This concise, accessible text teaches students how to write logical, cohesive arguments and how to evaluate the arguments of others.   Integrating writing skills with critical thinking skills, this practical book teaches students to draw logical inferences, identify premises and conclusions and use language precisely. Students also learn how to identify fallacies and to distinguish between inductive and deductive reasoning. Ideal for any composition class that emphasizes argument, this text includes coverage of writing style and rhetoric, logic, literature, research and documentation.      

Table of Contents:
Each chapter conludes with a Summary and Key Terms.   Guide to Readings   Preface   1.  Thinking and Writing—A Critical Connection Thinking Made Visible Critical Thinking AN OPEN MIND—EXAMINING YOUR WORLD VIEW CRITICAL THINKING AS SELF-DEFENSE—Media Literacy Writing as a Process INVENTION STRATEGIES—GENERATING IDEAS THE FIRST DRAFT THE TIME TO BE CRITICAL Audience and Purpose Writing Assignment 1            Considering Your Audience and Purpose E-MAIL AND TEXT MESSAGING REASON, INTUITION, IMAGINATION, AND METAPHOR   2. Inference—Critical Thought What Is an Inference? HOW RELIABLE IS AN INFERENCE? What Is a Fact? FACTS AND JOURNALISM What Is a Judgment? Achieving a Balance between Inference and Facts FACTS ONLY INFERENCES ONLY Reading Critically  Writing Assignment 2Reconstructing the Lost Tribe Making Inferences—Analyzing Images EXAMINING AN AD Making Inferences—Writing About Fiction Writing Assignment 3            Interpreting Fiction Writing Assignment 4            Analyzing Fiction                     3.  The Structure of Argument Premises and Conclusions Distinguishing Between Premises and Conclusions Standard Form Writing Assignment 5            Creating a Political Handout Ambiguous Argument Structure Hidden Assumptions in Argument DANGERS OF HIDDEN ASSUMPTIONS HIDDEN ASSUMPTIONS AND STANDARD FORM HIDDEN ASSUMPTIONS AND AUDIENCE AWARENESS Summaries STRATEGIES FOR WRITING A SUMMARY AN EXAMPLE OF A SUMMARY Writing Assignment 6            Summarizing an Article Argument and Explanation—Distinctions   4.  Written Argument Focusing Your Topic THE ISSUE THE QUESTION AT ISSUE THE THESIS TWO KINDS OF THESIS STATEMENTS Shaping a Written Argument—Rhetorical Strategies THE INTRODUCTION THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR ARGUMENT HOW MANY PREMISES SHOULD AN ARGUMENT HAVE? THE CONCLUSION A Dialectical Approach to Argument ADDRESSING COUNTERARGUMENTS HOW MUCH COUNTERARGUMENT? REFUTATION AND CONCESSION ROGERIAN STRATEGY WHEN THERE IS NO OTHER SIDE Logical Connections—Coherence JOINING WORDS More On Coherence Sample Essays Two Approaches to Writing Arguments Writing Assignment 7            Arguing Both Sides of an Issue Writing Assignment 8            Taking a Stand   5.      The Language of Argument—Definition Definition and Perception CONTROLLING THE DISCOURSE DEFINING OURSELVES SHIFITNG DEFINITIONS Definition:  The social Sciences and Government Language: An Abstract System of Symbols THE IMPORTANCE OF CONCRETE EXAMPLES   ABSTRACTIONS AND EVASION EUPHEMISM AND CONNOTATION Definition in Written Argument APPOSITIVES—A STRATEGY FOR DEFINING TERMS WITHIN THE SENTENCE APPOSITIVES AND ARGUMENT PUNCTUATION OF APPOSITIVES EXTENDED DEFINITION Writing Assignment  9           Determining Your State’s Position on Gay Marriage Writing Assignment 10          Composing an Argument Based on a Definition INVENTING A NEW WORD TO FILL A NEED Writing Assignment 11          Creating a New Word   6.   Fallacious Arguments What Is a Fallacious Argument? APPEAL TO AUTHORITY APPEAL TO FEAR APPEAL TO PITY BEGGING THE QUESTION DOUBLE STANDARD EQUIVOCATION FALSE ANALOGY FALSE CAUSE FALSE DILEMMA HASTY GENERALIZATION PERSONAL ATTACK POISONING THE WELL RED HERRING SLIPPERY SLOPE STRAW MAN Writing Assignment 12          Analyzing an Extended Argument   7.  Deductive and Inductive Argument Key Distinctions 1) NECESSITY VERSUS PROBABILITY 2) FROM GENERAL TO SPECIFIC, SPECIFIC TO GENERAL The Relationship Between Induction and Deduction Deductive Reasoning CLASS LOGIC RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CLASSES INCLUSION EXCLUSION OVERLAP CLASS LOGIC AND THE SYLLOGISM THE SUBJECT AND THE PREDICATE TRUTH, VALIDITY, AND SOUNDNESS GUILT BY ASSOCIATION MORE ON SYLLOGISMS             THE VALID HYPOTHTICAL ARGUMENT THE INVALID HYPOTHTICAL ARGUMENT NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT CONDITIONS HYPOTHETICAL CHAINS             HYPOTHTICAL CHAINS AND EVERYDAY REASONING Inductive Reasoning GENERALIZATION THE DIRECTION OF INDUCTIVE REASONING TESTING INDUCTIVE GENERALIZATIONS CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING STATISTICAL GENERALIZATIONS HASTY GENERALIZATIONS THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT SURVEYS AND STATISTICS MISTAKING CORRELATION FOR CAUSATION EPIDEMIOLOGY CONSIDERING THE SOURCE Writing Assignment 13          Questioning Generalizations Writing Assignment 14          Conducting a Survey: A Collaborative Project   8.  The Language of Argument—Style Parallelism THE STRUCTURE OF PARALLELISM LOGIC OF THE PARALLEL SERIES EMPHASIZING IDEAS WITH PARALLELISM Sharpening Sentences, Eliminating Wordiness CONCRETE SUBJECTS ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VERBS PASSIVE VERBS AND EVASION WHEN THE PASSIVE IS APPROPRIATE CONSISTENT SENTENCE SUBJECTS   A Quick Guide to Integrating Research Into Your Own Writing WHERE TO BEGIN THREE OPTIONS FOR INCLUDING RESEARCH BLEND QUOTATIONS AND PARAPHRASES INTO YOUR OWN WRITING     MAKE THE PURPOSE CLEAR     PUNCTUATION AND FORMAT OF QUOTATIONS     OMITTING WORDS FROM A DIRECT QUOTATION—ELLIPSIS PLAGIARISM   GUIDE TO READINGS CHAPTER 1 Thinking and Writing–A Critical Connection “The Problem with New Data,” Jon Carroll NEWSPAPER COLUMN “The Child’s Draft,” Anne Lamott BOOK EXCERPT “The Writer,” Richard Wilbur POEM   CHAPTER 2 Inference–Critical Thought “The Facts of Media Life,” Max Frankel ESSAY “The Totleigh Riddles,” John Cotton POEMS “Mirror,” Sylvia Plath POEM “Metaphors,” Sylvia Plath POEM “On Me!” Philip Levine POEM “The Painful Images of War,” Clark Hoyt EDITORIAL “Grace Period,” Will Baker FICTION “Hostess,” Donald Mangum FICTION “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway          FICTION   CHAPTER 3 The Structure of Argument “AP Courses–Mounting Burden, Declining Benefit,” Nathan Yan STUDENT ESSAY “Bush Remarks Roil Debate over Teaching of Evolution,” Elizabeth Bumiller NEWSPAPER ARTICLE “Of God and the Case for Unintelligent Design,” Lisa Fullam     NEWSPAPER ARTICLE   CHAPTER 4 Written Argument “Could It Be That Video Games Are Good for Kids?” Steven Johnson  EDITORIAL “College Athletes–Special Admissions?” STUDENT ESSAY “A Case for Affirmative Action,” Cynthia Tucker EDITORIAL   CHAPTER 5 The Language of Argument–Definition “The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently,” Thomas Lux POEM “Let Gays Marry,” Andrew Sullivan ESSAY “Leave Marriage Alone,” William Bennett ESSAY “Radical” [1]  STUDENT ESSAY “Radical” [2]  STUDENT ESSAY “Slut,” Maureen Dowd EDITORIAL   CHAPTER 6 Fallacious Arguments “On Date Rape,” Camille Paglia ESSAY “Boxing, Doctors–Round Two,” Lowell Cohn NEWSPAPER COLUMN   CHAPTER 7 Deductive and Inductive Argument “Mechanics’ Logic,” Robert Pirsig BOOK EXCERPT  “To His Coy Mistress,” Andrew Marvel POEM “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” Wilfred Owen POEM “Preventive Medicine, Properly Practiced,” Dr. Susan Love ESSAY   ADDITIONAL READINGS “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Nicholas Carr “Blinded by Science,” Chris Mooney “When Human Rights Extend to Nonhumans,” Donald G. McNeil, Jr.