The Informed Argument

Offering the most extensive thematic reader of any argument text available, this edition provides instructors with many options for selecting the pieces best suited for their own courses. Organized around six main themes, the reading selections reflect the book’s focus on argumentation as a way to negotiate differences and solve problems.

An introduction to the principles of argument, guidance in constructing arguments, and valuable sources for learning to read arguments critically, as well as formulating arguments, are presented to students as they develop their own arguments.

An accessible overview of the traditional elements of argument is provided, including classical and Rogerian argument, as well as the Toulmin model.

To help students place readings in context, innovative pedagogical features accompany each selection and include: accessible introductions, color-coded Glosses, Context, and Complication boxes, and Questions for Discussion. Concluding each cluster, Negotiating Differences assignments engage students in argumentation as a way to solve a problem related to the cluster topic.

The Eighth Edition features 29 new readings offering diverse perspectives on both contemporary and traditional issues. Selections include Anna Quindlen’s “The Good Enough Mother,” Anne Applebaum’s “The Globalization of Censorship,” Michael Pollan’s “Voting With Your Fork,” and Peter Elbow’s “Getting Along Without Grades--and Getting Along With Them too.”

New Chapter 10, “Communication,” includes reading clusters that address the questions, Should there be limits on free speech? What responsibilities do popular media have?, and How should we talk to each other in the digital age?

Organizational changes in the first five chapters make the principles of argument easier for students to grasp.

Chapter 4, “The Strategies of Argument,” introduces students to various approaches to argumentation and features an expanded and updated discussion of the uses of evidence in argument.

Chapter 3, “The Media for Argument,” examines how various media, including new digital media, shape argumentation and can be powerful tools for argument in their own right. Special attention is paid to visual rhetoric--advertisements, cartoons, graphs, icons, paintings, photographs, posters, and websites--an increasingly important concern for understanding the arguments students see, read, and write.

Updated discussion of MLA and APA styles of documentation and an expanded discussion of using sources help students effectively incorporate source material and avoid plagiarism.