A Brief Guide to Arguing About Literature
Fourth Edition| ©2024 John Schilb; John Clifford
As first-year writing courses continue to foreground skills of critical analysis and argumentation, A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature provides concise instruction in reading literature and writing arguments. The book activates students’ analytical skills through instruction in cl...
As first-year writing courses continue to foreground skills of critical analysis and argumentation, A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature provides concise instruction in reading literature and writing arguments. The book activates students’ analytical skills through instruction in close critical reading of texts; then, it shows them how to turn their reading into well-supported and rhetorically effective argumentative writing. For instructors who prefer to offer their own anthology of readings and literary works for their composition courses, A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature comprises only the writing-guide chapters from Arguing about Literature: Guide and Reader.
Achieve with Arguing about Literature puts student reading and writing at the core of your course with reading comprehension quizzes for the book’s selections, LearningCurve adaptive quizzing for literature, and a dedicated composition space that guides students through draft, review, source check, reflection, and revision.
ISBN:9781319529871
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ISBN:9781319331733
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ISBN:9781319570811
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A brief, affordable guide to literary analysis and argument
As first-year writing courses continue to foreground skills of critical analysis and argumentation, A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature provides concise instruction in reading literature and writing arguments. The book activates students’ analytical skills through instruction in close critical reading of texts; then, it shows them how to turn their reading into well-supported and rhetorically effective argumentative writing. For instructors who prefer to offer their own anthology of readings and literary works for their composition courses, A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature comprises only the writing-guide chapters from Arguing about Literature: Guide and Reader.
Achieve with Arguing about Literature puts student reading and writing at the core of your course with reading comprehension quizzes for the book’s selections, LearningCurve adaptive quizzing for literature, and a dedicated composition space that guides students through draft, review, source check, reflection, and revision.
Features
Thorough treatment of rhetorical and literary analysis with instruction in argument and research. A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature explains and models ways of reading literature that will help students form arguments of their own. The book includes literary works and focuses on how to write arguments about them. It also guides students through the process of research, detailing how to find, critique, incorporate, and cite sources.
Evaluating internet sources and visual arguments. It’s important for students to be able to identify when sources, websites, and images offer real information and credible claims--and when they don’t. Chapter 8, “Evaluating Internet Resources in the Post-Truth Age” addresses these skills and helps students develop their analytical eye.
Plentiful writing opportunities throughout. Writing exercises, questions, and assignments prompt students to respond to the readings and try out the techniques they are learning.
New to This Edition
Emerging issues that will resonate with students. Chapter 1 includes a timely opinion article in which two scholars of disability studies raise questions about the ethics of gene editing.
A guide to using inclusive language. A new section in Chapter 2 “Writing Effective Arguments” explains how to use inclusive language and that using inclusive language will only strengthen one’s writing. Many instructors have told us that they and their students would appreciate having a resource like this to consult.
New literature selections and arguments. Readings and visual arguments tackle contemporary issues such as our cell phone-focused society, the ethics of gene editing, immigration and refugees, and climate change, including:
- Pamela Paul, The Phone Call
- Sandy Sufian and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, The Dark Side of CRISPR
- Jimmy Santiago Baca, So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans
- Tracy K. Smith, Refugee
- Rena Priest, The Index
- Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, Dear Matafele Peinem
“Arguing about Literature has always been a preferred textbook in our department. The fact that it is keeping up with current learning and teaching trends, utilizes the new technologies, and provides relevant readings is major.” –Jarrod Patterson, Alabama A&M University
“I come from a rhetoric background, so when I learned we were switching our ENGL 1302 approach from rhetoric to literature, I was hesitant. However, Arguing about Literature does reflect many of the rhetorical strategies that I already had been teaching, and its refreshing how much the chosen literature reflects common issues in todays society. Its a good blend.” – Beverly Powell, Dallas Baptist University
“Arguing about Literature combines the process for analysis with the theme of literature in various genres. It’s a resource guide for teaching argument through a literary lens.” – Maria Gray, Tulsa Community College
“Arguing about Literature is substantive and thorough. It includes diverse voices and perspectives, and it also helps students understand the timeless themes and issues revealed in literature. Its usefulness is in providing enough content that students can choose from a wide but curated selection of issues and writers to research and write their final projects on.” – Jacqueline Boals, Dalton State College
“Arguing about Literature has a diverse variety of quality literature and essays to help build your course and teach not only literary analysis but the writing of research essays.” – Timothy Ruoff, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
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A Brief Guide to Arguing About Literature
Fourth Edition| ©2024
John Schilb; John Clifford
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A Brief Guide to Arguing About Literature
Fourth Edition| 2024
John Schilb; John Clifford
Table of Contents
Preface for Instructors
Contents by Genre
PART ONE: A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature
1. What Is Argument?
An Argument about Cell Phones
Paul Goldberger, Disconnected Urbanism
Getting Another Perspective
Pamela Paul, The Phone Call
Understanding Rhetoric
The Elements of Argument
Sample Argument for Analysis
Sandy Sufian and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, The Dark Side of CRISPR
Writing a Response to an Argument
Further Strategies for Analyzing an Argument So You Can Write a Response to It
An Argument for Analysis
Regina Rini, Should We Rename Institutions That Honor Dead Racists?
2. Writing Effective Arguments
Strategies for Developing an Effective Style of Argument
Structuring Your Argument: Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay
A Student Response to an Argument
Paul Austin, The Need for True Consent to CRISPR
Arguing in the First Person: Can You Use I?
Use Inclusive Language
Arguments for Analysis
Lee Siegel, Why I Defaulted on My Student Loans
Alexandra Petri, Take all books off the shelves. They’re just too dangerous.
3. How to Argue about Literature
Why Study Literature in a College Writing Course?
A Story for Analysis
Jamaica Kincaid, Girl
Strategies for Arguing about Literature
A Sample Student Argument about Literature
Ann Schumwalt, The Mother’s Mixed Messages in “Girl”
Looking at Literature as Argument
Jimmy Santiago Baca, So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans
Robert Frost, Mending Wall
Ted Chiang, The Great Silence
Literature and Current Issues: Poems about Climate Change
Jane Hirshfield, Let Them Not Say
Rena Priest, The Index
Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, Dear Matafele Peinem
4. The Reading Process
Strategies for Close Reading
A Poem for Analysis
Sharon Olds, Summer Solstice, New York City
Applying the Strategies
Reading Closely by Annotating
Emily Skillings, Girls Online
Further Strategies: Topics of Literary Studies
Lynda Hull, Night Waitress
Identify Speech Acts
Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Elizabeth Bishop, One Art
5. The Writing Process
Rachel Kadish, Letters Arrive from the Dead
Strategies for Exploring
Strategies for Planning
Strategies for Composing
First Draft of a Student Essay
Dylan Rieff, Letters Don’t Arrive from the Dead
Strategies for Revising
A Checklist for Revising
Revised Draft of a Student Essay
Dylan Rieff, Letters Don’t Arrive from the Dead
Strategies for Writing a Comparative Essay
Don Paterson, Two Trees
Luisa A. Igloria, Regarding History
A Student Comparative Essay
Jeremy Cooper, Don Paterson’s Criticism of Nature’s Owners
6. Writing about Literary Genres
Writing about Stories
Rivka Galchen, Usl at the Stadium
The Elements of Short Fiction
Final Draft of a Student Essay
Lydia Marsh, Why It’s Good for Usl to Wait
Writing about Poems
Mary Oliver, Singapore
Yusef Komunyakaa, Blackberries
Edwin Arlington Robinson, The Mill
The Elements of Poetry
Final Draft of a Student Essay
Michaela Fiorucci, Negotiating Boundaries
Comparing Poems and Pictures
Rolando Perez, Office at Night
Edward Hopper, Office at Night
A Sample Essay Comparing a Poem and a Picture
Karl Magnusson, Lack of Motion and Speech in Rolando Perez’s “Office at Night”
Writing about Plays
August Strindberg, The Stronger
A Student’s Personal Response to the Play
The Elements of Drama
Final Draft of a Student Essay
Carly Chen, Which Is the Stronger Actress in August Strindberg’s Play?
7. Writing Researched Arguments
Begin Your Research by Giving It Direction
Search for Sources in the Library and Online
Evaluate the Sources
Record Your Sources’ Key Details
Strategies for Integrating Sources
Avoid Plagiarism
Strategies for Documenting Sources (MLA Format)
Directory to MLA Works-Cited Entries
Books
Short Works from Collections and Anthologies
Multiple Works by the Same Author
Works in Periodicals
Online Sources
Citation Formats for Other Kinds of Sources
A Note on Endnotes
Three Annotated Student Researched Arguments
Sarah Hassan, “The Yellow Wallpaper” as a Guide to Social Factors in Postpartum Depression
How Sarah Uses Her Sources
Nathan Johnson, The Meaning of the Husband’s Fainting in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
How Nathan Uses His Sources
Fatima Nagi, The Relative Absence of the Human Touch in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
How Fatima Uses Her Sources
Contexts for Research: Confinement, Mental Illness, and “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper
Cultural Contexts
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Why I Wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper”
S. Weir Mitchell, From “The Evolution of the Rest Treatment”
John Harvey Kellogg, From The Ladies’ Guide in Health and Disease
8. Evaluating Internet Resources in a “Post-Truth” Age
Evaluating Written Arguments You Find on the Internet
Margaret Atwood, All Bread
Helena Minton, “Bread”
Varda He, Restaurants Should Be More Aware of Celiac, Gluten-Free Diet Limits
Critically Analyzing Web Sites’ Truth Claims
Summing Up the Recommendations
Understanding Strategies in Visual Arguments on the Internet
Topic: War
Wilfred Owen, Dulce et Decorum Est (poem)
WWI recruitment poster
Identifying the Visual Strategies
Topic: Environmental Destruction
Linda Hogan, Songs for Turtles in the Gulf (poem)
Image: Anti-liter ad
Identifying the Visual Strategies
Topic: Refugees
Tracy K. Smith, Refuge
Photograph: Ukrainian refugees
Identifying the Visual Strategies
Topic: Borders
Alberto Ríos, The Border: A Double Sonnet (poem)
Map: U.S.-Mexico Border
Identifying the Visual Strategies
Topic: Guns
Katie Bickham, The Ferryman (poem)
Graph: Mass Shootings in 222
Identifying the Visual Strategies
Summing Up the Strategies
Identifying Biases You Might Bring to Your Internet Research
Appendix: Writing with Critical Approaches to Literature
Contemporary Schools of Criticism
Working with the Critical Approaches
James Joyce, Counterparts
Sample Student Essay
Molly Frye, A Refugee at Home (student essay)
James Joyce, Eveline (story)
Index of Authors, Titles, First Lines, and Key Terms
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A Brief Guide to Arguing About Literature
Fourth Edition| 2024
John Schilb; John Clifford
Authors
![Headshot of John Schilb](http://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/Authors/207W/4381.jpg)
John Schilb
![Headshot of John Clifford](http://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/Authors/207W/4367.jpg)
John Clifford
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A Brief Guide to Arguing About Literature
Fourth Edition| 2024
John Schilb; John Clifford
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A Brief Guide to Arguing About Literature
Fourth Edition| 2024
John Schilb; John Clifford
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