To the Point : Reading and Writing Short Arguments

by Muller, Gilbert H.; Wiener, Harvey S.

• ISBN13: 9780321207869
• ISBN10: 0321207866
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-01
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

With approximately 65 brief, thoughtful essays, fresh but significant topics, integrated visuals and Internet resources, and comprehensive questions and writing assignments,To the Pointpresents concisely and clearly the contemporary world of controversy and persuasion for today¿s students of argumentative writing.

Table of Contents

Preface	xix
PART 1 AN OVERVIEW: CRITICAL THINKING AND ARGUMENTATION	1	(142)
Reading Arguments	3	(42)
Why Argue?	3	(1)
The Vocabulary of Argument	4	(2)
Justifying an Argument	6	(1)
Aristotle and the Appeal to Reason	7	(3)
Emotional and Ethical Appeals	10	(2)
Toulmin Arguments	12	(4)
Reading Visual Arguments	16	(3)
Reading and Writing About Five Current Issues	19	(26)
From Stone Age to Phone Age	19	(5)
Barbara Ehrenreich
Did My Car Join Al Qaeda?	24	(5)
Woody Hochswender
All Go Down Together	29	(5)
James Traub
A Failed Mission	34	(5)
Paul Krugman
One Nation, Indivisible? Wanna Bet?	39	(6)
Anna Quindlen
Writing Arguments	45	(42)
The Writing Process	46	(1)
First Steps	46	(2)
Identifying Issues	48	(1)
Limiting Your Topic	49	(1)
Knowing Your Purpose and Audience	50	(1)
Making a Claim in Your Thesis	51	(1)
Supporting Your Claim	52	(1)
Organizing Your Argument	53	(1)
Checking Your Assumptions (or Warrants)	54	(1)
Refutation: Meeting the Opposition	55	(1)
Avoiding Traps in Appeals and Logic	56	(3)
Perspectives on Love and Marriage: Reading and Writing About a Critical Issue	59	(28)
I Want a Wife	59	(5)
Judy Brady
Love and Race	64	(5)
Nicholas Kristof
Kissing Cousins	69	(5)
Ann Patchett
Let Gays Marry	74	(5)
Andrew Sullivan
Unmarried, with Children	79	(8)
Barbara Kantrowitz
Patterns of Argument	87	(56)
Argument Through Narrative	90	(6)
False Gold	90	(6)
Fae Myenne Ng
Argument Through Description	96	(6)
Marrying Absurd	96	(6)
Joan Didion
Argument Through Illustration	102	(4)
An Idea Whose Time Has Come	102	(4)
Manning Marable
Argument Through Comparison and Contrast	106	(7)
And Rarely the Twain Shall Meet	106	(7)
Deborah Tannen
Argument Through Definition	113	(6)
The Struggle with Celibacy	113	(6)
Lorenzo Albacete
Argument Through Process Analysis	119	(7)
How to Duck Out of Teaching	119	(7)
Douglas Stalker
Argument Through Causal Analysis	126	(6)
The Declaration of Independence	126	(6)
Thomas Jefferson
Argument Through Classification	132	(5)
A World Not Neatly Divided	132	(5)
Amartya Sen
Mixing Patterns	137	(6)
The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority	137	(6)
Ronald Takaki
PART 2 CONTEMPORARY DEBATES: ARGUMENTS PRO AND CON	143	(96)
Rap Culture: Is It Too Negative?	145	(13)
Rap Fans Desire a More Positive Product	146	(5)
Greg Jones
Ice-T: The Issue Is Creative Freedom	151	(7)
Barbara Ehrenreich
College Sports: Should We Seek Equal Rights Between the Sexes?	158	(15)
For All the Good It Has Done, Title IX Is Still Plagued by Myths	159	(6)
Billie Jean King
Wrestling with Title IX	165	(8)
John Irving
Animal Rights: Should They Compromise Human Needs?	173	(12)
Is a Lab Rat's Fate More Poignant than a Child's?	173	(6)
Jane McCabe
A Question of Ethics	179	(6)
Jane Goodall
Immigration: Should We Limit It?	185	(12)
Trouble Is, Native-Born Just Don't Measure Up	186	(6)
Richard Rodriguez
Our Rainbow Underclass	192	(5)
Mortimer B. Zuckerman
Affirmative Action: What Role Should It Play in Our Lives?	197	(23)
Affirmative Action Is Driving Us Apart	198	(9)
Linda Chavez
In Defense of Preference	207	(13)
Nathan Glazer
Capital Punishment: Should We Take a Human Life?	220	(19)
A Hanging	221	(7)
George Orwell
What Do Murderers Deserve?	228	(11)
David Gelernter
PART 3 PERSPECTIVES ON CRITICAL ISSUES	239	(182)
The Internet: What Are the Prospects for Cyberspace?	241	(22)
I Surf, Therefore I Am	242	(5)
Judith Levine
Error Error Error	247	(4)
Dave Barry
Saturday Night and You're All Alone? Maybe You Need a Cyberdate	251	(7)
Beth Brophy
The Limits of Freedom	258	(5)
Andrew Brown
Work, Money, and Class: Who Benefits?	263	(27)
The Case Against Chores	264	(5)
Jane Smiley
The Triumph of Hope Over Self-Interest	269	(5)
David Brooks
Fitting the Poor into the Economy	274	(5)
Herbert J. Gans
Vanishing Jobs	279	(11)
Jeremy Rifkin
The Media: Do We Control It, or Does It Control Us?	290	(24)
Why We Tuned Out	291	(5)
Karen Springen
Watch and Learn	296	(11)
Gregg Easterbrook
Toxic Media	307	(7)
Wendy Kaminer
Education: How Do We Teach and Learn?	314	(28)
Religion in the Textbooks	315	(5)
Ellen Goodman
Their Cheating Hearts	320	(5)
William Raspberry
The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation	325	(11)
Alfie Kohn
Curtailing High School: A Radical Proposal	336	(6)
Leon Botstein
The Environment: How Can We Preserve It?	342	(28)
No Margin for Error	343	(5)
Bob Herbert
Out of the Wild	348	(4)
Verlyn Klinkenborg
Apologia	352	(7)
Barry Lopez
In Distrust of Movements	359	(11)
Wendell Berry
Human Rights: Why Does Society Need Them?	370	(27)
A World Criminal Court Is Urgently Needed	371	(5)
Jimmy Carter
Let It Be	376	(5)
Jonathan Rauch
Two Stubborn Men, Many Dead	381	(5)
Amos Oz
The Clan of the One-Breasted Women	386	(11)
Terry Tempest Williams
Terrorism: How Should We Meet the Challenge?	397	(24)
Globalization, Alive and Well	397	(5)
Thomas L. Friedman
You People Did This	402	(5)
Reshma Memon Yaqub
Words Fail, Memory Blurs, Life Wins	407	(6)
Joyce Carol Oates
Bad Luck: Why Americans Exaggerate the Terrorist Threat	413	(8)
Jeffrey Rosen
PART 4 FIVE CLASSIC ARGUMENTS	421	(26)
The Allegory of the Cave	422	(4)
Plato
A Modest Proposal	426	(7)
Jonathan Swift
Professions for Women	433	(6)
Virginia Woolf
The Obligation to Endure	439	(3)
Rachel Carson
I Have a Dream	442	(5)
Martin Luther King Jr.
PART 5 A CASEBOOK OF ARGUMENTS ON AMERICANS' EATING HABITS: ARE WE WHAT WE EAT?	447	(40)
We're Fatter but Not Smarter	449	(5)
Shannon Brownlee
Don't Blame the Eater	454	(2)
David Zinczenko
Instructions for Stress Diet	456	(2)
Cast-A-Way
The McNugget of Truth in the Lawsuits Against Fast-Food Restaurants	458	(3)
Adam Cohen
Grease	461	(1)
The Fat Tax: A Modest Proposal	462	(3)
Jonathan Rauch
Trick or Treat	465	(2)
Roz Chast
The Body of the Beholder	467	(3)
Michele Ingrassia
The Joy of Eating	470	(5)
Jay Walljasper
Weight Loss Guide	475	(3)
The Culture of Thin Bites Fiji	478	(3)
Ellen Goodman
Waifs on the Web	481	(6)
Dawn Mackeen
PART 6 CONSTRUCTING A BRIEF ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH PAPER	487	(30)
Using Research and Documentation to Support Your Argument	488	(1)
The Research Process	488	(21)
Stage One. Choosing an Issue	488	(4)
Stage Two. Establishing Your Claim	492	(1)
Stage Three. Gathering and Organizing Evidence	493	(6)
Stage Four. Writing the Paper	499	(2)
Stage Five. Documenting Sources	501	(8)
Sample Student Research Paper	509	(8)
Nelson Rivera, ``Combating Childhood Obesity: Why Can't Johnny Touch His Toes?''
Credits	517	(3)
Index	520