The Well-Crafted Argument: A Guide and Reader - Softcover

White, Fred D.; Billings, Simone J.

2.69

26 ratings by Goodreads

9780618438112: The Well-Crafted Argument: A Guide and Reader

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0618438114 ISBN 13: 9780618438112

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 2004

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

The goal of this two-part argument rhetoric/reader is to equip students with a complete set of skills (writing, arguing, reasoning, critical reading and thinking, researching) necessary for writing argumentative essays in a wide variety of contexts and disciplines. The Well-Crafted Argument uses a practical, accessible, skills-based approach to teaching argument while encouraging students to develop their individual voices and visions. Part One, "The Rhetoric of Argument," covers using the writing process when writing arguments, framing arguments using three main models (Classic, Toulmin, and Rogerian), reasoning and avoiding fallacies, critical reading and thinking, research, and documentation of sources. Integrated throughout this part are 16 sample arguments, including Thomas Jefferson's "Declaration of Independence" and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail. "Part Two, "Reading Clusters," is an anthology of 95 readings grouped into nine clusters. The first eight clusters cover controversial topics of current interest, such as downloading music files, national security, standardized testing, censorship, and media violence. Each cluster includes a wide range of contrasting (not just opposing) views. The last cluster features famous arguments, including Plato's "Allegory of the Cave," Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," Frederick Douglass's "I Hear the Mournful Wail of Millions," and Roe v. Wade. At least one student essay is included within each of the nine reading clusters.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Fred D. White received his Ph.D. in English (with a concentration in Rhetorical Theory and Composition Studies) in 1980 from The University of Iowa and began teaching at Santa Clara University that same year. He has taught expository writing and literature courses at both the community college and university level. A professor of English at Santa Clara University, White offers courses in first-year composition, argumentation, nature writing, and an introduction to poetry. In 1997 he received the Louis and Dorina Brutocao Award for Teaching Excellence. He is the author, most recently, of The Daily Reader: 366 Selections from Great Prose and Poetry to Stimulate Great Writing (Writer's Digest Books, fall 2009), Approaching Emily Dickinson: Critical Currents and Crosscurrents since 1960 (Camden House, 2008), and also of The Daily Writer: 366 Meditations to Cultivate a Productive and Meaningful Writing Life (Writer's Digest Books, 2008; A Quality Paperback Book Club Featured Selection). Others of his titles include Essential Muir: A Selection of John Muir's Best Writings (Heyday Books, 2006) and Lifewriting (Quill Driver Books, 2004). His articles have been published in such journals as Arizona Quarterly, College Literature, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Cambridge Companion to Emily Dickinson, North Dakota Quarterly, Pleiades, San Jose Studies, South Dakota Review, Walt Whitman Review, and The Writing Instructor.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.