Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments: Reading, Designing, and Writing Effective Arguments, Second Edition

Rating:
Summary: Great intro for college freshmen
Review: As a teacher of freshman composition, I like this book because it serves 3 purposes:

1. it introduces students to the art of rhetoric in terms they can understand.

2. it provides clear instructions and checklists on how to write clear, well-argued papers.

3. it provides practical situations and real-life arguments (through readings and writing samples) so that students see how these techniques work both in the classroom and the real world.

My students consistently say that after learning the techniques and principles set forth in this book that they are not only better writers but also better readers and verbal communicators.


The book is also easy to navigate with tables of contents arranged by chapter with a separate organization of the sample readings by genre.

The readings are short, interesting and represent a broad array of viewpoints from ultra-conservative to flaming liberal. The authors of the pieces are of many ages, races, and ethnicities. There's something of interest to every student in this book.