Reading and Writing Short Arguments (Powered by Catalyst 2.0)

This argument text is a brief reader-rhetoric, offering a clear and concise introduction to argument and exceptionally accessible explanation of the Toulmin method along with a thematic collection of 68 short arguments.

PART I: Understanding Arguments

1. Introduction to Argument and Persuasion

Why Argue?

Why Analyze the Arguments of Others?

Argument and Persuasion

The Writer and Logic: Appeals to Reason

Persuasion by Other Logical Means

2. Reading and Writing Argumentative Essays

Reading Arguments

Writing Arguments

Ready to Go!

PART II: CURRENT CONTROVERSIES FROM THREE POINTS OF VIEW

1. Is Big Business Bad for Your Health?

Allison McCook, "Supersize Controversy"

Ragini Bhaumik, "Documenting the Supersize Ego"

Thomas Sowell, "There's No Free Lunch"

2. Standards of Decency on National Television

Bernice Bishop, "The Boob on the Tube"

Charles Dragon, "Cable and Broadcast Are Different Media"

Terence Blacker, "The Breast Has Become Too Big for Its Own Good"

3. A Famous Casualty in the War on Drugs

Editor, Rocky Mountain News, "Given the Times, Radio Host Will Survive This Crisis"

Mary Mitchell, "Limbaugh May Be off Drugs, but He's on His High Horse"

Debra J. Saunders, "Limbaugh's Private War on Drugs"

4. Justice and the Rich

Scott Turow, "Cry No Tears for Martha Stewart"

Lisa Nuss, "Martha's Only Crime: Acting Like a Tough Guy"

Sheryl McCarthy, "Arrogance Cooked Martha's Goose"

5. ARE SUVS BAD SPORTS?

Fran Wood, “Attacks on SUV Drivers are Driving Me Up the Wall”

Paul Craig Roberts, “Fuel Economy Laws Bite Back”

Brock Yates, “Pecksnifs Can’t Stop the SUV”

6. SHOULD WE REGULATE CELL PHONES?

Paul Mulshine, “End the Hands-off Policy on Cell Phone Users”

Kathleen O’Brien, “All I Wanted Was to Call the Pizzeria”

E. J. Dionne, “Tough Call on Cell Phones”

7. SHOULD WE LEGALIZE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE?

William Raspberry, “Why Fear Same-sex Marriage?”

Maggie Gallagher, “It’s the Final Step in Killing Marriage”

Andrew Sullivan, “Committed Couples Would Stabilize Society”

8. FREEDOM AND THE INTERNET

Duncan Levin, "G-Men and E-Mail"

Maureen Farsan, "Shouting Fire in a Virtual Theater"

Wendy Kaminer, "Screen Saviors"

9. DOES AMERICA OWE REPARATIONS FOR SLAVERY?

Manning Marable, “An Idea Whose Time Has Come”

Mona Charen, “Reparations Question Won’t Go Away”

Thomas Sowell, Reparations Create Black Victims”

10. ANIMAL TESTING

Cleveland Amory, “The Trials of Animals”

Ron Kline, “A Scientist: ‘I Am The Enemy’”

Meg Greenfield, “In Defense of the Animals”

11. THE RICH: SAINTS OR SINNERS?

Rhonda Burns, “Downsizing the Middle Class”

Paul Craig Roberts, “The Poor Have Enslaved The Rich”

Dan Moran, “King’s Ransom”

12. HATE CRIMES AND JUSTICE

Charley Reese, “Hate Crime Laws Are a Bad Idea”

Helen Dodge, “Special Crimes Need Special Laws”

Samuel Francis, “‘Hate Crime’ Laws Change the Law”

13. TOYS FOR TOTS

Yona Zeldis McDonough, “Sex and the Single Doll”

Robert Atwan, “A Meditation on Barbie Dolls”

Sara Bird, “The Q Gene”

14. EUTHANASIA

Derek Humphry, “Offering Euthanasia Can Be An Act Of Love”

Matthew E. Connolly, “Euthanasia Is Not The Answer”

Nancy M. Lederman, :Must They Tinker With The Dying?”

15. WHAT SHOULD WE DO ABOUT TOBACCO?

Sally Chen, “Smoking is Bad for Everyone So It Should be Illegal”

Linda Bowles, “Big Brother’s Two-Minute Hate”

Walter E. Williams, “The Tyranny of the Majority”

16. MODERN MANNERS

Miss Manners, “Rudeness Can Be Lethal”

Stephen Chapman, “Public Servants Often Behave Like Masters”

Marianne M. Jennings, “Who’s Harassing Whom?”

PART III: SINGLE ESSAYS ON CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS

Rich Lowry, "PETA's War on the World's Dispossessed"

Samuel Francis, "The Real Secret of Speedy Gonzalez"

Steve Maccio, "Crypto Racism in Suburban Real Estate"

Yana Zeltser, "Airport Security Is a PC Joke"

Jeff Jacoby, "Who's White? Who's Hispanic? Who Cares?"

Ellen Ullman, “Needed: Techies Who Know Shakespeare”

Chuck D., “‘Free’ Music Can Free the Artist”

Mona Charen, “Living Together: Test Run for Loneliness

Linda Chavez, "Scientists Keep Crossing the Line on Cloning"

Kelly Hartnett, "When in Doubt, Just Choose C"

Walter Williams, “Government Is the Problem”

PART IV: UNDERSTANDING VISUAL ARGUMENTS

Editorial Cartoons

Web Sites

Humorous Cartoons

PART V: MOVING TO LONGER ARGUMENTS

Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Address to the National Woman Suffrage Convention

Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

PART VI: A MINICASEBOOK ON CENSORING ROCK AND RAP

Fred Bronson, “A Selected Chronology of Musical Controversy”

Anna Quindlen, “Raised on Rock-and-Roll”

Frank Zappa, “On ‘Junk Food for the Soul’: In Defense of Rock and Roll”

Tipper Gore, “Curbing the Sexploitation Industry”

Diwata Fonte, "Rapping the Music Industry's Knuckles"

Matt Diehl, "Talking S***: How Labels Clean Up Songs for Radio"

Mary Desrosiers, "Rock Fans Fight Censorship"

Eric Boehlert, "Manson Mania"

Robin Tyler, "Eminem: Pied Piper of Hate"

Marshall Mathers, "My Lyrics Are Overanalyzed"

Brian K. Simmons, “The Effect of Censorship on Attitudes toward Popular Music”

Sam Brownback, “Free Speech: Lyrics, Liberty, and License”

Douglas M. McLeod, William P. Eveland, Jr., and Amy I. Nathanson, “Support for Censorship of Violent and Misogynic Rap Lyrics”

Dan Moran, "Censorship Begins at Home"

PART VII: A GUIDE TO FINDING AND USING INFORMATION

Locating Information in the Library and on the Internet

Locating Books

Locating Articles in Periodicals

Evaluating the Reliability of Online Sources

Taking Notes

Using Your Notes

Documenting Sources

The MLA System

The APA System

Sample Research Paper: MLA amd APA Formats

Sample Paper Format: MLA Style

Sample Paper Format:APA Style

Glossary

Credits

Index of Authors and Titles