The Purposeful Argument: A Practical Guide with APA Updates

Providing a practical approach and local focus throughout, THE PURPOSEFUL ARGUMENT begins by teaching students how to analyze and identify argument. After explaining step by step how to plan and develop an effective argument using specific strategies, it ensures students stylistically understand their work.

The text's depth and breadth of examples help students understand the immediate application of argument in real life so that the concepts and thinking strategies presented are more accessible.

The text illustrates how emphasis on the middle ground and thorough attention to the opposition enable writers to construct neutral, fair-minded paraphrases of other points of view as well as fully humanize other views to reduce tension and invite interaction. Using this method, students can move toward arguments that are open-minded, cooperative and practical.

The authors draw from years of classroom experience with both traditional and nontraditional students to create a practical, civic-minded pedagogy that places the learner at the center of the argumentative writing process.