The Craft of Argument [Paperback]

Joseph M. Williams (Author), Gregory G. Colomb (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 032101264X | ISBN-13: 978-0321012647 | Publication Date: November 8, 2000 | Edition: 5

Written by the authors of such successful composition titles as Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (AWL) and The Craft of Research (Chicago UP), The Craft of Argument is an argument rhetoric worth looking at! The Craft of Argument is based on the Toulmin system of argument and has a brief selection of readings. Reviewers have raved about the modifications to Toulmin that Williams and Colomb have made. This book can be described as "Toulmin developed for writing" or "A Toulmin for Writers."

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This is the top argument rhetoric guide on using the Toulmin system of argument. Written by the authors of such successful composition titles as Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (AWL) and The Craft of Research (Chicago UP), The Craft of Argument is an argument rhetoric worth looking at! The Craft of Argument is based on the Toulmin system of argument and has a brief selection of readings. Reviewers have raved about the modifications to Toulmin that Williams and Colomb have made, where the authors have streamlined the Toulmin system further than any other book while retaining its fundamental insights, and power. The book also consists of seventeen thoughtfully selected readings, as well as useful writing instructions. A checklist of questions for planning and revising is located in a special section tabbed halfway through the book. This checklist will help readers build stronger arguments by asking them general and detailed (sentence-specific) questions regarding their arguments. Two significant appendices are included for reference: 1) logical fallacies to recognize and avoid, and 2) bibliographic citations (both MLA and APA). For anyone interested in leaning how to construct and write arguments very well.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Longman Publishing Group; 5 edition (November 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 032101264X
• ISBN-13: 978-0321012647
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,585,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crafty Guide to Analyzing Arguments, February 24, 2002

By 

Albert Jaeger (Bethesda, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Craft of Argument (Paperback)

A superb addition to the rapidly expanding "informal logic" textbook market. The book tries to familiarize the reader with a (rather original) interpretation of the so-called "Toulmin scheme" for analyzing arguments and combines this approach with a judicious dose of advice on "how to write arguments gracefully," the latter echoing Joseph Williams's well-known textbook (Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace). I liked in particular the book's easygoing tone (people writing on argumentation often come across as rather highbrow) and the excellent selection of readings. If this kind of stuff interests you, this book, perhaps combined with David Zarefsky's recently released (Teaching Company) course on "Argument: The Study of Effective Reasoning," could put you in the fast lane.