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 with Readings introduces a modified--more acessible, more pragmatic--Toulmin model to help students create incisive arguments. Combining the rhetorical coverage of The Craft of Argument with an anthology of readings, this rhetoric/reader gives students insight into writing arguments and then inspires them with an intriguing collection of professional essays. "Cases" in each readings chapter bypass the usual argument issues in favor of more thoughtful topics like collective delusions, risk-taking behavior, and truthfulness and deception. This practical text is a guide to three skills: 1) the critical thinking needed to reach a sound conclusion, 2) the imagination to generate the elements of an argument that would support that conclusion, and 3) the ability to plan, draft, and revise a written argument that readers judge to be persuasive.This text is, in fact, the first guide to seamlessly integrate the principles of critical thinking, argumentation, and the writing process by helping students understand how to use these principles of writing to help them think and argue.
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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the very best on the subject,
This review is from: The Craft of Argument with Readings (Paperback)
Logic, argumentation, and influence are three of my favorite study subjects. So it was with great interest that I picked up "The Craft of Argumentation with Readings". I expected a lot of the usual stuff, an almost mechanical approach to logic and influence. This is not at all what I received. This book is unique among this genre of books. The authors very clearly take the reader into the area of argumentation and influence as an art form. All the expected education in argumentation is presented in the book. Reasoning, evidence, claims, forms of reasoning, meanings, causes, overt and covert force of language, fallacies, etc. are all covered. But all these things are in any competent book on argumentation. The problem is that most books also end there - a competent education in the mechanics of argumentation. This book not only develops those competencies but also closely examines issues such as developing the ethos, credibility, and other factors of argumentation. This is where this book pulls away from the pack and becomes one of the very few that teaches the art and craft of argumentation. You might see the difference by comparing it to the art of dance. Anyone can learn the movements required to perform a specific dance and may be able to execute it flawlessly, but it doesn't necessarily move the audience emotionally. Another trained dancer can go through the same steps and create a thing of beauty that moves the audience and causes them to feel they are a part of the dance. Likewise you can go through the mechanics of argumentation and develop a perfectly logical and compelling position that moves no one to accept it. Or you can create it as an art form that creates an emotional as well as a logical response in the recipient. This is not only a highly recommended book for anyone interested in the subject, it should be required reading for anyone serious about understanding argumentation and influence.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Poor Design and Average Content,
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This review is from: The Craft of Argument with Readings (Paperback)
I am a big fan of Williams' other book "Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace." If you do not own "Style," buy it from Amazon.com now. It is that good. "The Craft of Argument" lacks the brilliance of "Style," yet you will learn a great deal from it nonetheless.
The book design is substandard. You will have difficulty keeping track of what heading level you are reading. The index is insufficiently detailed for those looking to pick out a section for single use. The book is in black and white, so the typography of the book is especially important. I am happy to report that, in contrast to the overall book design, the typography is excellent. The fonts are readable and large enough to accommodate speed reading techniques. I was pleased to find the index fonts as large as the book font. The content is comprehensive and undeniably excellent...except for one major point under the heading 'Inappropriate rhetorical Appeals' on page 316: "So what if someone contradicts herself? Regardless of what the writer said before, we have to judge the issue before us on its own merits..." Here, the authors slip into sophistry. They advance a theory of consistency within single arguments only, but this encourages, even justifies, a contradictory, ad hoc argument style. As Quine points out in "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" (another book you should buy immediately), we never test arguments in isolation, but instead we test whole theories. By inappropriately limiting the consistency to single arguments, the authors do real harm to reasoning in practical situations. The book is good, but it could have been great. Get it. Despite its shortcomings, you will be a better writer after reading it.
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