Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings, Brief Edition, MLA Update Edition / Edition 10

by John D. Ramage, John C. Bean, June Johnson

Overview

For courses in Argument and Research.
This version of Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings, Brief has been updated the reflect the 8th edition of the MLA Handbook (April 2016) *


Teach students to read arguments critically and to produce effective arguments
Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings, Brief Edition, Tenth Edition integrates four different approaches to argument: the enthymeme as a logical structure, the classical concepts of logos, pathos, and ethos, the Toulmin system, and stasis theory. Focusing on argument as dialogue in search of solutions instead of a pro-con debate with winners and losers, it is consistently praised for teaching the critical thinking skills needed for writing arguments. Major assignment chapters each focus on one or two classical stases (e.g. definition, resemblance, causal, evaluation, and policy). Each concept is immediately reinforced with discussion prompts, and each chapter ends with multiple comprehensive writing assignments. This brief version contains exemplary readings within the chapters but excludes the anthology included in the comprehensive version. Also available in a Comprehensive version (032190673X) and a Concise version (0321964284) which is a redaction of the Brief edition.

* The 8th Edition introduces sweeping changes to the philosophy and details of MLA works cited entries. Responding to the “increasing mobility of texts,” MLA now encourages writers to focus on the process of crafting the citation, beginning with the same questions for any source. These changes, then, align with current best practices in the teaching of writing which privilege inquiry and critical thinking over rote recall and rule-following.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780134586502
Publisher:	Pearson
Publication date:	07/27/2016
Edition description:	Brief
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

John Ramage received his BA in philosophy from Whitman College and his Ph.D. in English from Washington State University. He served for over thirty years on the faculties of Montana State University and Arizona State University. In addition to his teaching duties, which included both graduate and undergraduate courses in writing and rhetoric, literary theory and modern literature, Dr. Ramage served as a writing program administrator overseeing writing across the curriculum and composition programs and writing centers. At Arizona State university, he was the founding executive director of the university's Division of Undergraduate Academic Services, responsible for academic support services campus-wide.

In addition to the Writing Arguments Dr. Ramage was the co-author of the textbooks Form and Surprise in Composition, and Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing. He was also the lead author for Argument in Composition, and the sole author of Rhetoric: A User's Guide, and Twentieth Century American Success Rhetoric: How to Construct a Suitable Self. He is currently writing a book about political rhetoric.

John C. Bean is an emeritus professor of English at Seattle University, where he held the title of “Consulting Professor of Writing and Assessment.” He has an undergraduate degree from Stanford (1965) and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington (1972). He is the author of an internationally used book on writing across the curriculum--Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom, 2nd edition (Jossey-Bass, 2011). He is also the co-author of the Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing as well as two other influential composition textbooks–Writing Arguments and Reading Rhetorically. He has published numerous articles on writing and writing-across-the-curriculum as well as on literary subjects including Shakespeare and Spenser. His current research interests focus on pedagogical strategies for teaching undergraduate research including quantitative literacy, disciplinary methods of inquiry and argument, and the problem of “transfer of learning” as students move through and across a curriculum. A concomitant research interest is the development of institutional assessment strategies that promote productive faculty conversations about teaching and learning. In 2001, he presented a keynote address at the first annual conference of the European Association of Teachers of Academic Writing at the University of Groningen. He has delivered lectures and conducted workshops on writing-across-the-curriculum throughout the United States and Canada as well as for universities in Germany, Bangladesh, Ghana, and Zambia. In 2010 his article “Messy Problems and Lay Audiences: Teaching Critical Thinking within the Finance Curriculum” (co-authored with colleagues from finance and economics) won the 2009 McGraw-Hill — Magna Publications Award for the year’s best “scholarly work on teaching and learning.”

June Johnson is an associate professor of English, Director of Writing Studies, and Writing Consultant to the University Core at Seattle University. She has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Education from Stanford and an M.A. in English from Mills College. After chairing the English department of a preparatory school in Los Angeles and working as a development editor in educational publishing, she earned her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. At Seattle University, she supervises the teaching of first-year academic writing seminars as well as teaches these courses and advanced argument and composition theory in the Writing Studies minor . Her research areas include global studies, reflective writing, first-year composition, writing transfer, argumentation, and Rogerian communication–subjects on which she conducts workshops at Seattle University and at institutions around the country. She has published articles in American Studies on women’s writing about the West in the nineteenth century. She is the co-author (with John Bean) of the The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing, a text known for its foundation in writing-across-the-curriculum pedagogy and its useful introduction to academic writing and co-author (also with John Bean) of Writing Arguments, and she authored Global Issues, Local Arguments, 3^rd edition (Pearson, 2014), an argument reader and rhetoric with a civic literacy focus that provides a cross-curricular introduction to global problems.

Table of Contents

PART ONE: OVERVIEW OF AN ARGUMENT

1 Argument: An Introduction
What Do We Mean by Argument?
Argument Is Not a Fight or a Quarrel
Argument Is Not Pro-Con Debate
Arguments Can Be Explicit or Implicit
JUAN LUCAS (STUDENT), “An Argument Against Banning Phthalates”

A student opposes a ban on a chemical that makes toys soft and flexible.

The Defining Features of Argument
Argument Requires Justification of Its Claims
Argument Is Both a Process and a Product
Argument Combines Truth Seeking and Persuasion
Argument and the Problem of Truth
Conclusion

2 Argument as Inquiry: Reading and Exploring
Finding Issues to Explore
Do Some Initial Brainstorming
Be Open to the Issues All around You
Explore Ideas by Freewriting
Explore Ideas by Idea Mapping
Explore Ideas by Playing the Believing and Doubting Game
Reading Texts Rhetorically
Genres of Argument
Authorial Purpose and Audience
Determining Degree of Advocacy
Reading to Believe an Argument’s Claims
JAMES SUROWIECKI, “The Pay Is Too Damn Low”

An American journalist argues for an increased federally mandated minimum wage combined with government policies to promote job growth and ensure a stable safety net for the poor.

Summary Writing as a Way of Reading to Believe
Practicing Believing: Willing Your Own Belief in the Writer’s Views
Reading to Doubt
Thinking Dialectically
MICHAEL SALTSMAN, “To Help the Poor, Move Beyond ‘Minimum’ Gestures”

The chief economist for the Employment Policy Institute opposes an increased minimum wage, arguing that it does nothing for the jobless poor and will in fact lead to increased joblessness.

Three Ways to Foster Dialectic Thinking
Conclusion
Writing Assignment: An Argument Summary or a Formal Exploratory Essay
Reading
TRUDIE MAKENS (STUDENT), “Should Fast-Food Workers Be Paid $15 per Hour?”

Examining articles by Surowiecki, Saltsman, and others, a student narrates the evolution of her thinking as she researches the issue of minimum wage.

PART TWO: WRITING AN ARGUMENT

3 The Core of an Argument: A Claim with Reasons
The Classical Structure of Argument
Classical Appeals and the Rhetorical Triangle
Issue Questions as the Origins of Argument
Difference between an Issue Question and an Information Question
How to Identify an Issue Question
Difference between a Genuine Argument and a Pseudo-Argument
Pseudo-Arguments: Committed Believers and Fanatical Skeptics
A Closer Look at Pseudo-Arguments: The Lack of Shared Assumptions
Frame of an Argument: A Claim Supported by Reasons
What Is a Reason?
Expressing Reasons in Because Clauses
Conclusion
Writing Assignment: An Issue Question and Working Thesis Statements

4 The Logical Structure of Arguments
An Overview of Logos: What Do We Mean by the “Logical Structure” of an
Argument?
Formal Logic versus Real-World Logic
The Role of Assumptions
The Core of an Argument: The Enthymeme
The Power of Audience-Based Reasons
Adopting a Language for Describing Arguments: The Toulmin System
Using Toulmin’s Schema to Plan and Test Your Argument
Hypothetical Example: Cheerleaders as Athletes
Extended Student Example: Girls and Violent Video Games
CARMEN TIEU (STUDENT), “Why Violent Video Games Are Good for Girls”

A student argues that playing violent video games helps girls gain insight into male culture.

The Thesis-Governed “Self-Announcing” Structure of Classical Argument
Conclusion
A Note on the Informal Fallacies
Writing Assignment: Plan of an Argument’s Details

5 Using Evidence Effectively
Kinds of Evidence
The Persuasive Use of Evidence
Apply the STAR Criteria to Evidence
Establish a Trustworthy Ethos
Be Mindful of a Source’s Distance from Original Data
Rhetorical Understanding of Evidence
Angle of Vision and the Selection and Framing of Evidence
Examining Visual Arguments: Angle of Vision
Rhetorical Strategies for Framing Evidence
Special Strategies for Framing Statistical Evidence
Creating a Plan for Gathering Evidence
Conclusion
Writing Assignment: A Supporting-Reasons Argument

6 Moving Your Audience: Ethos, Pathos, and Kairos
Logos, Ethos, and Pathos as Persuasive Appeals: An Overview
How to Create an Effective Ethos: The Appeal to Credibility
How to Create Pathos: The Appeal to Beliefs and Emotions
Use Concrete Language
Use Specific Examples and Illustrations
Use Narratives
Use Words, Metaphors, and Analogies with Appropriate Connotations
Kairos: The Timeliness and Fitness of Arguments
Using Images to Appeal to Logos, Ethos, Pathos, and Kairos
Examining Visual Arguments: Logos, Ethos, Pathos, and kairos
How Audience-Based Reasons Appeal to Logos, Ethos, Pathos, and Kairos
Conclusion
Writing Assignment: Revising a Draft for Ethos, Pathos, and Audience-Based Reasons

7 Responding to Objections and Alternative Views
One-Sided, Multisided, and Dialogic Arguments
Determining Your Audience’s Resistance to Your Views
Appealing to a Supportive Audience: One-Sided Argument
Appealing to a Neutral or Undecided Audience: Classical Argument
Summarizing Opposing Views
Refuting Opposing Views
Strategies for Rebutting Evidence
Conceding to Opposing Views
Example of a Student Essay Using Refutation Strategy
TRUDIE MAKENS (STUDENT), “Bringing Dignity to Workers: Make the Minimum Wage a Living Wage”

A student writer refutes three arguments against increasing the minimum wage.

Appealing to a Resistant Audience: Dialogic Argument
Creating a Dialogic Argument with a Delayed Thesis
ROSS DOUTHAT, “Islam in Two Americas”

A conservative columnist asks readers to explore aspects of American identity that suggest that Muslims should not build a community center near Ground Zero.

Writing a Delayed-Thesis Argument
A More Open-Ended Approach: Rogerian Communication
Rogerian Communication as Growth for the Writer
Rogerian Communication as Collaborative Negotiation
Writing Rogerian Communication
COLLEEN FONTANA (STUDENT), “An Open Letter to Robert Levy in Response to His Article ‘They Never Learn’ ”

Using the strategies of Rogerian argument, a student writes an open letter about the problem of gun violence on college campuses to an advocate of minimal gun control laws and more guns.

Conclusion
Writing Assignment: A Classical Argument or a Rogerian Letter
Readings
LAUREN SHINOZUKA (STUDENT), “The Dangers of Digital Distractedness” (A Classical Argument)

Using the classical argument form, a student writer argues that being a skilled digi-tal native also “harms us by promoting an unproductive habit of multitasking, by dehumanizing our relationships, and by encouraging a distorted self-image.”

MONICA ALLEN (STUDENT), “An Open Letter to Christopher Eide in Response to His Article ‘High-Performing Charter Schools Can Close the Opportunity Gap’ ” (RogerianCommunication)

Using the strategies of Rogerian communication, a student writer skeptical about charter schools initiates dialogue with a charter school advocate on ways to improve education for low-income and minority students.

PART THREE: ANALYZING ARGUMENTS

8. Analyzing Arguments Rhetorically
Thinking Rhetorically about a Text
Questions for Rhetorical Analysis
Conducting a Rhetorical Analysis
KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ, “Egg Heads”

Writing for the conservative magazine National Review, Kathryn Jean Lopez argues against the emerging practice of egg donation enabled by new reproductive technology.

Our Own Rhetorical Analysis of “Egg Heads”
Conclusion
Writing Assignment: A Rhetorical Analysis
Generating Ideas for Your Rhetorical Analysis
Organizing Your Rhetorical Analysis
Readings
ELLEN GOODMAN, “Womb for Rent–For a Price”

Writing ten years after Lopez, liberal columnist Ellen Goodman explores the ethical dilemmas created when first-world couples “outsource” motherhood to third-world women.

ZACHARY STUMPS (STUDENT), “A Rhetorical Analysis of Ellen Goodman’s ‘Womb for Rent–For a Price’ ”

A student analyzes Ellen Goodman’s rhetorical strategies in “Womb for Rent,” emphasizing her delayed-thesis structure and her use of language with double meanings.

9 Analyzing Visual Arguments
Understanding Design Elements in Visual Argument
Use of Type
Use of Space or Layout
An Analysis of a Visual Argument Using Type and Spatial Elements
Use of Color
Use of Images and Graphics
An Analysis of a Visual Argument Using All the Design Components
The Compositional Features of Photographs and Drawings
An Analysis of a Visual Argument Using Images
The Genres of Visual Argument
Posters and Fliers
Public Affairs Advocacy Advertisements
Cartoons
Web Pages
Constructing Your Own Visual Argument
Guidelines for Creating Visual Arguments
Using Information Graphics in Arguments
How Tables Contain a Variety of Stories
Using a Graph to Tell a Story
Incorporating Graphics into Your Argument
Conclusion
Writing Assignment: A Visual Argument Rhetorical Analysis, a Visual Argument, or a Microtheme Using Quantitative Data

PART FOUR: ARGUMENTS IN DEPTH: TYPES OF CLAIMS

10 An Introduction to the Types of Claims
The Types of Claims and Their Typical Patterns of Development
Using Claim Types to Focus an Argument and Generate Ideas: An Example
Writer 1: Ban E-Cigarettes
Writer 2: Promote E-Cigarettes as a Preferred Alternative to Real Cigarettes
Writer 3: Place No Restrictions on E-Cigarettes
Hybrid Arguments: How Claim Types Work Together in Arguments
Some Examples of Hybrid Arguments
An Extended Example of a Hybrid Argument
ALEX HUTCHINSON, “Pounding Pills: Your Daily Multivitamin May Be Doing More Harm Than Good”
Writing for an outdoor sports magazine targeting health and fitness enthusiasts, a journalist reviews the scientific literature against daily multivitamins and other supplements.

11 Definition and Resemblance Arguments
What Is at Stake in a Categorical Argument?
Consequences Resulting from Categorical Claims
The Rule of Justice: Things in the Same Category Should Be Treated the Same Way
Types of Categorical Arguments
Simple Categorical Arguments
Definition Arguments
Resemblance Argument Using Analogy
Resemblance Arguments Using Precedent
Examining Visual Arguments: Claim about Category (Definition)
The Criteria-Match Structure of Definition Arguments
Overview of Criteria-Match Structure
Toulmin Framework for a Definition Argument
Creating Criteria Using Aristotelian Definition
Creating Criteria Using an Operational Definition
Conducting the Match Part of a Definition Argument
Idea-Generating Strategies for Creating Your Own Criteria-Match
Argument
Strategy 1: Research How Others Have Defined the Term
Strategy 2: Create Your Own Extended Definition
Writing Assignment: A Definition Argument
Exploring Ideas
Identifying Your Audience and Determining What’s at Stake
Organizing a Definition Argument
Questioning and Critiquing a Definition Argument
Readings
ARTHUR KNOPF (STUDENT), “Is Milk a Health Food?”

A student argues that milk, despite its reputation for promoting calcium-rich bones, may not be a health food.

ALEX MULLEN (STUDENT), “A Pirate But Not a Thief: What Does ‘Stealing’ Mean in a Digital Environment?”

A student argues that his act of piracy–downloading a film from a file- sharing torrent site–is not stealing because it deprives no one of property or profit.

LOS ANGELES TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD, “College Football–Yes, It’s a Job”

The Editorial Board of the Los Angeles Times supports a court decision that scholarship football players at Northwestern University are “paid employees” of the university and therefore have the right to unionize.

12 Causal Arguments
An Overview of Causal Arguments
Kinds of Causal Arguments
Toulmin Framework for a Causal Argument
Two Methods for Arguing That One Event Causes Another
First Method: Explain the Causal Mechanism Directly
Second Method: Infer Causal Links Using Inductive Reasoning
Examining Visual Arguments: A Causal Claim
Key Terms and Inductive Fallacies in Causal Arguments
Writing Assignment: A Causal Argument
Exploring Ideas
Identifying Your Audience and Determining What’s at Stake
Organizing a Causal Argument
Questioning and Critiquing a Causal Argument
Readings
JULEE CHRISTIANSON (STUDENT), “Why Lawrence Summers Was Wrong: Culture Rather Than Biology Explains the Underrepresentation of Women in Science and Mathematics” (APA-format research paper)

A student writer disagrees with Harvard president Lawrence Summers’s claim that genetic factors may account for fewer women than men holding professorships in math and science at prestige universities.

DEBORAH FALLOWS, “Papa, Don’t Text: The Perils of Distracted Parenting”

Linguist Deborah Fallows argues in The Atlantic that by texting and talking on cell phones instead of interacting with their young children adults are jeopardizing their children’s language learning.

CARLOS MACIAS (STUDENT), “‘The Credit Card Company Made Me Do It!’–The Credit Card Industry’s Role in Causing Student Debt”

A student writer examines the causes of college students’ credit card debt and puts the blame on the exploitive practices of the credit card industry.

13 Evaluation and Ethical Arguments
An Overview of Categorical Ethical Evaluation Arguments
Constructing a Categorical Evaluation Argument
Criteria-Match Structure of Categorical Evaluations
Developing Your Criteria
Making Your Match Argument
Examining Visual Arguments: An Evaluation Claim
Constructing an Ethical Evaluation Argument
Consequences as the Base of Ethics
Principles as the Base of Ethics
Example Ethical Arguments Examining Capital Punishment
Common Problems in Making Evaluation Arguments
Writing Assignment: An Evaluation or Ethical Argument
Exploring Ideas
Identifying Your Audience and Determining What’s at Stake
Organizing an Evaluation Argument
Questioning and Critiquing a Categorical Evaluation Argument
Critiquing an Ethical Argument
Readings
LORENA MENDOZA-FLORES (STUDENT), “Silenced and Invisible: Problems of Hispanic Students at Valley High School”

A physics major critiques her former high school for marginalizing its growing numbers of Hispanic students.

CHRISTOPHER MOORE (STUDENT), “Information Plus Satire: Why The Daily Show and The Colbert Report Are Good Sources of News for Young People”

A student favorably evaluates The Daily Show and The Colbert Report as news sources by arguing that they keep us up to date on major world events and teach us to read the news rhetorically.

JUDITH DAAR AND EREZ ALONI, “Three Genetic Parents–For One Healthy Baby”

Lawyers specializing in medical research argue that mitochondrial replacement (which enables a child to inherit DNA from three parents) “might be a way to prevent hundreds of mitochondrial-linked diseases, which affect about one in 5, people.”

SAMUEL AQUILA, “The ‘Therapeutic Cloning’ of Human Embryos”

A Catholic archbishop finds therapeutic cloning “heinous,” despite its potential health benefits, “because the process is intended to create life, exploit it, and then destroy it.”

14 Proposal Arguments
The Special Features and Concerns of Proposal Arguments
Practical Proposals versus Policy Proposals
Toulmin Framework for a Proposal Argument
Special Concerns for Proposal Arguments
Examining Visual Arguments: A Proposal Claim
Developing a Proposal Argument
Convincing Your Readers that a Problem Exists
Showing the Specifics of Your Proposal
Convincing Your Readers that the Benefits of Your Proposal Outweigh the Costs
Using Heuristic Strategies to Develop Supporting Reasons for Your Proposal
The “Claim Types” Strategy
The “Stock Issues” Strategy
Proposal Arguments as Advocacy Posters or Advertisements
Writing Assignment: A Proposal Argument
Exploring Ideas
Identifying Your Audience and Determining What’s at Stake
Organizing a Proposal Argument
Designing a One-Page Advocacy Poster or Advertisement
Designing PowerPoint Slides or Other Visual Aids for a Speech
Questioning and Critiquing a Proposal Argument
Readings
MEGAN JOHNSON (STUDENT), “A Proposal to Allow Off-Campus Purchases with a University
Meal Card”

A student writes a practical proposal urging her university’s administration to allow off-campus use of meal cards as a way of increasing gender equity and achieving other benefits.

IVAN SNOOK (STUDENT), “Flirting with Disaster: An Argument Against Integrating Women into the Combat Arms” (MLA-format research paper)

A student writer and Marine veteran returned from combat duty in Iraq argues that women should not serve in combat units because the inevitable sexual friction undermines morale and endangers soldiers’ lives.

SAVE-BEES.ORG, “SAVE THE BEES ADVOCACY AD”

An organization devoted to saving bees calls for support for a moratorium on the use of certain chemical pesticides that are deadly to bees.

SANDY WAINSCOTT (STUDENT), “Why McDonald’s Should Sell Meat and Veggie Pies: A Proposal to End Subsidies for Cheap Meat” (speech with PowerPoint slides)

A student proposes the end of subsidies for cheap meat for the benefit of both people’s health and the environment.

MARCEL DICKE AND ARNOLD VAN HUIS, “The Six-Legged Meat of the Future”

Two Dutch entomologists argue that insects are a nutritious and tasty form of protein and less environmentally harmful than cattle, pigs, or chickens.

PART FIVE: THE RESEARCHED ARGUMENT

15 Finding and Evaluating Sources
Formulating a Research Question Instead of a “Topic”
Thinking Rhetorically about Kinds of Sources
Identifying Kinds of Sources Relevant to Your Question
Approaching Sources Rhetorically
Finding Sources
Conducting Interviews
Gathering Source Data from Surveys or Questionnaires
Finding Books and Reference Sources
Using Licensed Databases to Find Articles in Scholarly Journals, Magazines, and News Sources
Finding Cyberspace Sources: Searching the World Wide Web
Selecting and Evaluating Your Sources
Reading with Rhetorical Awareness
Evaluating Sources
Taking Purposeful Notes
Conclusion

16 Incorporating Sources into Your Own Argument
Using Sources for Your Own Purposes
Writer 1: A Causal Argument Showing Alternative Approaches to Reducing Risk of Alcoholism
Writer 2: A Proposal Argument Advocating Vegetarianism
Writer 3: An Evaluation Argument Looking Skeptically at Vegetarianism
Using Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation
Summarizing
Paraphrasing
Quoting
Punctuating Quotations Correctly
Quoting a Complete Sentence
Quoting Words and Phrases
Modifying a Quotation
Omitting Something from a Quoted Passage
Quoting Something That Contains a Quotation
Using a Block Quotation for a Long Passage
Creating Rhetorically Effective Attributive Tags
Attributive Tags versus Parenthetical Citations
Creating Attributive Tags to Shape Reader Response
Avoiding Plagiarism
Why Some Kinds of Plagiarism May Occur Unwittingly
Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism
Conclusion 374

17 Citing and Documenting Sources
The Correspondence between In-Text Citations and the End-of-Paper List of Cited Works
MLA Style
In-Text Citations in MLA Style
Works Cited List in MLA Style
Works Cited Citation Models
MLA-Style Research Paper
APA Style
In-Text Citations in APA Style
References List in APA Style
References Citation Models
APA-Style Research Paper
Conclusion
Appendix Informal Fallacies
The Problem of Conclusiveness in an Argument
An Overview of Informal Fallacies
Fallacies of Pathos
Fallacies of Ethos
Fallacies of Logos