Everything's an Argument with Readings [with Rules for Writing]

by Andrea A. Lunsford, John J. Ruszkiewicz, Keith Walters

All too often, students feel the writing course has nothing to do with their own lives and goals. Drawing on more than 35 years of combined classroom experience, Kate Mangelsdorf and Evelyn Posey give beginning writers the skills and confidence they need to choose topics and approaches that matter to them, providing them with step-by-step guidance for producing well-written, meaningful essays. Maintaining a supportive yet respectful tone, Choices helps students understand writing as a process, see the connections between reading and writing, and use rhetorical strategies, among other necessary academic skills. A wealth of professional and student models, reflecting an impressive diversity, chapters on writing for different situations, and a comprehensive handbook provide everything students need to become effective academic writers — far blow the cost of comparable rhetorics.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing, School, Teaching, College, Textbooks, Philosophy

Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Nhu Khue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phew 😌! What a long long journey! I eventually finished it. Reading this in-depth and thought-provoking book is an eye-opening experience (at least for a person who has never approached this area before)

[Alex Timberman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't let the small size fool you. This isn't your normal book but rather a college level text. It has useful information on noticing arguments and on analyzing arguments that are all around us. Very practical and useful book and I appreciate all of the real life examples along with the numerous images that are useful for class. I recommend it.

[Amy Bruestle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for school...thought-provoking...

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but a little superficial and vague at times, which isn't necessarily a problem; it does encourage the reader the think through the implications of the concepts the authors present.
However, there are a few instances where they just don't take certain ideas far enough.
I'd still recommend it to anyone interested in rhetoric and contemporary culture.

[Ptreick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished teaching a critical comp class using this book, and the front portion (i.e., chapters 1-22 or so), was great. I didn't find the readings as useful as I would have hoped, and I ended up supplementing with other material anyway. I would recommend this book WITHOUT the readings, which add bulk and cost, but not much else.

[Tim Cheneval · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this book should be required reading for entry level communications classes in colleges. Understanding basic rhetoric devices and fallacies can open the mind to next level thinking, and shield your imagination from faulty logic and argument. The sections on credible sources and proper source citation are valuable as well.

[Brandy Forland · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t purchase for Kindle

This book doesn’t allow the page number feature. Meaning, if you are instructed to reference certain pages in the book, you cannot do so from a Kindle device/app. You can only use the location feature which is NOT helpful.

[Bob Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too textbooky for me, packed with info about every type of argument imaginable.
Not gonna lie, I skimmed this one. Was to info dense to give it a thorough reading.
Maybe 🤔 if I had it for a college class I would’ve delved into it more deeply.

[Emily Shipley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sure is.

[Hanhnguyen_94 · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 for how detailed it is but 2 for how wordy it is.

[Savannah Price · Rating 3 out of 5]

no i didn't complete this but I sometimes say I read books to mark the extensive reading i did in classes and this marks all that I read in my msu english 100 class thank you for coming to my tedtalk

[Ryan Hirst · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's simple.
The authors fail to properly distinguish between fallacies and valid arguments. Which is supposed to be the point of the book. Examples if you want them.

For a clear introduction to the elments of argument, you might consider "With Good Reason," by S. Morris Engel. If you prefer to bump about with nincompoopery, then by all means read this instead. Just don't expect to be able to distinguish circular arguments.

Unless, of course, you already know how.

P.S. 'nincompoopery' is a blatant act of question-begging.
P.P.S. I think I read the 2nd edition

[Graham Oliver]

I like the variety of readings, and that's probably the biggest strength of the book; I don't know of a single other reader with such a range, and a well-chosen range at that. The organization (section naming, particularly) could use some work - lots of repetition and names that don't really tell me anything when I'm searching for something. I also don't see myself using any of the large amount of the book dedicated to talking about MLA, APA, or visual arguments given there's so many digital resources that do it better.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually the one I'm reading is without readings, but goodreads doesn't seem to have that one in their list.

As a textbook for a Critical Thinking / Composition class, I like this one. Getting the non-readings version made the book cheaper and allowed me to choose my own readings, which, even for an inexperienced teacher like myself tends to work better and be more interesting than a reader.

This book gives clear, concise tips on writing argumentative papers.

[Adam Floridia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teaching my first upper level English class in the spring (Advanced Composition), and, more importantly, it's the first time I get to pick the book I want!

And it's official: this will be one of the required texts (the other being Vonnegut's Palm Sunday!)

Haven't read every article in it yet, but the pedagogic stuff on rhetoric is great. I do wish the thematic units of articles were more varied...or just different.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flashes of excellence (which I excerpt for class) buried in a lot of filler. It felt like the authors were trying to take a book that could have been a Strunk & White and pad it out into a semester-long textbook. Still good for teaching students to read bloated texts swiftly - a skill that comes in handy at university.

[Longfellow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorge-Way's comment on the back guarantees I'll give this book another chance. Perhaps I'll spend more time in the early chapters rather than expecting lots of great stuff from the themed readings in the back sections

[Dedrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It outlined and described several styles of argument and provided models that seem useful to me. I hope to apply these models at some point. However, since everything is an argument, I am sure I will make use of it.

[Brianna Olomua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Facinating short stories and great points to think about! I even used this book as a resource for essays written in other classes! Very well organized into topics and thoughts very clear and easy to read.

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be returning to this book every semester for hopefully a few years. If you're looking to learn about rhetoric and argument, this is a good book.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about rhetoric. It has a lot of colorful pictures in it, which makes it more interesting.

[Ashley Hammond · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I've read on rhetoric.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Used in my AP LANG class, interesting, made me think. Not particularly inspiring, but good all the same.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely essential for any intelligent writer.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read this for English 1101...thirteen years later and I STILL go back to this book. Love the different stories as essays as well as the commentary from the editors.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its awesome

[Sylvia Yaa]

amazong

[Suzette Banick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Difficult to understand. The chapters consisted mostly of examples but no explanations.

[Kem Sua]

aaaa

[Franky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really enthused to find this book, which I had heard about from a colleague. Everything’s An Argument is a wonderful resource book that covers many facets of not only argumentation and writing, but also persuasion and effective rhetoric. I think any student who is in a composition class would benefit from having this book, as it covers quite a bit of ground in the realm of simply how to write effectively.

The structure of the book is such that it is easy to navigate and find what best suits your emphasis. The chapters are divided into many sections: how to argue, types of persuasive arguments (ethos, pathos, logos), fallacies of argument, how to structure and frame an argument, arguments of fact, arguments of definition, style in writing, and research. Within each of these chapters are engaging and relevant discussion points as well as brilliant modern models and examples from history, media and society. For example, the structuring an argument chapter has an example from a piece by Frederick Douglass, a wonderful orator and writer, as well as the great Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have a Dream.”

Besides the wonderful exemplars within the book, there are many nuggets of wisdom about just the writing process. There are tips on how to draft and revise how to form a thesis and a claim, how to refute opposing claims, the importance of support and evidence, and much more on writing papers and arguments.

Simply said, this is an awesome resource and I wished I had stumbled upon it much sooner.