From Critical Thinking to Argument: A Portable Guide

by Barnet; Badau

• ISBN13: 9780312459888
• ISBN10: 0312459882
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-07-05
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

From Critical Thinking to Argumentis a very brief but thorough guide to critical thinking and argumentation. With a dozen readings, this affordable guide can stand alone or supplement an anthology. Drawn from the widely adoptedCritical Thinking, Reading, and Writing,it is the product of the authors' dual expertise in effective persuasive writing and rigorous critical thinking. It helps students move from critical thinking to argumentative and researched writing. Treatment of classic and modern approaches includes Aristotle, Toulmin, and Rogerian argument, making it a versatile text.From Critical Thinking to Argumenthas been revised to address current student interests and trends in argument, research, and writing.

Author Biography

SYLVAN BARNET, professor of English and former director of writing at Tufts University, is the most prolific and consistently successful college English textbook author of the past 30 years. His several texts on writing and his numerous anthologies for introductory composition and literature courses have remained leaders in their field through many editions.

HUGO BEDAU, professor of philosophy at Tufts University, has served as chair of the philosophy department and chair of the university’s committee on College Writing. An internationally respected expert on the death penalty, and on moral, legal, and political philosophy, he has written or edited a number of books on these topics. He is the author of Thinking and Writing about Philosophy, Second Edition (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002).

Table of Contents

PART I. FROM CRITICAL THINKING TO ARGUMENT AND RESEARCH

1. Critical Thinking

Thinking About Drivers' Licenses and Photographic Identification

Thinking About another Issue Concerning Drivers' Licenses: Imagination, Analysis, Evaluation

Writing as a Way of Thinking

A CHECKLIST FOR CRITICAL THINKING

A Short Essay Illustrating Critical Thinking

Alan Dershowitz, Why Fear National ID Cards?

Examining Assumptions

A CHECKLIST FOR EXAMINING ASSUMPTIONS

Five Exercises In Critical Thinking

2. Critical Reading: Getting Started

Active Reading


Previewing


Skimming: Finding the Thesis


Reading with a Pencil: Underlining, Highlighting, Annotating


ÒThis; Therefore, ThatÓ


First, Second, and Third Thoughts

Summarizing and Paraphrasing


]A Note About Paraphrase and Plagiarism


]Last Words (Almost) About Summarizing

Susan Jacoby, A First Amendment Junkie

Summarizing Jacoby, Paragraph By Paragraph

A CHECKLIST FOR GETTING STARTED

Exercise: Letter to the Editor

3. Critical Reading: Getting Deeper Into Arguments

Persuasion, Argument, Dispute

Reason Versus Rationalization

Some Procedures in Argument


Definition


Assumptions


Premises and Syllogisms


Deduction




Sound Arguments


Induction


Evidence


Examples


Authoritative Testimony


Statistics

A CHECKLIST FOR EVALUATING STATISTICAL EVIDENCE

Nonrational Appeals


Satire


Irony


Sarcasm


Humor


Emotional Appeals

A CHECKLIST FOR ANALYZING AN ARGUMENT

Does All Writing Contain Arguments?


An Example: An Argument and a Look at the Writer's Strategies


George F. Will, Being Green At Ben and Jerry's


George F. Wills's Strategies

4. Visual Rhetoric: Images As Arguments

Some Uses of Images

Appeals to the Eye

Are Some Images Not Fit to Be Shown?

Exercises: Thinking About Images

Reading Advertisements

A CHECKLIST FOR ANALYZING IMAGES (ESPECIALLY ADVERTISEMENTS)

]Writing About a Political Cartoon

]A CHECKLIST FOR ANALYZING POLITICAL CARTOONS

]Jackson Smith (Student Essay), Pledging Nothing?

Visuals as Aids to Clarity: Maps, Graphs, Tables, and Pie Charts

A Note on Using Visuals In Your Own Paper

]A CHECKLIST FOR CHARTS AND GRAPHS

5. Writing an Analysis of an Argument

Analyzing an Argument


Examining the Author's Thesis


Examining the Author's Purpose


Examining the Author's Methods


Examining the Author's Persona


Summary

]A CHECKLIST FOR ANALYZING A TEXT

]An Argument, Its Elements, and a Student's Analysis of the Argument



]Nicholas D. Kristof, For Environmental Balance, Pick Up a Rifle

]Betsy Swinton (Student Essay), Tracking Kristof

]An Analysis of the Student's Analysis

A CHECKLIST FOR WRITING AN ANALYSIS OF AN ARGUMENT

6. Developing an Argument Of Your Own

Planning, Drafting, and Revising an Argument


Getting Ideas


The Thesis

]A CHECKLIST FOR A THESIS STATEMENT


Imagining an Audience


The Audience as Collaborator

]A CHECKLIST FOR IMAGINING AN AUDIENCE


The Title


The Opening Paragraphs


Organizing and Revising the Body of the Essay


The Ending


Two Uses of an Outline


Tone and the Writer's Persona


We, One, or I?


Avoiding Sexist Language

A CHECKLIST FOR ATTENDING TO THE NEEDS OF THE AUDIENCE


Peer Review

A PEER REVIEW CHECKLIST FOR A DRAFT OF AN ARGUMENT

A Student's Essay, From Rough Notes to Final Version


Emily Andrews, Why I Don't Spare ÒSpare ChangeÓ


The Essay Analyzed

Exercise

7. Using Sources

Why Use Sources?

Choosing a Topic

Finding Material

Interviewing Peers and Local Authorities

Finding Quality Information on the Web

Finding Articles Using Library Databases

]Locating Books

Evaluating Sources

A CHECKLIST FOR EVALUATING PRINT SOURCES

A CHECKLIST FOR EVALUATING ELECTRONIC SOURCES

Taking Notes



A Note on Plagiarizing, Paraphrasing, and Using Common Knowledge

A CHECKLIST FOR AVOIDING PLAGIARISM

Compiling an Annotated Bibliography

Writing the Paper


Organizing Your Notes


The First Draft


Later Drafts


Choosing a Tentative Title


The Final Draft

Quoting From Sources


The Use and Abuse of Quotations


How to Quote

]A CHECKLIST FOR USING QUOTATIONS RATHER THAN SUMMARIES


Documentation


A Note on Footnotes (and Endnotes)


MLA Format: Citations Within the Text


MLA Format: The List of Works Cited


APA Format: Citations Within the Text


APA Format: The List of References



A CHECKLIST FOR PAPERS USING SOURCES

An Annotated Student Research Paper In MLA Format


Theresa Washington, Why Trials Should Not Be Televised

An Annotated Student Research Paper In APA Format


Laura Deveau, the Role of Spirituality and Religion In Mental Health

PART II. FURTHER VIEWS ON ARGUMENT

8. A Philosopher's View: The Toulmin Model

The Claim

Grounds

Warrants

Backing

Modal Qualifiers

Rebuttals

A Model Analysis Using the Toulmin Method

A CHECKLIST FOR USING THE TOULMIN METHOD

]Putting the Toulmin Method to Work: Responding to an Argument

]Michael S. Dukakis and Daniel J. B. Mitchell, Raise Wages, Not Walls

]Thinking With Toulmin's Method

9. A Logician's View: Deduction, Induction, Fallacies

Deduction

Induction

Observation and Inference


Probability


Mill's Methods


Confirmation, Mechanism, and Theory

Fallacies


]Fallacies of Ambiguity


]Fallacies of Presumption


]Fallacies of Relevance

A CHECKLIST FOR EVALUATING AN ARGUMENT FROM A LOGICAL POINT OF VIEW

10. A Psychologist's View: Rogerian Argument

Rogerian Argument: an Introduction


Carl R. Rogers, Communication: Its Blocking and Its Facilitation

A CHECKLIST FOR ANALYZING ROGERIAN ARGUMENT


]Jane Willy (Student Essay), Is the College Use of American Indian Mascots Racist?

Index of Terms



] new to this edition