Reading and writing for civic literacy: the critical citizen's guide to argumentative rhetoric

Preface for Teachers (and Curious Students) to the Brief Edition

Acknowledgments

Part I. Introduction

Chapter 1. An Appeal to Students

English as a Survival Skill

Critical Education in Historical Perspective

"An End to History"

"Majoring in Debt"

"Where's the Misery?"

Young America Foundation's Homepage

"The Voices of Dissent"

Chapter 2. What Is an Argument? What Is a Good Argument?

What Is a Good Argument?

"The Intellectual Free Lunch"

Analysis, Synthesis, and Judgments

Style and Tone, Eloquence and Moral Force

Conclusion

Rhetoric: A Checklist for Analyzing Your Own and Others' Arguments

A Historical-Causal Analysis of "The White Problem"

Chapter 3. Definitions and Criteria of Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking and Cultural Literacy

Making Connections

Dialogue in Critical Thinking and Literature

Recursiveness, Cumulativeness, and Levels of Meaning

Drawing the Line and Establishing Proportion

Avoiding Oversimplification and Recognizing Complexity

Reading Between the Lines

Irony and Paradox

"My Dungeon Shook"

"A Noiseless Patient Spider"

"Can Patriotism Be Compassionate?"

Chapter 4. Semantics in Rhetoric and Critical Thinking

Denotation and Connotation

Definition and Denotation in Argument

Connotation in Argument: "Cleans" and "Dirties"

Euphemism

Abstract and Concrete Language

Unconcretized Abstractions

Literal and Figurative Language

Literal and Figurative Language in Literature

Summary: Applying Semantic Analysis

A Semantic Calculator for Bias in Rhetoric

"When Words Cheapen Life"

"Framing the Issues"

"Look Behind Statistics for Changing Definitions"

Chapter 5. Writing Argumentative Papers

Prewriting

Writing

Postwriting

Locating and Evaluating Sources

A Model of the Writing Process in a Student Paper

from The Beauty Myth

"The Backlash Myth"

Part II. Attaining an Open Mind: Overcoming Psychological Obstacles to Critical Thinking

Chapter 6. From Cocksure Ignorance to Thoughtful Uncertainty: Viewpoint, Bias, and Fairness-Culturally Conditioned Assumptions and Centrisms

Relativism and Commitment

Biased and Unbiased Viewpoints: The ESBYODS Principle

Acknowledge Your Own and Opposing Viewpoints

Rogerian Argument, Believers and Doubters

Culturally Conditioned Assumptions and Centrisms

Totems and Taboos

Ethnocentrism

American Ethnocentrism

"Battle over Patriotism Curriculum"

Questioning Capitalism

Phallocentrism

Other Centrisms

from A Room of One's Own

"Anti-Capitalism in Five Minutes or Less"

Chapter 7. Overgeneralization, Stereotyping, and Prejudice

Prejudice

Class Prejudice

Reverse Prejudice

"An Unexpected Education at St. Anthony's"

"Life on the Expense Account"

"Dozens of Billionaires Receive Ag Handouts"

"Wal-Mart: Rise of the Goliath"

Chapter 8. Authoritarianism and Conformity, Rationalization and Compartmentalization

from Network

Rationalization, Compartmentalized Thinking, and Double Standards

Other Defense Mechanisms

from 1984

"On the Merits"

"Greens Dodge Links to Unabomber"

Part III. Elements of Argumentative Rhetoric

Chapter 9. Some Key Terms in Logic and Argumentation

Deductive and Inductive Arguments

Implications and Inferences

Setting the Agenda

Tone and Style

Polemics

Ground Rules for Polemicists

"Vouchers, Choice: Opposing Views"

"Chicken Little Calling Out, 'Global Warming!'"

"Closing the Wealth Gap"

Chapter 10. Logical and Rhetorical Fallacies

Glossary of Logical and Rhetorical Fallacies

Chapter 11. Causal Analysis

"Ya Got Trouble"

"Other People's Children: North Lawndale and the South Side of Chicago"

"Crisis in American Education"

Chapter 12. Uses and Misuses of Emotional Appeal

Appeals to "Cleans" and "Dirties"

Puff Pieces and Hatchet Jobs

"Bunker Hunt's Greatest Investment"

Predictable Patterns of Wartime Rhetoric: Appeals to Fear and Pity

"The War Prayer"

"The Real War 1939-1945"

"War Is the Supreme Drug," An Interview with Author Chris Hedges

Part IV. Thinking Critically About the Rhetoric of Politics and Mass Media

Chapter 13. Thinking Critically About Political Rhetoric

Political Semantics

Liberalism, Conservatism, Democrat, Republican

Socialism, Communism, Marxism

The World Political Spectrum

The American Political Spectrum

A Guide to Political Terms and Positions

Notes on the Guide to Political Terms and Positions

Predictable Patterns of Political Rhetoric

A Note on Twenty-First Century Modifications to Table 13.1

Political Viewpoints in Sources

"If We Decided to Tax the Rich"

"The Intellectual Class War"

"Fascism Anyone?"

Chapter 14. Thinking Critically About Mass Media

Do the Media Give People What They Want?

Are News Media Objective? What Are Their Biases?

The Debate over Political Bias in Media

Conclusion

"The Illiberal Media"

"Networks Need a Reality Check"

"Liberal Hate-Speech"

"Matthews vs. McNulty"

"Outfoxed Tweaks Rupert Murdoch's Mayhem-isphere"

Assignment for a Paper

Chapter 15. Deception Detection: Varieties of Special Interests and Propaganda

Special Interests, Conflict of Interest, and Special Pleading

Lobbying and Public Relations

Varieties of Propaganda

Invective and Smearing

Government Public Relations; the Military-Industrial-Media Complex

"The Historic Power of Special Interests"

"When Money Talks"

"Flack Attack"

60 Minutes, "Confessions of a Tobacco Lobbyist"

Part V. Putting It All Together in a Long Paper

Chapter 16. A Case Study: Rhetoric and the Wealth Gap

Goldberg versus Chait on Taxes

"The Rich Aren't Made of Money"

"A Very Special Kind of Math"

Sklar versus the Wall Street Journal

"Billionaires Up, America Down"

Wall Street Journal "Movin' On Up: A Treasury Study Refutes Populist Hokum About 'Income Inequality'"

Analyzing Statistical Tricks

Summary of Suspicious Statistical Arguments

An Outline of Conservative and Leftist Arguments on the Rich, the Poor, and the Middle Class

Chapter 17. Collecting and Evaluating Opposing Sources: Writing the Research Paper

Assignment for an Annotated Bibliography and Working Outline

Sample Annotated Bibliography Entry

Sample Working Outline

Sample Research Paper

Chapter 18. Documentation and Research Resources

Documentation

Works Cited Section

Research Resources

Index

Credits