence 
Using Reason and Common Sense
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT
Providing Logical Structures for Argument

5. Fallacies of Argument
Fallacies of Emotional Argument
Fallacies of Ethical Argument
Fallacies of Logical Argument 

6. Rhetorical Analysis
Composing a Rhetorical Analysis
Understanding the Purpose of Arguments You Are Analyzing
Understanding Who Makes an Argument
Identifying and Appealing to Audiences
Examining Arguments Based on Emotion: Pathos
Examining Arguments Based on Character: Ethos
Examining Arguments Based on Facts and Reason: Logos
Examining the Arrangement and Media of Arguments
Looking at Style
Examining a Rhetorical Analysis
     David Brooks, It’s Not about You
     Rachel Kolb, Understanding Brooks’s Binaries (student essay)
GUIDE TO WRITING A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS


Part 2: Writing Arguments

7. Structuring Arguments
The Classical Oration
Rogerian and Invitational Arguments
Toulmin Argument
     Deborah Tannen, Why Is Compromise Now a Dirty Word?
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT

8. Arguments of Fact
Understanding Arguments of Fact
Characterizing Factual Arguments
Developing a Factual Argument
GUIDE TO WRITING AN ARGUMENT OF FACT
Projects
Two Sample Factual Arguments
     Taylor Pearson, Why You Should Fear Your Toaster More Than Nuclear Power (student essay)
     *Neil Irwin, What the Numbers Show about NFL Player Arrests

9. Arguments of Definition
Understanding Arguments of Definition
Kinds of Definition
Developing a Definitional Argument
GUIDE TO WRITING AN ARGUMENT OF DEFINITION
Projects
Two Sample Definitional Arguments
     *Natasha Rodriguez, Who Are You Calling Underprivileged? (student essay)
     *Joyce Xinran Liu, Friending: The Changing Definition of Friendship in the Social Media Era 

10. Evaluations
Understanding Evaluations
Criteria of Evaluation
Characterizing Evaluation
Developing an Evaluative Argument
GUIDE TO WRITING AN EVALUATION
Projects
Two Sample Evaluations
     Sean Kamperman, The Wikipedia Game: Boring, Pointless, or Neither? (student essay)
     *Hayley Tsukayama, My Awkward Week with Google Glass [New]

11. Causal Arguments
Understanding Causal Arguments
Characterizing Causal Arguments
Developing Causal Arguments
GUIDE TO WRITING A CAUSAL ARGUMENT
Projects
Two Sample Causal Arguments
     *Raven Jiang, Dota 2: The Face of Professional Gaming (student essay)
     John Tierney, Can a Playground Be Too Safe?

12. Proposals
Understanding and Categorizing Proposals
Characterizing Proposals
Developing Proposals
GUIDE TO WRITING A PROPOSAL
Projects
Two Sample Proposals
     Manasi Deshpande, A Call to Improve Campus Accessibility  (student essay)
     *Virginia Postrel, Let’s Charge Politicians for Wasting Our Time


Part 3: Style and Presentation in Arguments

13. Style in Arguments
Style and Word Choice
Sentence Structure and Argument
Punctuation and Argument
Special Effects: Figurative Language
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT

14. Visual Rhetoric
The Power of Visual Arguments
Using Visuals in Your Own Arguments

15. Presenting Arguments
Class and Public Discussions
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT
Preparing a Presentation

* 16. Multimedia Arguments
Old Media Transformed by New Media
New Content in New Media
New Audiences in New Media
Analyzing Multimedia Arguments 
Making Multimedia Arguments


Part 4: Research and Arguments

17. Academic Arguments
Understanding What Academic Argument Is
Developing an Academic Argument
Two Sample Academic Arguments
     *Charlotte Geaghan-Breiner, Where the Wild Things Should Be: Healing Nature Deficit 
     Disorder through the Schoolyard (student essay)
     Lan Xue, China: The Prizes and Pitfalls of Progress

18. Finding Evidence
Considering the Rhetorical Situation
Cultural Contexts for Argument
Using Data and Evidence from Research Sources
SEARCHING ONLINE OR IN DATABASES
Collecting Data on Your Own

19. Evaluating Sources
Assessing Print Sources
Assessing Electronic Sources
Assessing Field Research

20. Using Sources
Practicing Infotention
Building a Critical Mass
Synthesizing Information 

21. Plagiarism and Academic Integrity
Giving Credit
Getting Permission for and Using Copyrighted Internet Sources
Acknowledging Your Sources Accurately and Appropriately
Acknowledging Collaboration

22. Documenting Sources
MLA Style
APA Style
Glossary
Index