Everything's an Argument

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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.

* New to this edition

Preface

PART 1: Reading and Understanding Arguments

1. Understanding Arguments and Reading Them Critically
Everything Is an Argument
Reading Arguments Rhetorically and Critically
Listening to Arguments Rhetorically and Respectfully
Why We Make Arguments
Occasions for Argument
Kinds of Argument
STASIS QUESTIONS AT WORK
Appealing to Audiences
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT: Considering Whats "Normal"

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

3. Arguments Based on Character: Ethos
Thinking Critically about Arguments Based on Character
Establishing Trustworthiness and Credibility
Claiming Authority
Coming Clean about Motives
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT: Ethos

4. Arguments Based on Facts and Reason: Logos
Spotting Fake News
Thinking Critically about Hard Evidence
Using Reason and Common Sense
Providing Logical Structures for Argument
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT: Logos

5. Fallacies of Argument
Fallacies of Emotional Argument
Fallacies of Ethical Argument
Fallacies of Logical Argument

6. Rhetorical Analysis
Composing a Rhetorical Analysis: Reading and Viewing Critically
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
*Kevin Garcia, Can You Lose a Language You Never Knew?
*Marielys Diaz, The Loss of a Language Kevin Garcia Never Knew: A Rhetorical Analysis
GUIDE TO WRITING A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

PART 2: Writing Arguments

7. Structuring Arguments
The Classical Oration
Rogerian Argument
A Sample Rogerian Argument
*Pamela Paresky and Bradley Campbell, Safetyism Isn’t the Problem
Invitational Argument
Toulmin Argument
A Toulmin Analysis
Stephen L. Carter, Offensive Speech Is Free Speech. If Only We’d Listen.
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT: Organization

8. Arguments of Fact
Understanding Arguments of Fact
Characterizing Factual Arguments
Developing a Factual Argument
GUIDE TO WRITING AN ARGUMENT OF FACT
Two Sample Factual Arguments
*Makiya Lineberger, A Change in Education: The Benefits of Online vs. In-Class Learning (student essay)
*Simón(e) D Sun, Stop Using Phony Science to Justify Transphobia

9. Arguments of Definition
Understanding Arguments of Definition
Kinds of Definition
Developing a Definitional Argument
GUIDE TO WRITING AN ARGUMENT OF DEFINITION
Two Sample Definitional Arguments
Natasha Rodriguez, Who Are You Calling Underprivileged? (student essay)
Rob Jenkins, Defining the Relationship

10. Evaluations
Understanding Evaluations
Criteria of Evaluation
Characterizing Evaluation
Developing an Evaluative Argument
GUIDE TO WRITING AN EVALUATION
Two Sample Evaluations
Jenny Kim, The Toxicity in Learning (student essay)
*Christopher Orr, The Secret of Scooby-Doo’s Enduring Appeal

11. Causal Arguments
Understanding Causal Arguments
Characterizing Causal Arguments
Developing Causal Arguments
GUIDE TO WRITING A CAUSAL ARGUMENT
Two Sample Causal Arguments
Laura Tarrant, Forever Alone (and Perfectly Fine) (student essay)
Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, America’s Birthrate Is Now a National Emergency

12. Proposals
Understanding and Categorizing Proposals
Characterizing Proposals
Developing Proposals
GUIDE TO WRITING A PROPOSAL
Two Sample Proposals
Caleb Wong, Addiction to Social Media: How to Overcome It (student essay)
Associated Students of the University of California, Proposal to Make Election Day a Non-Instructional Day

PART 3: Style and Presentation in Arguments

13. Style in Arguments
Style and Word Choice
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT: Pronouns
Sentence Structure and Argument
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT: “Standard,” “Formal,” and Other Conventions
Punctuation and Argument
Special Effects: Figurative Language

14. Visual Rhetoric
The Power of Visual Arguments
Using Visuals in Your Own Arguments

15. Presenting Arguments
Class and Public Discussions
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT: Speaking Up in Class
Preparing a Presentation
Poster Sessions: Oral Presentations in Academic Settings
Webcasts: Live Presentations on the Internet

16. New Media and Multimodal Arguments
Old Media Transformed by New Media
READING IN PRINT VS. ONLINE
New Content in New Media
New Audiences in New Media
Analyzing Arguments in New Media
Making New Media and Multimodal Arguments

PART 4: Research and Arguments

17. Academic Arguments
Understanding What Academic Argument Is
Conventions in Academic Argument Are Not Static
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT: Considering English(es)
Developing an Academic Argument
Two Sample Academic Arguments
Charlotte Geaghan-Breiner, Where the Wild Things Should Be: Healing Nature Deficit Disorder through the Schoolyard (student essay)
Sidra Montgomery, The Emotion Work of “Thank You for Your Service”

18. Finding Evidence
Considering the Rhetorical Situation
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT: The Rhetorical Situation
Searching Effectively
SEARCHING ONLINE OR IN DATABASES
Collecting Data on Your Own
Draw Upon Narratives as Evidence

19. Evaluating Sources
Identifying Bias
Assessing Sources
Practicing Crap Detection
CASE STUDY: Lateral Reading
Assessing Field Research

20. Using Sources
Practicing Infotention
Building a Critical Mass
Synthesizing Information

21. Maintaining Academic Integrity and Crediting Sources
CULTURAL CONTEXTS FOR ARGUMENT: Intellectual Property and Remix Culture
Crediting Sources
WHAT COPYRIGHT DOESN’T PROTECT
Getting Permission for and Using Copyrighted Internet Sources
Acknowledging Your Sources Accurately and Appropriately
Crediting Collaborators

22. Documenting Sources
MLA Style
APA Style

Glossary
Index

Product Updates

Summer 2024 Updates:

New! Exclusive Lunsford Content: AI Guides for Instructors and Students.
Boost AI literacy with Using Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in the Writing Course, a brief resource by Andrea Lunsford that helps college writers understand the opportunities and challenges of AI use in academic settings. Separate instructor and student guides offer support for using AI ethically and responsibly, with assessment to help reinforce concepts. Now available in the Achieve courses for Everything’s an Argument, EasyWriter, Everyday Writer, and Achieve-Writer’s Help-Lunsford.

Ninth Edition Updates (2022):

Achieve with Everything’s an Argument is now available! This flexible digital solution includes the e-book paired with writing tools developed to support feedback, peer review, source check, revision, and reflection. Activities and assessments are designed to engage students and save you time:

Five chapters of readings in Part 5 that illustrate contemporary arguments across the political and social spectrum
Pre-built and fully customizable writing assignments for each Guide to Writing in the text
Interactive tutorials that engage students with important critical reading concepts: rhetorical analysis, identifying claims and support, evaluating sources, identifying bias, and reading laterally
Brief quizzes that test students’ comprehension of chapter content and of each reading selection
LearningCurve — adaptive, game-like practice — that helps students master important argument concepts, including fallacies, claims, and evidence
And more!

A new focus on lateral reading, a strategy that helps students evaluate sources in today’s fast-paced media landscape, builds information literacy with a clear approach for determining the reliability and accuracy of their research.

Five new full-length models in the guide exemplify current, real-world arguments by type, including:

Simon(e) D Sun’s argument of fact that cites abundant scientific studies to call for an end to “phony science” that justifies transphobia.
Kevin Garcia’s narrative argument of the relationship between language and Latinx identity, paired with a student rhetorical analysis demonstrating how to perform a careful, close reading of the rhetorical situation.
Pamela Paresky and Bradley Campbell’s argument about “safetyism” in the COVID-19 pandemic, employing Rogerian strategies of recognizing opposing sides of an argument and finding common ground.

Three new annotated student essays address topics students care about, including a new rhetorical analysis on the relationship between language and cultural identity, a factual argument on the benefits of virtual learning, and a sample MLA-style academic argument on representations of the body positivity movement in popular culture.

Updated MLA and APA formatting and citation sections provide up-to-date guidelines for writing in MLA (2021) and APA (2020) style, the text’s thorough advice and plenty of models help students work within multiple disciplines.

Ideas in the instructor’s notes for teaching online include a suggestion for teaching each Respond activity in an online or asynchronous format, and a new syllabus provides an outline for teaching with Achieve for Everything’s an Argument.

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.

* New to this edition

Preface

PART 1: Reading and Understanding Arguments

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

5. Fallacies of Argument
Fallacies of Emotional Argument
Fallacies of Ethical Argument
Fallacies of Logical Argument

PART 2: Writing Arguments

PART 3: Style and Presentation in Arguments

14. Visual Rhetoric
The Power of Visual Arguments
Using Visuals in Your Own Arguments

PART 4: Research and Arguments

19. Evaluating Sources
Identifying Bias
Assessing Sources
Practicing Crap Detection
CASE STUDY: Lateral Reading
Assessing Field Research

20. Using Sources
Practicing Infotention
Building a Critical Mass
Synthesizing Information

22. Documenting Sources
MLA Style
APA Style

Glossary
Index

Product Updates

Summer 2024 Updates:

Ninth Edition Updates (2022):

Five chapters of readings in Part 5 that illustrate contemporary arguments across the political and social spectrum
Pre-built and fully customizable writing assignments for each Guide to Writing in the text
Interactive tutorials that engage students with important critical reading concepts: rhetorical analysis, identifying claims and support, evaluating sources, identifying bias, and reading laterally
Brief quizzes that test students’ comprehension of chapter content and of each reading selection
LearningCurve — adaptive, game-like practice — that helps students master important argument concepts, including fallacies, claims, and evidence
And more!

Five new full-length models in the guide exemplify current, real-world arguments by type, including:

Simon(e) D Sun’s argument of fact that cites abundant scientific studies to call for an end to “phony science” that justifies transphobia.
Kevin Garcia’s narrative argument of the relationship between language and Latinx identity, paired with a student rhetorical analysis demonstrating how to perform a careful, close reading of the rhetorical situation.
Pamela Paresky and Bradley Campbell’s argument about “safetyism” in the COVID-19 pandemic, employing Rogerian strategies of recognizing opposing sides of an argument and finding common ground.

EVERYTHING you need to teach argument

Streamlined and current, Everything’s an Argument helps students understand and analyze the arguments around them as well as create their own. Lucid explanations with contemporary examples cover classical rhetoric of oration through the multimodal rhetoric of today’s new media, with professional and student models of every type. More important than ever given today’s contentious political climate, a solid foundation in rhetorical listening and critical reading skills teaches students to communicate effectively and ethically. Thoroughly updated with fresh new models, this edition of Everything’s an Argument captures the issues and images that matter to students today. New coverage of lateral reading teaches students to evaluate arguments effectively and quickly, especially online. Paired with Achieve, an engaging and powerful digital platform (see Related Titles for more details). Also available in a version with a five-chapter thematic reader.

Success Stories

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Prof. Kiandra Johnson, Spelman College

See how the resources in Achieve help you engage students before, during, and after class.

Prof. Jennifer Duncan

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Here’s why educators who use Achieve would recommend it to their peers.

Related Titles

Everything's an Argument with Readings

Andrea A. Lunsford; John J. Ruszkiewicz; Keith Walters

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