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Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion
by
Jay Heinrichs (Goodreads Author)
Thank You for Arguing is your master class in the art of persuasion, taught by professors ranging from Bart Simpson to Winston Churchill. The time-tested secrets the book discloses include Cicero’s three-step strategy for moving an audience to actionÑas well as Honest Abe’s Shameless Trick of lowering an audience’s expectations by pretending to be unpolished. But it’s also...more
ebook, 0 pages
Published
February 12th 2008
by Three Rivers Press
(first published February 27th 2007)
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This is a highly competent introduction to the ancient Greek and Roman art of rhetoric -- or, as the author is fond of saying -- verbal ju-jitsu. It's that kind of irritating cheerful trendiness that prevented me from giving the book 5 stars. The author is determined to make the book funny and cute. He tells many stories on himself where his attempts at...verbal ju-jitsu...backfire amusingly, usually because his wife sees right through his feeble attempts to manipulate her. All of that got tires...more
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This book really opened my eyes to rhetoric-it is the art of persuasion. The book takes you through an in depth analysis of the topic and applies each persuasive skill to a real life application. The book challenged me to think about persuasion in totally new ways. Rhetoric once was the main focus of liberal education. Our founders were well versed in it as well. Some of its morally questionable aspects perplexed me and forced me to reassess my position. It's really worth the read (and if you're...more
2 likes · like · see review
I had to read this book for summer reading. Therefore, I didn't come into this book with an excessive amount of interest or excitement, even though I was very curious to see if this book would in fact improve my arguing skills. So, I began reading. The way the book is written is very enjoyable for an instructional book: witty, comprehensive, and uses lots of examples with endless real-world application. Its not just theory from the greeks; Heinrichs uses a variety of examples to show how to win...more
Jun 20, 2011
Roshni
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
comedy-and-humor,
nonfiction
Fantastic book that teaches you how to win arguments and how to be persuasive. Heinrichs humor-filled book keeps you flipping the pages, eager for more techniques to befuddle your foes in an argument.
Aug 23, 2011
Triizore
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
High School Students Taking AP English
Most of the reviews have hit the nail on the head with describing the book. It provides a refreshingly modern take on rhetoric and doesn't come off as pretentious. However, because I was given this book as a summer reading assignment, many of his "tips" were just off "try this in the office", "try this with your spouse", "try this on your kids".
It's a common summer reading book because it's easy to understand, but it doesn't fit the audience, which is really a mistake for a book on rhetoric.
I pr...more
It's a common summer reading book because it's easy to understand, but it doesn't fit the audience, which is really a mistake for a book on rhetoric.
I pr...more
An interesting addition to the zillions of books I've read on logic and negotiation. Acknowledges the legitimacy of rhetorical techniques as simple as picking the right time to bring something up. A little too cute with it's caption asides (TRY THIS AT WORK...) and self-referential, but easy to follow and absorb. I appreciate too the point that learning the Greek terms for rhetorical techniques isn't strictly necessary to understand and remember the concepts, since in the original Greek the term...more
For an accessible, engaging, and non-textbook book about rhetoric, I found it very successful. The examples are relevant and Heinrichs creates more memorable names for the Latin rhetorical terms. He gives rhetoric more applicability and relevance to our lives by exposing how it used in popular culture. I learned quite a bit from the book, even if it jumped around a lot.
However, I got quite annoyed with Heinrichs' narrative voice by about halfway through the book. At first, I really enjoyed the h...more
However, I got quite annoyed with Heinrichs' narrative voice by about halfway through the book. At first, I really enjoyed the h...more
1 like · like · see review
I had to read this as a companion text to James Herrick's Shaping Arguments books. I thought it was simpler to understand for those who have little to no history or dealings with formal arguments. I like the side stories and such, as well as the real life applications and examples, but It didn't all flow together for me. I guess a better way to say it, is that I didn't see how everything connected. It was like reading individual chunks of information and only half the time coming together as a w...more
I learned about this book by reading an article the author wrote concerning raising his kids to be arguers. I found that extremely interesting an wanted to learn more. The book starts out very good and begged me to keep reading; however, as it progressed it started to wear me down. I found myself using the techniques in the book to convince myself to keep reading it. The application of current issues to relate the ancient Greek teaching were adequate, but the proliferation of Greek terminology t...more
This book does have some value, though you have to wade through the mud to get it.
Rhetoric is an interesting and valuable subject, perhaps it was my mistake to pick up a book that was clearly going to take a light approach on the topic. As a man who enjoys Aristotle, and watched the Simpsons growing up, I thought this may be a fun way to reinforce what I know about Rhetoric, and add to it in a fun way (the cover states 'What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson can teach us about the art of pe...more
Rhetoric is an interesting and valuable subject, perhaps it was my mistake to pick up a book that was clearly going to take a light approach on the topic. As a man who enjoys Aristotle, and watched the Simpsons growing up, I thought this may be a fun way to reinforce what I know about Rhetoric, and add to it in a fun way (the cover states 'What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson can teach us about the art of pe...more
Rather than write a review, let me just share a few of the gems that you can expect from this book:
...more
[The happy couples] manipulated one another. That's a good thing. While our culture tends to admire straight shooters, [...] those people rarely gettheir way in the end. (pg. 16)
You need to determine your audience's values and then appear to live up tothem. (pg. 60)
- If facts work in your favor use them. If they don't (or you don't know them), then...
- Redefine the terms instead. If that won't work
Rhetoric has earned a bad name in past years. Deservedly so, no? After all it's how dirty politicians and vicious salesmen trick us into doing their will right?
Well, not so. This book picks up rhetoric from the dumps, gives it a shower and a shave and shows us the other side of rhetoric; the one that helps us get the best result out of every argument, that teaches us how to explain ourselves clearly and empathically and, perhaps most important of all, provides the perfect vaccine for the shady u...more
Well, not so. This book picks up rhetoric from the dumps, gives it a shower and a shave and shows us the other side of rhetoric; the one that helps us get the best result out of every argument, that teaches us how to explain ourselves clearly and empathically and, perhaps most important of all, provides the perfect vaccine for the shady u...more
This is perhaps the most interesting child-rearing book I've ever read. Why? Because you learn how to teach your children to debate with you.
The title, "Thank You for Arguing", is slightly misleading, because the author, Jay Heinrichs, is attempting to dissuade people from the common reaction of blind arguing. Instead, Heinrichs wants people to learn how to debate again, how to listen to each other's statements and respond accordingly.
Personally, I learned a lot about debate, and how to presen...more
The title, "Thank You for Arguing", is slightly misleading, because the author, Jay Heinrichs, is attempting to dissuade people from the common reaction of blind arguing. Instead, Heinrichs wants people to learn how to debate again, how to listen to each other's statements and respond accordingly.
Personally, I learned a lot about debate, and how to presen...more
In his book Thank You for Arguing Jay Heinrichs teaches readers about the art of argument. He details the tools and techniques necessary for persuasion, and branches out into the overall importance of rhetoric in contemporary society and in our daily lives.
Thank You for Arguing served as a great guide to the many terms, tips, and tricks of argument. Heinrichs keeps his tone light to avoid boring his readers, and even points out how he utilizes rhetoric in his own writing throughout the book. Whi...more
Thank You for Arguing served as a great guide to the many terms, tips, and tricks of argument. Heinrichs keeps his tone light to avoid boring his readers, and even points out how he utilizes rhetoric in his own writing throughout the book. Whi...more
4 likes · like · see review
Jul 14, 2008
Matt
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone writing a speech; Anyone who ever makes an argument or is persuaded to do anything
Recommended to Matt by:
Becca
Excellent book! For those of us who took literature instead of rhetoric in college (ehem, yeah), it's a great intro to the mysterious dark art. Heinrichs humorously illuminates the nuts and bolts of argument, the art of persuading an audience to change its mind or mood or to get it to act. He gets you to remove yourself from argument and become a third party observer. What are the speaker's goals? What does he want me to think or do about something? Is he appealing to my feelings, logic, or his...more
As a teacher of high school rhetoric I found this a great book that explains the classical art of persuasion. He uses many great examples from history, his personal experience, politics, television and other things in our culture. He has a funny sense of humor and gets his point across well. It is well organized and he uses sideboards to give other facts or definitions which were helpful. I will recommend this to those who know nothing about rhetoric and also to my students.
Damn good book about how to argue effectively and efficiently, with every single statement fully backed by a relevant Homer Simpson quote. If that's not a best seal of approval, I don't know what is.
Even though one could expect the book on such a serious topic to read like an academic treatise, Jay chooses to convey his messages via down-and-personal narrative. This can sometimes get a bit too chaotic, but boring - never. Mental gymnastics at its best!
Even though one could expect the book on such a serious topic to read like an academic treatise, Jay chooses to convey his messages via down-and-personal narrative. This can sometimes get a bit too chaotic, but boring - never. Mental gymnastics at its best!
Can I give ZERO stars?
One of only three books I have thrown to the floor in disgust and have no intention or desire to ever go back to it.
The writer comes across as patronising and smug, and he appears to love footnotes so much he actually sticks them in amongst the text in little, annoying box-outs.
The only funny bits in this supposedly humorous book are the Simpson's quotes, so go watch Homer instead.
One of only three books I have thrown to the floor in disgust and have no intention or desire to ever go back to it.
The writer comes across as patronising and smug, and he appears to love footnotes so much he actually sticks them in amongst the text in little, annoying box-outs.
The only funny bits in this supposedly humorous book are the Simpson's quotes, so go watch Homer instead.
I wish I had discovered this book six months ago! It is the PERFECT book about argument; it's funny, persuasive, and makes a potentially dry subject (the ancient art of rhetoric) endlessly entertaining. I intend to use this as my text book for my Argument class, but don't let its future status as a textbook deter you. It's more than interesting enough to read for its own sake (especially if you ever want to convince anyone of anything).
Mi sono addentrato tra le pagine di questo libro con un misto di scetticismo e interesse ed entro breve il secondo ha preso il sopravvento. La capacità di intervenire sul proprio logos, ethos e pathos, che l'autore pone alla base di ogni buon retore, non è certo alla portata di tutti e questo volume potrebbe essere un valido supporto nell'impresa se si è concretamente indirizzati in quella direzione. La bravura di Heinrichs sta nell'illustrare concetti accademici di spessore, come la difesa reto...more
Ok, I'm just gng to come clean and admit I didn't finish the WHOLE book. It started to become too much like a textbook, and I felt like my brain was in overload trying to remember the techniques for every situation. Some great tips, however, with the most memorable one keeping your priority straight as to what you want the outcome of an rhetorical exchange to deliver. Fun banter? Feeling superior? Or getting your teen to empty the dishwasher? Wish in old secretly hole this and flip to the correc...more
It wasn't what I was looking for so I gave up after a bit. It was filled with too much random advice like, 'prepare two speeches if you are giving a talk to two different audiences'. Or vague and generic advice like, 'know your audience's mood'. Things that you probably already do intuitively when arguing.
not bad, definitely entertaining. mixes historical and pop-culture references equally well. a good primer to the art of rhetoric for those less than enthusiastic about going directly to the ancienct Greeks for their lessons. sure, Cicero knew what he was talking about, but he didn't have Simpsons quotes to use to his favor.
The two things I'll probably remember from this book: 1) The system of loci for memory enhancement; I'm going to try it out. 2) That rhetoric is a method for compromise, and compromise is necessary to prevent class warfare, and therefore factionalism, and therefore the end of our republic. If we're smart, we can sidestep the errors of the Romans.
... Oh and I'll probably try to start more arguments now.
... Oh and I'll probably try to start more arguments now.
Considering this is a book about persuasion, it was fairly entertaining with lots of good and relatable examples. However, I spent half of it being mad at the author for subtly hinting at his opinions on certain things (which I happened to disagree with). I'm probably not being fair, because there were plenty of times when I did agree with what he said, and it was pretty obvious that he was trying to be impartial. But either way, I found it difficult to enjoy a book on a topic I don't particular...more
Great book, I hardily recommend it to emerging leaders and daily communicators who find themselves spending more time trying to win arguments instead persuading people.
Filled with funny and topical descriptors that make digesting complicated concepts a breeze.
Filled with funny and topical descriptors that make digesting complicated concepts a breeze.
Jul 02, 2008
Rebecca
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Rebecca by:
Jeremy D.
What a great book! Half textbook (Cicero and Aristotle and their serpentine rhetorical terminology are the real stars)and half handy and hilarious how-to guide, it was a fun, entertaining, and educating read. Educating in the best sense-- the author reveals the amount of persuasion we actually undertake daily, breaks the art of persuasion down into its parts, and gives the readers the skills to de-code others' persuasive techniques (you can become a liar-detector) and communicate your ideas clea...more
This book was a good read, with some good principles but the subject matter is questionable. Essentially it is teaching you how to win an argument no matter the cost. Manipulation is a tactic the author clearly isn't afraid to use.
Ok, I'm not one for 'self-help' books but this is a great read and had great advice. I used a few tactics advised in the book on my kiddo and she now argues better than me! And might I add, the constant references to Cicero are awesome!
Aug 27, 2008
Felicia Lopez
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
those looking for a basic rhetoric book.
My boyfriend gave me this book because it's a rhetoric book, and being that I majored in Rhetoric in college, he thought I'd enjoy it.
Overall, I enjoyed reading it. The chapters follow a format that I would have benefitted from during study sessions during my introductory days in the department. A good, but selectively incomplete foundation for argument, the book provides quality information but failed to keep my attention. When I read parts of the book aloud to my boyfriend, I could see him gr...more
Overall, I enjoyed reading it. The chapters follow a format that I would have benefitted from during study sessions during my introductory days in the department. A good, but selectively incomplete foundation for argument, the book provides quality information but failed to keep my attention. When I read parts of the book aloud to my boyfriend, I could see him gr...more
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