Inventing Arguments, 2009 MLA Update

by Mauk, John; Metz, John

• ISBN13: 9781439083208
• ISBN10: 1439083207
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-09
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

Organized around common rhetorical situations that occur all around us, INVENTING ARGUMENTS, Second Edition, shows you that argument is a living process rather than a form to be modeled. Through the text's prominent focus on invention, you will learn to recognize the rhetorical elements of any argumentative situation and apply the tools of argument effectively in your own writing. The basic layers of argument are introduced in early chapters, with material arranged into increasingly sophisticated topics beginning with the most obvious or explicit layers (claims) and moving to more implied or "hidden" layers (values, beliefs, ideology). By the time you finish Chapter 4, you will have a thorough understanding of argument—which you can then apply not just to the invention projects in Chapters 6-11 but also to your writing for other college courses and beyond. This edition has been updated to reflect guidelines from the 2009 MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Seventh Edition.

Table of Contents

Preface

Brief Contents

Note to Students

Entering Argument

Reading Argument

Reading Appeals

Reading for Hidden Layers

Entering Argument

Inventing Argument

Inventing Arguments

Arguing Definitions (What Is It?)

Arguing Causes (Why Did This Happen?)

Arguing Value (What Good Is This?)

Arguing Crisis (What Are We Going to Do?)

Arguing the Past (What Happened?)

Arguing the Future (What Is Going to Happen?)

Research

The Research Guide

Argument Anthology

Questions for Reading

Politics

Press

Family

Race

Environment

Education

Consumption

Adbusters

Popular Culture and the Media

Technology

Philosophy and Humanity

Religion

Credits

Index.

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