Discovering arguments Book

CHAPTER 1

Communication and Persuasion: Logos, Pathos, Ethos

   Noticing and Thinking   

   The process of thinking

   The paradigm shift

   Communicating Clearly and Effectively

   Specific evidence

Writing an Opinion Essay

   Finding your subject

   Writing Persuasively

The Persuasive Appeals

   Logos Pathos   Ethos

   Thesis Statements

   Evaluating your thesis statement

   Guide for thesis statements in persuasive essays

Engaging Your Audience

   Titles    Introductions    Conclusions

   Guide for Evaluating Writing

INTERCHAPTER 1

Style and Voice

Diction

   Monosyllabic words Multisyllabic words

   Pretentious writing

Other Features of Diction

   Specific or general Concrete or abstract

   Literal or figurative    Avoid cliches   Precise words

   Language and Thought

   Voice

   Features of objective writing

   The writing situation and voice

   Tone

   Analyzing attitude toward readers

   Analyzing attitudes toward subject and self

   Sentence Tools

      Simple sentences    Joining complete thoughts: coordination

   Using semicolons to join complete thoughts

   Solving Two Common Sentence Problems

   Comma splices and run-on sentences

CHAPTER 2

Arguments and Controversies

Critical Reading and Writing:

Agree, Disagree or Maybe Both

Reading Tools

   Asking questions   Noticing insights     Noticing assumptions

   Noticing overgeneralizations

   Analyzing and Evaluating Two Essays on a Controversy

   Analysis and evaluation of Mitch Albom’s essay

   Different ways to present other arguments

   Analysis and evaluation of Thomas Sowell’s essay

   Features of outlining    Features of summarizing

   Kinds of Evidence for Arguing: Examples, Reasons,

   Authorities, Statistics

   Using examples Using reasons

   Using authorities   Using statistics

   Writing an Essay about a Local Issue

   Writing a Report to Analyze and Evaluate an Argument

   Guidelines for a report analyzing and evaluating an argument

   Five Essays on Controversial Issues for a Report  

National service   Women in combat    College or pro sports

   Donating organs Stem cell research

   Writing an Essay with Sources about a Controversy

Guidelines for writing an essay about a controversy

Organizing an essay about a controversy

Rogerian argument   Advantages of presenting other arguments first  

   Guidelines for organizing an essay about a controversy     

   Readings on Controversial Issues: Three Case Studies

   Cheating for Success Same Sex Marriage Affirmative Action

INTERCHAPTER 2

Voice and Emphasis

   Diction and Repetition

   Repeating words for emphasis    Alliteration

Sentence Tools

   Joining complete and incomplete thoughts: subordination 

   Colons and dashes and voice    Underlining (italics) and voice

   Parentheses and voice

   Fine-tuning Sentences  

      Sentence fragments: pros and cons Conciseness

   Omit needless words I Omit needless words II

CHAPTER 3 

Strategies of Argumentation

   Arguing by Induction and Deduction

   Arguing by Illustration

Arguing by Narration and Description

   Arguing by Refutation

   Arguing from Comparison

   Organizing comparison: block and alternate patterns

   Arguing from Contraries

   Using contradictions and paradoxes

   Paradox and tolerance for ambiguity   Either/or thinking

   Arguing from Analogy

   Explaining the mind

   Arguing from Classification

   Arguing from Cause and Effect

   Arguing from Definition

   Digging for roots of words

Definition Essay Using Various Strategies of Argumentation

Analyzing and Evaluating an Essay

Using the Toulmin Strategy to Argue

   Kinds of arguments—kinds of claims Warrants 

   Guidelines for increasing the credibility of your arguments

   Toulmin and the Psychology of Argument 

   Uncovering hidden values, beliefs, attitudes

   Using the Toulmin Strategy to Analyze and Evaluate an Argument

   Essays to Analyze and Evaluate with the Toulmin Strategy

INTERCHAPTER 3

Strategies of Repetition

   Sentence Tools

   Parallelism Anaphora Epistrophe 

   The Power of Threes in Sentences

   Using threes in sentences: rising order or not

   Varying Sentence Beginnings: Three Ways

   Using -ing phrases Using -ed or -en phrases    Using To phrases

CHAPTER 4

Problems in Reasoning

   Finding the Facts 

   Implications, Assumptions, and Inferences  

   Fallacies 

   Problems of Insufficient Evidence 

   Overgeneralizing   Card stacking    Ad ignorantium 

   Post hoc ergo propter hoc 

   Problems Based on Irrelevant Information

   Ad Baculum    Ad hominem    Fallacy of opposition 

   Genetic Fallacy  Guilt by association   Ad misericordiam 

   Ad Populum   Bandwagon   Plain folks and snob appeal 

   Ad Verecundiam   Red herring   Weak opponent

   Tu quoque Oversimplification 

Problems of Ambiguity 

   Amphibole   Begging the question   Equivocation 

   Loaded language False analogy 

   Problems of Faulty Reasoning 

   False dilemma (either/or thinking) Non sequitur 

   Rationalization Reductio ad absurdum Slippery slope 

   Reading and Writing Activities 

  

INTERCHAPTER 4

Style and Contraries

Sentence Tools

   Antithesis   Antithesis and balanced sentences

   Loose and periodic sentences

   Fine Tuning Sentences 

   False starts Active and passive verbs

CHAPTER 5

Visual Arguments   

Photographs

   News photographs   Guidelines for analyzing and evaluating images

  Staged images Documentary photographs

   Fotolog: A new photo phenomenon

      Student essays analyzing and evaluating photographs

      Like a photograph, a painting

   Advertisements

   Commercial ads Special considerations for analyzing and evaluating ads

   Ads for social causes    Student essays analyzing and evaluating advertisements

   Cartoons

   Cartoons and creativity    Creativity and humor

   Serious cartoons    Editorial cartoons

      Special considerations for analyzing and evaluating cartoons

      Student essays analyzing and evaluating cartoons

   Film   

   Writing about a film   Guidelines for writing a film review

   Organizing your film review Finding and synthesizing sources

   Special considerations for using sources in a film review

   Student film reviews

INTERCHAPTER 5

Analyzing Style

   Tools of Style 

   Guidelines for Writing an Essay Analyzing and Evaluating Style    

   Analyzing and Evaluating the Style of a Passage 

   Analyzing and Evaluating the Style of an Essay or a Speech 

   Essays for Analysis and Evaluation

CHAPTER 6

Critical Thinking about Poetry, Fiction, and Literary Nonfiction

   Reading and Writing about Poetry 

   The language of poetry   Elements of poetry

   Diction Imagery    Figures of speech: metaphors,

   similes, and symbols Tone Speaker  

   Sound patterns   Structure    Line breaks

   Reading Notebook 

   Writing an Essay about a Poem 

   Guidelines for writing an essay about a poem 

   Student Essay Analyzing and Evaluating a Poem

   Poems to Consider for Writing an Essay 

   Reading and Writing about Fiction 

   Elements of fiction   Plot and conflict   Character

   Point of view   Setting   Moral issues

   Writing an Essay about a Story 

   Guidelines for writing an essay about a story

   Stories to Consider for Writing an Essay 

   Reading and Writing about Literary Nonfiction 

   Writing about a Literary Nonfiction Essay 

CHAPTER 7

Library Strategies

   Research Writing Options 

   The informational report    The argument paper

   Modern Research

   Start in the Library  

   Preliminary reading  Locating your research question

   Strategy One: Finding Background Material 

   The general encyclopedias Specialized encyclopedias

   Critical thinking in a research notebook

   Strategy Two: Looking for Books

   Bibliographies    Online databases and bookstores

   The Library of Congress online   Other online sources

   The public access catalog

   Strategy Three: Look for Articles

   Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature   Newspaper online archives

   FirstSearch and ProQuest    To use popular sources or not

   Professional, technical, and specialty journals 

   Strategy Four: Look for Reports, Other Specialized Information  

   Government documents, reports   Statistical information  

   Biographical sources online    Book reviews  

   Strategy Five: Use Electronic Sources and Microform Readers

   The Working Bibliography

   Writing a Research Proposal  

   Giving the background research    Describing your project  

   Explaining your methods and procedures  

   Anticipating problems and requirements in your project  

   Discussing the significance of your project 

   Listing your works cited or references  

CHAPTER 8

Evaluating Evidence

   Research and the Internet

   Evaluation and the Internet 

   Millions of hits    Print out Internet material  

   What Is a Reliable Site?  

   Evaluating Web sites   Criteria for Web sites

   Who Is the Author?

   Identifying authors   Caution on the Internet  

   Authority    The establishment bias: an exception

   Guidelines for evaluating authors

   Reliable Information: On the Net and Off

   Context Timely data    Documentation and credibility

   Hoaxes, jokes, conspiracies, and frauds

   Guidelines for reliable information

   Understanding Evidence

   Active reading    Questioning evidence

   Primary and Secondary Evidence  

   A problem solving approach to research The weight of evidence  

   Magazines and journals   Researchers’ rule    Examining testimony

   Considering the evidence itself  Defining your terms

   Occam’s razor: the rule of simplicity Remaining impartial

   Remaining objective    Determining relevance    Significance   

   Claim   Persuasion Judging probability

   Evaluating statistical data Problems of questionnaires

   Evaluating the Data: A Test Case

   Summing up the evidence

CHAPTER 9

Documentation

   How Much Documentation?  

   Research Problems to Avoid  

   The string of pearls    Underresearched paper   

   Overworking the data Underdocumentation Plagiarism  

   Summarizing and Paraphrasing

   Parenthetical References  

   What to Document  

   Direct quotations Words and ideas from a source  

   Paraphrases and restatements Discussing the same source

   Source within a source    Content notes  

   What Not to Document  

   Common knowledge  

   In-Text Rules  

   Use author’s name and signal phrase

   Use name and title for more than one work by same author

   Use shortened titles    Use page numbers  

   Bibliography  

   Authors’ names Titles Place of publication  

   Shorten publishers’ names    Copyright date  

   Basic Work Cited Model, Book (MLA) 

   Basic Work Cited Model, Periodical (MLA)  

   Books: MLA Works Cited Models 

   One author More than one book by same author  

   Author of one book, coauthor of another   Two or more authors

   Committee or group author Book with editor(s)  

   Essay, chapter, or selection in anthology, edited work

   Translation   Multi-volume work Part(s) of multi-volume work  

   Reprint of older work   Edition Introduction, preface, foreword 

   Bible, sacred works   Anonymous works   Dictionary  

   Periodicals: MLA Works Cited Models 

   Weekly magazine article Magazine article, no author given  

   Monthly magazine article Newspaper article  

   Newspaper article, unsigned    Editorial, signed and unsigned 

   Letter to the editor      Book review     Film review

   Music review   Professional, technical, or specialty journal,

   each issue starting with page 1 Professional, technical, or specialty

   journal,  pages numbered  continuously throughout year 

   Titles and quotes within titles  

   Other Sources  

   Handout or unpublished essay    Lecture, speech, public address  

   Film    Video recording: television or film Play, performance 

   Musical performance Musical composition Recording  

   Individual selection from a recording Television show  

   Work of art    Poem published separately Poem in a collection  

   Letter, personal Letter(s), published Personal interview 

   Telephone interview   Published interview  

   A chart, diagram, map, or table A cartoon   An advertisement  

   Electronic Sources

   Article from a magazine   Article from an online newspaper  

   Article from an online professional or technical journal

   Online book   Part of an online book

   Online government publication   CD-ROM

   Work from an online database

   Name and Date Method of Documentation: APA Style  

   Guidelines for References in Your Text: APA Style  

   Extended discussion Two or more authors   No author

   Author (committee or group) with long name

   Two authors with same name   Same author, same year

   Multiple references

   References List in APA Style  

   Basic Reference Form, Book (APA)  

   Basic Reference Form, Periodicals (APA) 

   Books: Reference List Models, APA Style

One author   More than one book by same author  

   Author of one book, co-author of another  

   Two or more authors Committee or group author

   Book with editor(s)   Chapter or section in an edited work  

   Translation   Multi-volume work  

   Part(s) of multi-volume work Unsigned work

   Reprint of older work Edition  

   Introduction, preface, foreword    Dictionary  

   Periodicals: Reference List Models, APA Style  

   Weekly magazine article Magazine article, no author given  

   Monthly magazine article   Newspaper article 

   Newspaper article, unsigned   Editorial, signed and unsigned

   Letter to the editor   Book review  Film review

   Music review Professional, technical, or specialty journal,

   each issue starting with page 1   Professional, technical, or  

   specialty journal, pages numbered continuously throughout volume  

   Titles and quotes within titles 

   Other Sources:Reference List Models, APA Style  

   Handout or unpublished essay Lecture, speech, public address  

   Film Video or DVD: film or television Television show  

   Play, performance    Recording   Individual selection from

   a recording   Work of art   Poem published separately  

   Poem in a collection   Letter, personal   Letter(s), published  

   Personal interview Published interview  

   A chart, diagram, map, or table A cartoon    An advertisement  

   Electronic Sources: Reference List Models, APA Style  

   Internet articles based on a print source Article from

   a professional or technical journal   Article from an online

   journal, no print source   Article from a magazine

   Article from an online newspaper Online book  

   Online government publication Work from an online database 

CHAPTER 10

Writing Your Research Paper

   Researchers as Writers 

   Writing an Informational Report 

   A model informational report

   Organizing Informational Reports

   Guide for organizing informational reports

   Writing an Argument Paper 

Shaping your thesis Discovering order 

      Working through your project

   The Formal Outline   

   Revising the preliminary outline

   The Formal Outline Model  

   The Abstract  

   Title, Introduction, Conclusion

   Organizing Your Paper

   Chronological Order of importance Making concessions 

   Writing Clear Paragraphs  

   Use unifying devices

Works Cited or References 

   The bibliography rule

   A Model Argument Paper 

   Typing Your Paper

MLA guidelines     APA guidelines

   Example title page based on APA guidelines

   APA page models after title page

   Illustrations and Tables  

A CONCISE HANDBOOK ON GRAMMAR, MECHANICS, AND USAGE

   Sentences  

   What is a sentence? Finding the subject of a sentence

   Subject and verb agreement problems

   Pronoun agreement problems Clauses, dependent and independent

   Who and whom   Appropriate verb tenses   Lie and lay

   Revise faulty parallelism    Dangling or misplaced modifiers

   Avoid sexist language   

   Punctuation  

   Period   Comma splices and run-on sentences

   Comma Semicolons and a complex series  

   For more on semicolons, see Interchapter 1

   Colons and dashes—see Interchapter 2 Exclamation mark  

   Parentheses    Brackets    Use “Sic” to indicate errors in quotes 

   Quotation marks: how to quote from sources

   Copying and quoting   Question marks Ellipsis Slash  

   Mechanics

   Apostrophe Hyphen Underlining (Italics)  

   Capitalization Abbreviations and numbers  

   Glossary of Usage