Preface: Teaching the Craft of Argument A Message to Students Acknowledgments I. THE NATURE OF ARGUMENT: INTRODUCTION 1. Argument and Rationality. What Is Argument?What Good Is Argument? Arguments Help Us Think Critically Arguments Help us Sustain Communities Arguments Define Academic and Professional Communities Arguments Enable DemocracyWhat's Not an Argument.?: Three Forms of Persuasion That Are Not Arguments Arguments and Explanations Arguments and Stories Arguments and Visual ImagesWRITING PROCESS: Argument and Critical Thinking Thinking and Talking Reading and Researching Preparing and Planning Drafting Revising Working CollaborativelyINQUIRIES: Reflections; Tasks; ProjectsFOCUS ON WRITINGIN A NUTSHELL2. Argument as Civil Conversation. The Five Questions of Argument.The Roots of Argument in Civil Conversation.Review: Modeling an Argument. The Core of an Argument: Claim + Reason + Evidence Dialogue with Readers: Acknowledgment + Response Explaining Logic: WarrantsCrafting Written Arguments.Thickening Your Argument.WRITING PROCESS: Argument as Civil Conversation Thinking and Talking Preparing and Planning Drafting RevisingINQUIRIES: Reflections, Tasks, ProjectsFOCUS ON WRITINGSAMPLE ESSAYSIN A NUTSHELL3. Motivating Your Argument. Two Kinds of Problems.How Practical and Conceptual Problems Motivate Arguments The Two-Part Structure of Practical Problems The Two-Part Structure of Conceptual Problems How To Identify Motivating Costs or Consequences by Asking So What?Framing Problems in Introductions. The Core of an Introduction: Conditions and Costs The Outer Frame of an Introduction: Common Ground and SolutionConclusions.Introductions and Conclusions as Ways of Thinking. Problem-Posing Versus Problem-Solving ArgumentsWRITING PROCESS: Motivating Your Argument Reading and Research Preparing and Planning Drafting Revising Working CollaborativelyINQUIRIES: Reflections, Tasks, ProjectsFOCUS ON WRITINGSAMPLE ESSAYSIN A NUTSHELLII. DEVELOPING YOUR ARGUMENT: INTRODUCTION 4. The Core of Your Argument: Finding and Stating A Claim Exploring Claims Without Rushing to Judgment.What Kind of Claim Does Your Problem Require? Is Your Claim Pragmatic or Conceptual? How Strongly Do You Want Your Readers to Accept Your Claim?What Counts as a Claim Worth Considering?What Does a Thoughtful Claim Look Like? Is Your Claim Conceptually Rich? Is Your Claim Logically Rich? Is Your Claim Appropriately Qualified?WRITING PROCESS: Finding and Stating Claims Drafting RevisingINQUIRIES: Reflections, Tasks, ProjectsFOCUS ON WRITINGSAMPLE ESSAYSIN A NUTSHELL5. The Core of Your Argument: Reasons and Evidence. Supporting ClaimsReasons and Evidence as Forms of Support.Distinguishing Reasons and Evidence.Distinguishing Evidence and Reports of It Direct and Reported EvidenceMultiple Reasons. Reasons in Parallel Reasons in Sequence The Deep Complexity of Serious ArgumentsUsing Reasons to Help Readers Understand Evidence.WRITING PROCESS: Reasons and EvidancePreparing and PlanningDrafting: Integrating Quotations into Your Sentences; Avoiding Inadvertent PlagiarismRevisingINQUIRIES: Reflections, Tasks, ProjectsFOCUS ON WRITINGSAMPLE ESSAYSIN A NUTSHELL6. The Core of Your Argument: Reporting Evidence. Weigh Your Burden of Evidence.Make a Plan to Find EvidenceThe Four Maxims of Quality.Trustworthy Reports of Evidence. Reports of Memories Anecdotes Reports from Authorities Visual Reports with Photographs, Drawings, and Recordings Visual Presentations of Quantitative DataRadical SkepticismWRITING PROCESS: Reporting Evidence Reading and Research Working CollaborativelyINQUIRIES: Reflections, Tasks, ProjectsFOCUS ON WRITINGSAMPLE ESSAYSIN A NUTSHELL7. Your Readers' Role in Your Argument: Acknowledgments and Responses The Importance of Other Viewpoints.Questions about Your Problem and Its Solution.Questions about Your Support.Questions about Your Consistency.Responding with Subordinate ArgumentsWRITING PROCESS: Acknowledgment and Responses Reading and Research Preparing and Planning Drafting Working Collaboratively INQUIRIES: Reflections, Tasks, ProjectsFOCUS ON WRITINGIN A NUTSHELL8. The Logic of Your Argument: Warranting Claims and ReasonsThe Reasoning behind ReasonsWhat Warrants Look Like.How Warrants WorkKnowing When to Use Warrants in a Written Argument The Most Common Uses for Warrants Two Special Uses for WarrantsHow to Test a WarrantDistinguishing Reasons and WarrantsThe Challenge of Using Warrants.Review: A Test Case.Warranting Evidence Arguing by Evidence vs. Arguing by Warrants.WRITING PROCESS: Warrants Preparing and Planning Working CollaborativelyINQUIRIES: Reflections, Tasks, ProjectsFOCUS ON WRITINGIN A NUTSHELLIII. THINKING ABOUT THINKING IN ARGUMENTS: INTRODUCTION 9. The Forms of Reasoning. Three Forms of Reasoning Inductive Reasoning; From Specifics to a General Conclusion Deductive Reasoning: From a Generalization to a Specific Conclusion Abductive Reasoning: From Problem to Hypothesis to ConfirmationReal Life Barriers to Abductive Critical Thinking Don't Rely on Warrants in Place of Evidence Don't Collect Evidence Randomly Guard Against the Biases Common in Abductive ThinkingWRITING PROCESS: Forms of Reasoning Preparing and PlanningINQUIRIES: Reflections, Tasks, ProjectsFOCUS ON WRITINGIN A NUTSHELL10. Arguments about Meanings. Some Terminology.Meanings and Problems. What Problems Does Your Definition Solve? Is the Issue of Meaning a Surrogate for a Larger Problem?How to Argue about Meanings. Do Readers Expect Common or Authorized Meanings? Strategies for Using Common Meanings Strategies for Using Authorized Meanings When to Rely on Authorized Definitions Why Dictionaries Cannot Settle Arguments over MeaningWRITING PROCESS: Arguments about Meanings Preparing and Planning DraftingINQUIRIES: Reflections, Tasks, ProjectsFOCUS ON WRITINGIN A NUTSHELL11. Arguments about CausesThe Impossible Vastness of Causes.Finding Relevant Causes. Everyday Thinking about Causation Thoughtful Thinking about CausationAnalyzing Causation Systematically. The Principle of Similarity and Difference The Principle of Co-Variation Four Cautions about Using the PrinciplesCausation and Personal Responsibility. Who's Responsible? Five Criteria for Assigning Personal Responsibility Attribution BiasWRITING PROCESS: Arguments about Causes Preparing and Planning DraftingINQUIRIES: Reflections, TasksFOCUS ON WRITINGIN A NUTSHELLIV. THE LANGUAGES OF ARGUMENT: INTRODUCTION12. Clear Language. Some Principles of Clear and Direct Writing.The Principles in a NutshellConcision and Vividness. How to Be Concise How to Be Vivid Abstract vs. Concrete The System of Imageable Words Deliberate GeneralityWRITING PROCESS: Clear Language RevisingINQUIRIES: Reflections, TasksA GUIDE TO TERMSIN A NUTSHELL13. The Overt and Covert Force of Language. Invoking Values, Evoking Feeling. Value-Laden Words You Can't Avoid ValuesWhen Emotional Language Undermines Sound ThinkingPolarizing LanguageCynical LanguageSubjects and Point of View. Manipulating Subjects to Assign Responsibility Treating Means as AgentsAbstractions as Characters.Metaphorical Scenarios.WRITING PROCESS: The Overt and Covert Force of Language Drafting RevisingINQUIRIES: Reflections, TasksIN A NUTSHELLAppendix 1: Avoiding Inadvertent Plagiarism through Proper Citations Appendix 2: Cognitive Biases and Fallacies V. READINGS

The Craft of Argument is designed to help integrate the skills of writing, critical thinking, and arguing for the purpose of enabling the writer to write arguments that are clear, sound, and persuasive.