For courses in Composition and Literature, Argumentative Writing, Writing about Literature, and Introduction to Literature.
Message: Based on the premise that literature liberates thinking, and argument disciplines it. This anthology features a critical thinking, analytical approach that students in turn will apply to their own thought and writing processes. It introduces and explains the tools of argument, and presents students with reading selections centered on four enduring themes―Individuality and Community, Nature and Place, Family and Identity, and Power and Responsibility.
Story: Reading Literature and Writing Argument springs directly from the authors' experiences as teachers of two college composition courses: "Writing Argument and Persuasion" and "Writing about Literature." In both courses, students are enriched, as readers and as writers, through their active engagement with ideas in written text. With the authors' students experiences in the two composition courses as their guide, they harnessed the courses' complementary strengths in Reading Literature and Writing Argument. The result is a book that provides students with a range of reading experiences-fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama-that will immerse them in critical and creative thinking as they address problems and issues from multiple perspectives. This book prompts students to see language as a way to create meaning in their lives and to see themselves as writers with a purpose and an audience.
Hear what professors have to say about ReadingLiterature and Writing Argument 3e:
“The quality and variety and freshness of the literary selections is one of this text’s biggest strengths.”
--KarenGardiner-Universityof Alabama
“The authors are way ahead of other textbooks authors in their rhetorical approach to literature.”
--DanFerguson-AmarilloCollege
Literature liberates thinking, and argument disciplines it.
Reading Literature and Writing Argument 3e uses literature to teach argument. This unique combination nourishes creative thinking in users through engagement with literature–stories, poems, plays, essays–and provides users with practice in developing critical thinking through the study and application of the principles of argument. The text boasts 170 diverse reading selections centered on four enduring themes–Individuality and Community, Nature and Place, Family and Identity, and Power and Responsibility
New Features in the third edition :
- Chapter Three, “Participating in an Academic Community,” addresses first-year college writing needs for both writing instruction and guidelines for academic argument.
- 22 additional literature selections provide more literature models for study.
- Chapter Two, “”Examining Thinking and Shaping an Argument,” now includes an overview of common logical fallacies.
- Enhanced research/writing topics throughout the four literature theme chapters link enduring themes to contemporary issues.
