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Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments, 4/E
Lester Faigley, University of Texas at Austin
Jack C Selzer, The Pennsylvania State University

ISBN-10: 0205616801
ISBN-13: 9780205616800

Publisher: Longman
Copyright: 2009
Format: Paper; 656 pp
Published: 03/11/2008

Suggested retail price: $72.67
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<>This popular rhetoric/reader combines a brief, accessible introduction to argument with an anthology of provocative readings on contemporary issues.

 

By stressing the rhetorical situation and audience, this argument rhetoric/reader avoids complicated schemes and terminology in favor of providing students with the practical ways of finding "good reasons" to argue for the positions they take. Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments helps students read, analyze, and write various types of arguments, including visual, verbal, and written. Supporting the authors' instruction are readings by professional and student writers and over 150 visuals.

 

Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments is distinctive for its discussion of why people write arguments, its coverage of rhetorical analysis and visual analysis in a brief format, its close attention to reading arguments, its thorough attention to research, and its emphasis on new, provocative topics in the reader section of the book.

  • Explains why people take the time to write arguments in the first place–using nontechnical language–and provides students with practical ways of finding "good reasons" for writing arguments of their own.
  • Provides end-of-chapter step-by-step guides to writing six kinds of arguments: definition, causal, evaluation, rebuttal, proposal, and, interestingly, narrative arguments (Chs. 8-13).
  • Provides a sensible organization that allows teachers to pick and choose what they want to cover:
    • Part 1 covers reading arguments, finding topics, writing process, and opens with a unique discussion of why people writing arguments, using Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring as an example (Ch. 1).
    • Part 2 covers rhetorical and visual analysis.
    • Part 3 covers the kinds of arguments students likely to be assigned (definition, evaluation, proposal, etc.)
    • Part 4 covers oral arguments and document design.
    • Part 5 covers research and documentation, with separate chapters for MLA and APA.
    • Part 6 is a thematically-arranged anthology of print texts, ads, cartoons, photographs, and other visuals showing the many voices and perspectives on current issues. Distinctive “Issue in Focus” subchapters gather multiple selections on a single issue.
  • Gives attention to the oral and visual aspects of argument by encouraging students to make arguments in different genres an different media.
  • An alternate table of contents organizes readings by type.
  • A glossary of terms helps students remember important concepts.

  • New four-color design: A striking new design provides a more readable page and full-color illustrations.

 

  • New chapter on reading arguments: A new chapter 2 provides instruction in critical reading.

 

  • New coverage of using sources in arguments:
    • A new section in Ch. 3 encourages students to find arguments in what they read, see and hear and guides them in formulating a thesis.
    • Three new chapters on research (Ch. 17 on finding sources, Ch. 18 on evaluating and tracking sources, and Ch.19 on writing an argumentative research paper) strengthen coverage of using sources to form and support arguments.

 

  • More emphasis on student work in 4 new student arguments (6 in all): Student essays provide examples of the kinds of paper students are often assigned–rhetorical analysis (new), visual analysis, definition (new), evaluation (new), proposal (new), and a documented research paper.

 

·      Revised coverage of analysis:

o        The popular rhetorical analysis chapter has been revised to include a new reading for analysis, Barbara Jordan’s classic speech, “Statement on the Articles of Impeachment,” and a student rhetorical analysis of the speech.

o        The visual analysis chapter has been revised to include a lengthy analysis of an ad.

 

  • A more visual approach: Responding to the need for greater visual literacy in a media-saturated culture, Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments 4/e offers the following:

o        New feature--Finding Good Reasons: These full-page writing prompts (one per chapter in Parts 1 and 3) integrate reading, visuals, and writing. Each describes a current issue (such as surveillance technologies and policies, health and obesity, community activism), features a related visual, and provides questions designed to get students thinking and writing about issues.

o        New visual maps to the kinds of arguments: Full-color diagrams in chs. 8-13 provide visual maps to the structure of each kind of argument covered in part 3.  

o        New discussion of analyzing visuals in arguments: Ch. 6, a full chapter on visual analysis, includes a new and detailed analysis of an ad. 

o        Chapter-opening photographs with question-style captions and over 150 color illustrations throughout to get students thinking about the persuasiveness of visuals.

 

  • Redesigned MLA and APA sample entries: Updated and color-coded sample entries help students recognize and organize key elements of source citations.

 

Fresh readings in Part 6, “Contemporary Arguments”:

  • 72 readings in part 6, over half new, join 11 readings in the rhetoric to engage students in the many perspectives on the issues of the day: the income gap, climate change, clean energy, immigration, robots, the tension between privacy and security, disabilities, eating disorders, diversity, and online identities and lifestyles.

 

  • More than 75 visuals, nearly all new, include cartoons, ads, graphs, charts, maps, and photographs illustrate and provide new perspectives on the topic of the chapter.

 

  • Two new Issues in Focus sections (5 total in Part 6) gather readings, cartoons, and other visuals on the issues of climate change (in Ch. 22, “Negotiating the Environment”) and on biometric technologies (in Ch. 26, “Privacy”).

Alternate Table of Contents: Types of Arguments                   

Preface                       

 

INTRODUCTION

Persuading with Good Reasons 

What do we mean by argument?                       

What does “argument” mean for college writers?           

How can you argue responsibly?           

How can you argue respectfully?

 

PART 1

READING AND DISCOVERING ARGUMENTS

 

1 Why Argue?

            Why do people write arguments?           

            Why do some arguments succeed?        

            What are the goals of arguments?         

            What are rhetorical appeals?     

Finding Good Reasons              

Rachel Carson, The Obligation to Endure           

 

2 Reading Arguments

Become a critical reader           

Read actively   

Recognize fallacies

Respond as a reader

Finding good reasons

 

3 Finding Arguments

            Find arguments in everyday conversations

            Find a topic that interests you

            Find a claim by exploring           

            Find a claim by reading 

            Find good reasons         

            Find evidence to support good reasons   

Finding good reasons

 

4 Drafting and Revising Arguments

State and evaluate your thesis   

Think about your readers          

Organize your argument            

Write an engaging title and introduction              

Write a strong conclusion

Evaluate your draft

Respond to the writing of others            

Edit and proofread carefully

Finding good reasons

 

PART 2

ANALYZING ARGUMENTS

 

5 Analyzing Written Arguments        

            What is rhetorical analysis?

            Build a rhetorical analysis          

Analyze the rhetorical features  

Analyze the rhetorical context   

            Write a rhetorical analysis

Barbara Jordan, Statement on the Articles of Impeachment

T. Jonathan Ford (student), An Argument of Reason and Passion: Barbara Jordan’s “Statement on the Articles of Impeachment”

Steps to writing a rhetorical analysis      

 

6 Analyzing Visual Arguments          

            What is a visual argument?

            Analyze visual persuasion

            Analyze visual evidence

            Build a visual analysis   

Write a visual analysis

Angela Yamashita (student), Got Roddick?

Steps to writing a visual analysis

 

 

PART 3

WRITING ARGUMENTS

 

7 Options for Arguments

            Use different approaches to construct arguments                       

            Be aware of your goals for argument     

Finding good reasons: What do we mean by diversity?

 

8 Definition Arguments         

            Understand how definition arguments work

            Recognize kinds of definitions    

Build a definition argument

Finding good reasons    

            Scott McCloud, Setting the Record Straight

Chris Nguyen (student), Speech Doesn’t Have to Be Pretty to Be Protected       

Steps to writing a definition argument     

 

9 Causal Arguments

            Understand how causal arguments work

            Find causes

            Build a causal argument

Finding good reasons    

            Annie Murphy Paul, The Real Marriage Penalty

Emily Raine, Why Should I Be Nice to You? Coffee Shops and the Politics of Good Service                     

Steps to writing a causal argument

 

10 Evaluation Arguments

            Understand how evaluation arguments work      

            Recognize kinds of evaluations  

            Build an evaluation argument

Finding good reasons    

Michael Eric Dyson, Gangsta Rap and American Culture            

Rashaun Giddens (student), Stop Loss or “Loss of Trust”           

Steps to writing an evaluation argument 

 

11 Narrative Arguments                   

            Understand how narrative arguments work

            Recognize kinds of narrative arguments 

            Build a narrative argument

Finding good reasons    

Leslie Marmon Silko, The Border Patrol State                

Dagoberto Gilb, My Landlady’s Yard    

Steps to writing a narrative argument     

 

12 Rebuttal Arguments         

            Understand how rebuttal arguments work

            Recognize the tactics of rebuttal arguments

            Build a rebuttal argument

Finding good reasons

Dan Stein, Crossing the Line

Gregory Rodriguez, Illegal Immigrants–They’re Money

Steps to writing a rebuttal argument

 

13 Proposal Arguments         

            Understand how proposal arguments work

            Recognize components of proposal arguments

            Build a proposal argument         

Finding good reasons

Thomas Homer-Dixon and S. Julio Friedmann, Coal in a Nice Shade of Green

Kim Lee (student), Let’s Make It a Real Melting Pot with Presidential Hopes for All       

Steps to writing a proposal argument      

 

 

PART 4

DESIGNING AND PRESENTING ARGUMENTS

14 Designing Arguments

Start with your readers

Know when to use images and graphics 

Compose and edit images

Create tables, charts, and graphs

Design pages for print

Design pages for the Web

 

15 Presenting Arguments

Plan a presentation

Design effective visuals

Give a memorable presentation

 

 

PART 5

RESEARCHING ARGUMENTS

 

16 Planning Research

Analyze the research task

Find a subject

Ask a research question

Gather information about the subject

Draft a working thesis

 

17 Finding Sources 

            Search with keywords

Find books

Find journal articles

            Find Web sources

 

18 Evaluating and Recording Sources          

Evaluate print sources

Find information to cite print sources

Evaluate database sources

            Find information to cite a database source

Evaluate Web sources

Find information to cite a Web source

 

19 Writing the Research Paper

Review your goals and thesis

Determine your contribution

Determine your main points

Avoid plagiarism

Quote sources without plagiarizing

Summarize and paraphrase sources without plagiarizing  

Incorporate quotations  

Incorporate visuals

 

20 Documenting Sources in MLA Style       

Elements of MLA documentation

MLA in-text citations

MLA works-cited list: Books

MLA works-cited list: Periodicals

MLA works-cited list: Library database sources 

MLA works-cited list: Other online sources

MLA works-cited list: Other sources

Brian Witkowski (student), Need a Cure for Tribe Fever? How about a Dip in the Lake? 

 

21 Documenting Sources in APA Style         

Elements of APA documentation

In-text citations in APA style    

APA references list: Books

APA references list: Library database sources

APA references list: Periodicals

APA references list: Other online sources

APA references list: Other sources

 

 

PART 6

CONTEMPORARY ARGUMENTS

 

22 Negotiating the Environment

American Environmentalism

Contemporary Arguments

E.O. Wilson, The Conservation Ethic

Sidebar: Aldo Leopold, From The Land Ethic

N. Scott Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain

Robert Bullard, How Race Affected the Federal Government’s Response to  Katrina

Wendell Berry, Manifesto: Mad Farmer Liberation Front

 

Issue in Focus: Climate Change

Al Gore, What is Global Warming?

Al Gore, Ten Things to Do to Help Stop Global Warming

Christopher C Horner, Top Ten 'Global-Warming' Myths

Alison Moodie, Environment: Healthy Swamps

Glenn McCoy, And Looking At Our Extended Forecast . . . (cartoon)

Philip Jenkins, Burning at the Stake

Alex Williams, Buying into the Green Movement

Chicago Tribune, Fast Clothes vs. Green Clothes (editorial)

Elisabeth Rosenthal, Environmentally Unfriendly Trend: Fast Fashion

            Sidebar: How Green Is Your T-Shirt?    

From Reading to Writing

 

 

23 Confronting Sexual Difference

Sexual Difference in American Culture  

Contemporary Arguments

Carmen Vasquez, Appearances

Peter Gomes, Homophobic? Read Your Bible    

Ryan T. Anderson, Struggling Alone      

 

Issue in Focus: Same Sex Marriage

Matt Davies, We’re Here to Defend . . . (cartoon)

House of Representatives, The Defense of Marriage Act           

Anna Quindlen, Evan’s Two Moms

Sonya Geis, A New Tactic In Fighting Marriage Initiatives

            From Reading to Writing

 

William F. Jasper, Subversion Through Perversion

Marc Haeringer, Coming Out in the Line of Fire 

Emily Martin and Katie Schwartzmann, Bad for Both Boys and Girls

Andrew Sullivan, The End of Gay Culture

Alexa Hackbarth, Vanity, Thy Name is Metrosexual

 

 

24  Globalization: Importing and Exporting America           

America’s Place in the World   

Contemporary Arguments

Henry Payne, The Bad News Is . . . (cartoon)

Mae M. Ngai, No Human Being is Illegal

Michelle Malkin, Beware of Illegal Aliens Seeking Hazmat Licenses

Sidebar, Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus       

Sidebar, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, The Unguarded Gates   

Helen Epstein, Immigration Maze

Wiley Miller, What’s the Worst That Can Happen . . . ? (cartoon)           

Todd Gitlin, Under the Sign of Mickey Mouse & Co.

Urvashi Butalia, Living The Dream

Laura Carlsen, Wal-Mart vs. Pyramids

Darla K. Deardorff,  In Search of Intercultural Competence

 

 

25  Science and Ethics           

The Ethics of Science and Technology

Contemporary Arguments

Bill Joy, Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us

Francis Fukuyama, A Tale of Two Dystopias

Ralph C. Merkle, Nanotechnology: Designs for the Future          

Ursula Franklin, Beautiful, Functional and Frugal

Bill Gates, A Robot in Every Home       

Christine Soares, Attitude Screen

 

Issue in Focus: Stem Cell Research

Ronald Reagan, Speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention

Pat Oliphant, The Ronald Reagan Eulogy Will Be Delivered . . . (cartoon)

Steven Milloy, Ron Reagan: Wrong on Stem Cells

Richard Doerflinger, Don’t Clone Ron Reagan’s Agenda

            From Reading to Writing           

 

26  Privacy

New Challenges to Personal Privacy

Contemporary Arguments

David Brin, Three Cheers for the Surveillance Society!   

Ted Koppel, Take my Privacy, Please!

John McPherson, It’s Part of the Government’s New Emphasis . . . (cartoon)     

Randall Larsen, Traveler’s Card Might Just Pave the Way for a National ID Card           

Jennifer Burk, Counselors Walk a Fine Line Weighing Rights of Student and College

Jeffrey Zaslow, The End of Youthful Indiscretions: Internet Makes Them Permanent Blots

 

Issue in Focus: Biometrics and Measuring the Body for Identity

Steven C. Bennett, Privacy Implications of Biometrics

Paul Saffo, A Trail of DNA and Data

Russ Ryan, Emerging Biometric Technologies

            Sidebar: Voice Verification for Transations

J. G. Domke, Will Cash & Credit Cards Become Extinct in the Not-So-Distant Future?    

            From Reading to Writing           

 

27  Regulating Substances/Regulating Bodies

Private Bodies, Public Controls  

Contemporary Arguments

Joseph A. Califano, The Right Drug to Target: Cutting Marijuana Use

Eric Schlosser, Make Peace with Pot    

 

Issue in Focus: Regulating Tobacco

Phillip Morris, Camel Lights Ad 

American Legacy Foundation, Antismoking Ad

            Gary Trudeau, Doonesbury: The Sin Lobby Gins Up . . .  (cartoon)

Douglas Bettcher and Chitra Subramaniam, The Necessity of Global Tobacco Regulations

Walter Williams, Nazi Tactics

From Reading to Writing

 

Bill Amend, What’s This? (cartoon)

Malcolm Gladwell, Drugstore Athlete

Michael Berube, Citizenship and Disability         

Barry Blitt,  New Yorker Cover

Terrence Rafferty, Kate Winslet, Please Save Us!

Susan Llewelyn Leach, Those Extra Pounds–Are They Government’s Business?

Mim Udovitch, A Secret Society of the Starving 

Consumer Freedom, Obesity Ads

Pippa Wysong, Modified

Eric Lewis, The Subtext of All Tattoos (cartoon)

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Like Father Like Son Ad

Susan Kinzie, A Rare Kind of Rush: A Sorority Based on Islamic Principles

 

28  New Media          

Personal Space in Cyberspace

Contemporary Arguments

Andrew Keen, Is Google's Data Grinder Dangerous?

John Seigenthaler, A False Wikipedia “Biography”

Sidebar: John Perry Barlow, A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace

Walt Handelsman, Information Superhighway (cartoon)  

Michael Gerson, Where the Avatars Roam        

Jessica Bennett and Malcolm Beith, Alternate Universe

Sidebar: Joe Duffy and Andrew Keen, Can Anyone Be a Designer?       

Marcelle S. Fischler, Putting on Lip Gloss, and a Show, for YouTube Viewers

Danah Boyd, Facebook's 'Privacy Trainwreck': Exposure, Invasion, and Drama (blog)

Stephen Williams, Getting off the Couch

 

Appendix: A Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism

Glossary

Credits

Index

    This popular rhetoric/reader combines a brief, accessible introduction to argument with an anthology of provocative readings on contemporary issues.

     

    By stressing the rhetorical situation and the audience, this rhetoric avoids complicated schemes and terminology in favor of providing students with the practical means to find "good reasons" for the positions they want to advocate to their audiences. Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments helps students write and understand various types of arguments, including visual as well as verbal arguments. Supporting the authors' instruction are numerous readings by professional and student writers and over 50 photographs.

     

    Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments is distinctive in providing the most thorough coverage of rhetorical analysis and visual analysis. It has a new emphasis on visual argument throughout that responds to the need for greater visual literacy in a media-saturated culture. Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments is also distinctive in beginning with why people write arguments.

     

    The anthology in Part Four features more than 80 selections on interesting current issues such as privacy, globalization, science and ethics, the media, and the environment. Distinctive in its emphasis on visual rhetoric, the text includes a thorough discussion of how good document design can support good reasons.

  • 0321364961Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments: Reading, Designing, and Writing Effective Arguments, 3/E
    Faigley & Selzer
    © 2007 | Longman | Paper; 784 pages | Instock
    ISBN-10: 0321364961 | ISBN-13: 9780321364968
    Brief Description

For First-Year Composition - Reader


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