A Rhetoric Of Argument

The market-leading guide to arguments,Writing Argumentshas proven highly successful in teaching readers to read arguments critically and to produce effective arguments of their own. Teaches readers to write better arguments. How to write arguments; how to do research for arguments; an anthology of argumentative readings. Anyone interested in writing better arguments.

"The "stasis approach" pioneered by Fahnestock and Secor distinguishes among four basic questions that arguments are written to answer: What is it? (Definition arguments) How did it get that way? (Causal arguments) Is it good or bad? (Evaluation arguments) What should we do about it? (Proposal arguments) These four questions, now standard in many argument texts, give students a constructive, engaging way to analyze arguments by other writers and to construct their own arguments."--GoogleBooks.

Responding to skeptics within higher education and critics without, James Crosswhite argues powerfully that the core of a college education should be learning to write a reasoned argument. A trained philosopher and director of a university-wide composition program, Crosswhite challenges his readers—teachers of writing and communication, philosophers, critical theorists, and educational administrators—to reestablish the traditional role of rhetoric in education. To those who have lost faith in the abilities of people to reach reasoned mutual agreements, and to others who have attacked the right-or-wrong model of formal logic, this book offers the reminder that the rhetorical tradition has always viewed argumentation as a dialogue, a response to changing situations, an exchange of persuading, listening, and understanding. Crosswhite’s aim is to give new purpose to writing instruction and to students’ writing, to reinvest both with the deep ethical interests of the rhetorical tradition. In laying out the elements of argumentation, for example, he shows that claiming, questioning, and giving reasons are not simple elements of formal logic, but communicative acts with complicated ethical features. Students must learn not only how to construct an argument, but the purposes, responsibilities, and consequences of engaging in one. Crosswhite supports his aims through a rhetorical reconstruction of reason, offering new interpretations of Plato and Aristotle and of the concepts of reflection and dialogue from early modernity through Hegel to Gadamer. And, in his conclusion, he ties these theoretical and historical underpinnings to current problems of higher education, the definition of the liberal arts, and, especially, the teaching of written communication.

The market-leading guide to arguments, "Writing Arguments" has proven highly successful in teaching readers to read arguments critically and to produce effective arguments of their own. Teaches readers to write better arguments. How to write arguments; how to do research for arguments; an anthology of argumentative readings. Anyone interested in writing better arguments.

Approaches recent innovations in argumentation theory from a primarily rhetorical perspective.

Thestasis approachpioneered by Fahnestock and Secor distinguishes among four basic questions that arguments are written to answer: What is it? (Definition arguments) How did it get that way? (Causal arguments) Is it good or bad? (Evaluation arguments) What should we do about it? (Proposal arguments) These four questions, now standard in many argument texts, give students a constructive, engaging way to analyze arguments by other writers and to construct their own arguments.

The study of argumentation has primarily focused on logical and dialectical approaches, with minimal attention given to the rhetorical facets of argument. Rhetorical Argumentation: Principles of Theory and Practice approaches argumentation from a rhetorical point of view and demonstrates how logical and dialectical considerations depend on the rhetorical features of the argumentative situation. Throughout this text, author Christopher W. Tindale identifies how argumentation as a communicative practice can best be understood by its rhetorical features.