Writing Logically, Thinking Critically

by Cooper, Sheila; Patton, Rosemary

• ISBN13: 9780205668564
• ISBN10: 0205668569
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-06-18
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

This concise, accessible text teaches students how to write logical, cohesive arguments and how to evaluate the arguments of others. Integrating writing skills with critical thinking skills, this practical book teaches students to draw logical inferences, identify premises and conclusions and use language precisely. Students also learn how to identify fallacies and to distinguish between inductive and deductive reasoning. Ideal for any composition class that emphasizes argument, this text includes coverage of writing style and rhetoric, logic, literature, research and documentation.

Table of Contents

Guide to Readings	p. xii
Preface	p. xiv
Thinking and Writing-A Critical Connection	p. 1
Thinking Made Visible	p. 1
Critical Thinking	p. 2
An Open Mind-Examining Your World View	p. 3
Critical Thinking as Self-Defense-Media Literacy	p. 6
Writing as a Process	p. 10
Invention Strategies-Generating Ideas	p. 11
The First Draft	p. 12
The Time to Be Critical	p. 13
Audience and Purpose	p. 14
Writing Assignment 1 Considering Your Audience and Purpose	p. 15
E-Mail and Text Messaging	p. 15
Reason, Intuition, Imagination, and Metaphor	p. 17
Summary	p. 20
Key Terms	p. 21
Inference-Critical Thought	p. 22
What Is an Inference?	p. 22
How Reliable is an Inference?	p. 23
What Is a Fact?	p. 24
Facts and Journalism	p. 25
What Is a Judgment?	p. 26
Achieving a Balance Between Inference and Facts	p. 31
Facts only	p. 32
Inferences Only	p. 33
Reading Critically	p. 34
Writing Assignment 2 Reconstructing the Lost Tribe	p. 35
Making Inferences-Analyzing Images	p. 37
Examining An Ad	p. 41
Making Inferences-Writing About Fiction	p. 44
Writing Assignment 3 Interpreting Fiction	p. 46
Writing Assignment 4 Analyzing Fiction	p. 48
Summary	p. 52
Key Terms	p. 52
The Structure of Argument	p. 53
Premises and Conclusions	p. 54
Distinguishing Between Premises and Conclusions	p. 55
Standard Form	p. 56
Writing Assignment 5 Creating a Political Handout	p. 59
Ambiguous Argument Structure	p. 60
Hidden Assumptions in Argument	p. 62
Dangers of Hidden Assumptions	p. 64
Hidden Assumptions and Standard Form	p. 65
Hidden Assumptions and Audience Awareness	p. 68
Summaries	p. 69
Strategies for Writing A Summary	p. 69
An Example of a Summary	p. 70
Writing Assignment 6 Summarizing an Article	p. 70
Argument and Explanation-Distinctions	p. 72
Summary	p. 75
Key Terms	p. 75
Written Argument	p. 77
Focusing Your Topic	p. 77
The Issue	p. 77
The Question at Issue	p. 78
The Thesis	p. 79
Two Kinds of Thesis Statements	p. 81
Shaping a Written Argument-Rhetorical Strategies	p. 82
The Introduction	p. 82
The Development of Your Argument	p. 83
How Many Premises Should an Argument Have?	p. 84
The Conclusion	p. 84
A Dialectical Approach to Argument	p. 85
Addressing Counterarguments	p. 85
How Much Counterargument?	p. 86
Refutation and Concession	p. 86
Rogerian Strategy	p. 87
When There is No Other Side	p. 90
Logical Connections-Coherence	p. 91
Joining Words	p. 91
More on Coherence	p. 93
Sample Essays	p. 93
A Two-Step Process for Writing a Complete Argument	p. 98
Writing Assignment 7 Arguing Both Sides of an Issue	p. 98
Writing Assignment 8 Taking a Stand	p. 102
Summary	p. 103
Key Terms	p. 103
The Language of Argument-Definition	p. 104
Definition and Perception	p. 104
Who Controls the Definitions?	p. 104
Defining Ourselves	p. 105
Shifting Definitions	p. 106
Definition: The Social Sciences and Government	p. 108
Language: An Abstract System of Symbols	p. 108
The Importance of Concrete Examples	p. 111
Abstractions and Evasion	p. 114
Euphemism and Connotation	p. 115
Definition in Written Argument	p. 116
Appositives-A Strategy for Defining Terms Within the Sentence	p. 116
Appositives and Argument	p. 118
Punctuation of Appositives	p. 118
Extended Definition	p. 120
Writing Assignment 9 Determining Your State's Position on Gay Marriage	p. 123
Writing Assignment 10 Composing an Argument Based on a Definition	p. 124
Inventing a New Word to Fill a Need	p. 128
Writing Assignment 11 Creating a New Word	p. 129
Summary	p. 130
Key Terms	p. 130
Fallacious Arguments	p. 131
What Is a Fallacious Argument?	p. 131
Appeal to Authority	p. 132
Appeal to Fear	p. 133
Appeal to Pity	p. 133
Begging the Question	p. 134
Double Standard	p. 135
Equivocation	p. 136
False Analogy	p. 137
False Cause	p. 139
False Dilemma	p. 140
Hasty Generalization	p. 141
Personal Attack	p. 141
Poisoning the Well	p. 142
Red Herring	p. 142
Slippery Slope	p. 143
Straw Man	p. 143
Writing Assignment 12 Analyzing an Extended Argument	p. 151
Key Terms	p. 154
Deductive and Inductive Argument	p. 157
Key Distinctions	p. 157
Necessity Versus Probability	p. 157
From General to Specific, Specific To General	p. 158
The Relationship Between Induction and Deduction	p. 159
Deductive Reasoning	p. 164
Class Logic	p. 164
Relationships Between Classes	p. 165
Inclusion	p. 165
Exclusion	p. 166
Overlap	p. 166
Class Logic and the Syllogism	p. 168
The Subject and the Predicate	p. 169
Truth, Validity, and Soundness	p. 169
Guilt By Association	p. 171
More on Syllogisms	p. 172
Hypothetical Arguments	p. 176
The Valid Hypothetical Argument	p. 176
The Invalid Hypothetical Argument	p. 177
Necessary and Sufficient Conditions	p. 177
Hypothetical Chains	p. 178
Hypothetical Claims and Everyday Reasoning	p. 179
Inductive Reasoning	p. 183
Generalization	p. 183
The Direction of Inductive Reasoning	p. 184
Testing Inductive Generalizations	p. 185
Criteria for Evaluating Statistical Generalizations	p. 185
Hasty Generalizations	p. 187
Thinking Critically About Surveys and Statistics	p. 188
Mistaking Correlation for Causation	p. 189
Epidemiology	p. 190
Considering the Source	p. 191
Writing Assignment 13 Questioning Generalizations	p. 196
Writing Assignment 14 Conducting a Survey: A Collaborative Project	p. 196
Summary	p. 197
Key Terms	p. 198
The Language of Argument-Style	p. 200
Parallelism	p. 200
The Structure of Parallelism	p. 200
Logic of the Parallel Series	p. 202
Emphasizing Ideas with Parallelism	p. 203
Sharpening Sentences, Eliminating Wordiness	p. 204
Concrete Subjects	p. 205
Active and Passive Verbs	p. 205
Passive Verbs and Evasion	p. 206
When the Passive is Appropriate	p. 206
Consistent Sentence Subjects	p. 207
Summary	p. 209
Key Terms	p. 209
A Quick Guide to Integrating Research into your Own Writing	p. 210
Where to Begin	p. 210
Three Options for Including Research	p. 211
Blend Quotations and Paraphrases Into Your Own Writing	p. 211
Make the Purpose Clear	p. 212
Punctuation and Format of Quotations	p. 212
Omitting Words from a Direct Quotation-Ellipsis	p. 213
Plagiarism	p. 213
Additional Readings	p. 215
"Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Nicholas Carr	p. 215
"Blinded by Science," Chris Mooney	p. 223
"When Human Rights Extend to Nonhumans," Donald G. McNeil Jr.	p. 231
Text Credits	p. 234
Index	p. 236
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.