Everything's An Argument with Readings, High School Version
Sixth Edition ©2013
A unique and well-loved text for the AP Language course, this best-selling combination argument text and thematically organized reader shows students how to analyze all kinds of arguments — not just essays and editorials, but clothes, smartphone apps, ads, and Web site designs — and...
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You cant argue with success
A unique and well-loved text for the AP Language course, this best-selling combination argument text and thematically organized reader shows students how to analyze all kinds of arguments — not just essays and editorials, but clothes, smartphone apps, ads, and Web site designs — and then how to use what they learn to write their own effective arguments. Newly streamlined, its signature engaging, and jargon-free instruction emphasizes cultural currency, humor, and visual argument. Students love Everything’s an Argument because it helps them understand how a world of argument already surrounds them; instructors love it because it helps students construct their own personally meaningful arguments about that world. Also available in a variety of e-book formats.
Table of Contents
Part 1: Reading and Understanding Arguments
1 Everything Is an Argument
Why We Make Arguments
Arguments to Convince
Arguments to Persuade
Arguments to Inform
Arguments to Explore
Arguments to Make Decisions
Arguments to Meditate or Pray
Occasions for Argument
Arguments about the Past
Arguments about the Future
Arguments about the Present
Kinds of Argument
Did Something Happen? Arguments of Fact
What Is the Nature of the Thing? Arguments of Definition
What Is the Quality or Cause of the Thing? Arguments of Evaluation
What Actions Should Be Taken? Proposal Arguments
Stasis Questions at Work
Audiences for Arguments
Considering Contexts
Cultural Contexts for Arguments
Appealing to Audiences
Emotional Appeals: Pathos
Ethical Appeals: Ethos
Logical Appeals: Logos
Summing Up Argument: Rhetorical Situations
2 Arguments Based on Emotion: Pathos
*Reading critically for pathos
Using Emotions to Build Bridges
Using Emotions to Sustain an Argument
Using Humor
Using Arguments Based on Emotion
e-Page Barack Obama, President Obama on the Death of Osama bin Laden [speech]3 Arguments Based on Character: Ethos
Understanding How Arguments Based on Character Work
Establishing Trustworthiness and Credibility
Claiming Authority
Cultural Contexts for Argument
Coming Clean about Motives
4 Arguments Based on Facts and Reason: Logos
Providing Hard Evidence
Is Seeing Believing
Facts
Statistics
Surveys and Polls
Testimonies and Narratives
Using Reason and Common Sense
Cultural Contexts for Argument
Providing Logical Structures for Argument
Degree
Analogies
Precedent
5 Fallacies of Argument
Fallacies of Emotional Argument
Scare Tactics
Either-Or Choices
Slippery Slope
Overly Sentimental Appeals
Bandwagon Appeals
Fallacies of Ethical Argument
Appeals for False Authority
Dogmatism
Ad Hominem Arguments
Stacking the Deck
Fallacies of Logical Argument
Hasty Generalization
Faulty Causality
Begging the Question
Equivocation
Non Sequitur
Straw Man
Red Herring
Faulty Analogy
6 Rhetorical Analysis
Composing a Rhetorical Analysis
Understanding the Purpose of Arguments You Are Analyzing
Understanding Who Makes an Argument
Identifying and Appealing to Audiences
Examining Arguments Based on Emotion: Pathos
Examining Arguments Based on Character: Ethos
Examining Arguments Based on Facts and Reason: Logos
Examining the Arrangement and Media of Arguments
Looking at Style
Examining a Rhetorical Analysis
David Brooks, It’s Not about You
Rachel Kolb, Understanding Brooks’ Binaries (student essay)
Guide to Writing a Rhetorical Analysis
Part 2: Writing Arguments
7 Structuring Arguments
The Classical Oration
Rogerian Argument
Toulmin Argument
Making Claims
Offering Evidence and Good Reasons
Determining Warrants
Offering Evidence: Backing
Using Qualifiers
Understanding Conditions of Rebuttal
Outline of a Toulmin Argument
A Toulmin Analysis
Deborah Tannen, Why Is "Compromise" Now a Dirty Word?
What Toulmin Teaches
Cultural Contexts for Argument
8 Arguments of Fact
Understanding Arguments of Fact
Characterizing Factual Arguments
Developing a Factual Argument
Identifying an Issue
Researching Your Hypothesis
Refining Your Claim
Deciding Which Evidence to Use
Presenting Your Evidence
Considering Design and Visuals
Guide to Writing an Argument of Fact
Projects
Two Sample Factual Arguments
Taylor Pearson, Why You Should Fear Your Toaster More than Nuclear Power (student essay)
Brooks Jackson, Democrats Deny Social Security’s Red Ink
9 Arguments of Definition
Understanding Arguments of Definition
Kinds of Definition
Formal Definitions
Operational Definitions
Definitions by Example
Developing a Definitional Argument
Formulating Claims
Crafting Definitions
Matching Claims to Definitions
Considering Design and Visuals
Guide to Writing an Argument of Definition
Projects
Two Sample Definitional Arguments
Jennifer Pier, The Reprehensibility of the White Lie (student essay)
Alex Pattakos, The Meaning of Friendship in a Social Networked World
10 Evaluations
Understanding Evaluations
Criteria of Evaluation
Characterizing Evaluation
Quantitative Evaluations
Qualitative Evaluations
Developing an Evaluative Argument
Formulating Criteria
Making Claims
Presenting Evidence
Considering Design and Visuals
Guide to Writing an Evaluation
Projects
Two Sample Evaluations
Sean Kamperman, The Wikipedia Game: Boring, Pointless, or Neither? (student essay)
Virginia Postrel, Why We Prize that Magical Mystery Pad
11 Causal Arguments
Understanding Causal Arguments
Characterizing Causal Arguments
Developing Causal Arguments
Exploring Possible Claims
Defining the Causal Relationships
Supporting Your Point
Considering Design and Visuals
Key Features of Causal Arguments
Guide to Writing a Causal Argument
Projects
Two Sample Causal Arguments
Lia Hardin, Cultural Stress Linked to Suicide (student essay)
John Tierney, Can a Playground Be Too Safe?
12 Proposals
Understanding and Categorizing Proposals
Characterizing Proposals
Developing Proposals
Defining a Need or Problem
Making a Strong and Clear Claim
Showing That the Proposal Addresses a Need or Problem
Showing that the Proposal Is Feasible
Considering Design and Visuals
Guide to Writing a Proposal
Projects
Two Sample Proposals
Manasi Deshpande, A Call to Improve Campus Accessibility for the Mobility Impaired (student essay)
Daniel S. Hamermesh, Ugly? You May Have a Case
Part 3: Style and Presentation in Arguments
13 Style in Arguments
Style and Word Choice
Sentence Structure and Argument
Punctuation and Argument
Special Effects: Figurative Language and Argument
Tropes
Cultural Contexts for Argument
Schemes
14 Visual and Multimedia Arguments
The Power of Visual Argument
Shaping the Message
Analyzing Visual Elements of Arguments
Using Visuals in Your Own Arguments
Using Images or Multimedia to Appeal to Emotion
Using Images and Multimedia to Appeal to Character
Visual Arguments Based on Facts and Reason
15 Presenting Arguments
Print Presentations
Oral and Multimedia Presentations
Oral Arguments in Discussions
Formal and Multimedia Presentations
Arguments to Be Heard
Arguments to Be Remembered
The Roles of Visuals in Oral and Multimedia Arguments
Some Oral and Multimedia Presentation Strategies
A Not about Webcasts: Live Presentations over the Web
Web-Based Presentations
Web sites
Blogs
Videos
e-Page Max Cougar Oswald, Progress [multimedia presentation]Part 4: Research and Arguments
16 Academic Arguments
Understanding What Academic Argument Is
Developing an Academic Argument
Two Sample Academic Arguments
Brian Riady, A Directive Approach Towards ESL/EFL Writers
Lan Xue, China: The Prizes and Pitfalls of Progress
17 What Counts as Evidence
Considering the Rhetorical Situation
Using Data and Evidence from Research Sources
Collecting Data on Your Own
18 Evaluating Sources
Assessing Print Sources
Assessing Electronic Sources
Assessing Field Research
19 Using Sources
Building a Critical Mass
Synthesizing Information
20 Academic Integrity
Acknowledging Your Sources Accurately and Appropriately
Using Copyrighted Internet Sources
Acknowledging Collaboration
21 Documenting Sources
MLA Style
In-text citations
Explanatory and Bibliographic Notes
List of Works Cited
Sample First Page for an Essay in MLA Style
Sample List of Works Cited for an Essay in MLA Style
APA Style
In-Text Citations
Content Notes
List of References
22 How Does Popular Culture Stereotype You?
Stephanie Hanes, Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect [newspaper article]
Skip Hollandsworth, Toddlers in Tiaras [magazine article]
Ellen Goodman, The Culture of Thin Bites Fiji [newspaper column]
Anne E. Becker, Abstract, Discussion, and Conclusions of Television, Disordered Eating, and Young Women in Fiji: Negotiation Body Image and Identity During Rapid Social Change [excerpt from journal article]
Sam Dillon, Evictions at Sorority Raise Issue of Bias [newspaper article]
Jack Shakley, Indian Mascots—Youre Out [newspaper opinion]
Porochista Khakpour, Reality TV Goes Where Football Meets the Hijabi [newspaper column]
Making a Visual Argument:
We’re a Culture, Not a Costume
Charles A. Riley, II, "Preface" and "Appendix," Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change [book excerpt]
Patricia J. Williams, Are We Worried about Storms Identity—Or Our Own? [magazine article]
Jennifer Conlin, The Freedom to Choose Your Pronoun [newspaper article]
Claude M. Steele, At the Root of Identity [book excerpt]
e-Page Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Trailer for MissRepresentation [documentary film trailer]23 What’s It Like to Be Bilingual in the United States?
Hyon B. Shin and Robert A. Kominski, Language Use in the United States: 2007 [United States census report]
Sandra Cisneros, From Bien Pretty [short story excerpt]
Marjorie Agosín, Always Living in Spanish and English [essay & poem]
Firoozeh Dumas, The F-Word [book excerpt]
Making a Visual Argument:
National Institutes of Mental Health, En la comunidad latina tenemos una cultura de silencio
The Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Hispanic College Preparation PSA
Lan Cao, The Gift of Language [book excerpt]
Amy Tan, Mother Tongue [essay]
Twin Cities Public Television, First Speakers: Restoring the Ojibwe Language [television program transcript]
Michele Bornet, Tell Me Your Secrets—A Deaf Persons Lack of Privacy [blog post]
Michele Bornet, Mom’s Deaf—Let’s Party! [blog post]
Michele Bornet, Learning American Sign Language Takes Time [blog post]
Kirk Semple, Moving to U.S. and Amassing a Fortune, No English Needed [newspaper article]
Amy Martinez Starke, Hmong Elder Didn’t Forget the Old Ways [obituary]
e-Page New York Times, An Education, Over the Border and Under the Radar [slideshow] e-Page The Big Picture RT, Geeky Science! Does being bilingual make you smarter? [Internet video]24 Why Worry About Food and Water?
Mark Bittman, Why Take Food Seriously? Because Your Life Depends on It [magazine article]
Wikipedia, Local Food [Wikipedia entry]
Wikipedia, Farm-to-Table [Wikipedia entry]
Making a Visual Argument:
Claire Ironside, Apples and Oranges
Eric Mortensen, A Diversified Farm Prospers in Oregons Willamette Valley by Going Organic and Staying Local [newspaper article]
Adriene Hill, Eating Ethically—Its Complicated [radio feature]
Christophe Pelletier, The Locavore’s Dilemma [blog post]
Malia Wollan, Migration, on Ice: How Globalization Kills Chickens for Their Parts [magazine article]
Mark Coleman, Review of Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It [book review]
Elizabeth Royte, Excerpt from Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It [book excerpt]
Cook’s Country Kitchen, Ready-to-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, Solving the Mystery of the Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie and Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies [magazine articles]
e-Page ESPN, What’s Lurking in Your Stadium Food? [Web article and interactive infographic] e-Page Daily Cardinal, Farmers’ Market Profile: Northwood Farm [news report]25 What Should "Diversity on Campus" Mean and Why?
Making a Visual Argument:
Student-Designed Diversity Posters [posters]
Michael Krasny and Guests, The Berkeley Bake Sale [radio program]
The Daily Californian, Live Blog: ‘Increase Diversity Bake Sale’ [live blog post]
Heather Mac Donald, Half Baked: UC Berkeley’s Diversity Machine Loses Its Mind Over Cupcakes [magazine article]
Tina Korbe, Remember The Racist Cupcakes? Fordham University Fights Back With Its Own Bake Sale [blog post]
Jennier Delahunty Britz, To All the Girls Ive Rejected
Scott Jaschik, Affirmative Action for Men [Web text]
Libby Sander, Blue-Collar Boomers Take Work Ethic to College [newspaper article]
Edward F. Palm, The Veterans Are Coming! The Veterans Are Coming! [online article]
Patricia Cohen, Professors Liberalism Contagious? Maybe Not [newspaper article]
Mack D. Mariani and Gordon J. Hewitt, Indoctrination U.? Faculty Ideology and Changes in Student Political Orientation [excerpt from a journal article]
Walter Benn Michaels, The Trouble With Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality [book excerpt]
e-Page New York Times, After Iraq, a New Chapter at College [slideshow with audio]26 What Are You Working For?
Dave Isay, Ken Kobus, 58, Tells His Friend Ron Barafe, 42, about Making Steel [personal interviews]
Lisa W. Foderaro, The Well-to-Do Get Less So, and Teenagers Feel the Crunch [newspaper article]
Rebecca Mead, Learning by Degrees [magazine article]
Making a Visual Argument:
Students and Graduates, Employment and Earnings [graphs]
Laurence Shatkin, Education Pays, But Perhaps Less Than You Thought [graph and blog post]
Mark Bauerlein, The Major and the Job Market, the Dream and the Reality [newspaper article]
Craig Lambert, Our Unpaid, Extra Shadow Work [newspaper article]
Thomas L. Friedman, "The Start-Up of You" and Readers’ Responses [newspaper article]
Stewart D. Friedman, The Fallacy of "Work-Life Balance" and Take the Four-Way View [video transcript and book excerpt]
e-Page Gist, Rise of the Mobile Workstyle [infographic]27 How Do We Define "Inequality" in America?
Pew Research Center, Perceptions on the Rich and Poor in America [research report excerpt]
Rana Foroohar, What Ever Happened to Upward Mobility? [magazine article]
Jim Harper, Tea Party, Meet Occupy Wall Street. OWS, Tea Party [blog post]
John Marsh, Why Education is Not an Economic Panacea [newspaper article]
Making a Visual Argument:
Inequality and Occupy Wall Street
Max Udargo, An Open Letter to that 53% Guy [blog post]
Jonathan Chait, Steve Jobs, Occupy Wall Street, and the Capitalist Ideal [magazine article]
Mac McClelland, Ohios War on the Middle Class [magazine article]
Andrew Kohut, Don’t Mind the Gap [op-ed]
Stanley Fish, Fair is Fair [blog post]
e-Page Vanguard, "Two Americas"e-Page The White House, The Buffett Rule [political video]
Authors
Andrea A. Lunsford
Andrea Lunsford, Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor of English emerita and former Director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford University, joined the Stanford faculty in 2000. Prior to this appointment, she was Distinguished Professor of English at The Ohio State University (1986-2000) and, before that, Associate Professor and Director of Writing at the University of British Columbia (1977-86) and Associate Professor of English at Hillsborough Community College. A frequent member of the faculty of the Bread Loaf School of English, Andrea earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Florida and completed her Ph.D. in English at The Ohio State University (1977). She holds honorary degrees from Middlebury College and The University of Ôrebro.
Andreas scholarly interests include the contributions of women and people of color to rhetorical history, theory, and practice; collaboration and collaborative writing, comics/graphic narratives; translanguaging and style, and technologies of writing. She has written or coauthored many books, including Essays on Classical Rhetoric and Modern Discourse; Singular Texts/Plural Authors: Perspectives on Collaborative Writing; and Reclaiming Rhetorica: Women in the History of Rhetoric, as well as numerous chapters and articles. For Bedford/St. Martin’s, she is the author of The St. Martins Handbook, The Everyday Writer, and EasyWriter; the co-author (with John Ruszkiewicz) of Everything’s an Argument and (with John Ruszkiewicz and Keith Walters) of Everything’s an Argument with Readings; and the co-author (with Lisa Ede) of Writing Together: Collaboration in Theory and Practice. She is also a regular contributor to the Bits teaching blog on Bedford/St. Martin’s English Community site.
Andrea has given presentations and workshops on the changing nature and scope of writing and critical language awareness at scores of North American universities, served as Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, as Chair of the Modern Language Association Division on Writing, and as a member of the MLA Executive Council. In her spare time, she serves on the Board of La Casa Roja’s Next Generation Leadership Network, as Chair of the Kronos Quartet Performing Arts Association--and works diligently if not particularly well in her communal organic garden.
John J. Ruszkiewicz
John J. Ruszkiewicz is a professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin where he taught literature, rhetoric, and writing for forty years. A winner of the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award, he was instrumental in creating the Department of Rhetoric and Writing in 1993 and directed the unit from 2001-05. He has also served as president of the Conference of College Teachers of English (CCTE) of Texas, which gave him its Frances Hernández Teacher—Scholar Award in 2012. For Bedford/St. Martins, he is coauthor, with Andrea Lunsford, of Everything’s an Argument and the author of How to Write Anything. In retirement, he writes the mystery novels under the pen name J.J. Rusz; the most recent, The Lost Mine Trail, published in 2020 on Amazon.
Keith Walters
Keith Walters is professor of applied linguistics at Portland State University. Much of his research focuses on language and identity in North Africa, especially Tunisia, and the United States. He has also taught freshman composition and English as a second/foreign language.
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