A Brief Guide to Arguing About Literature by John Schilb; John Clifford - Fourth Edition, 2024 from Macmillan Student Store
VALUE

A Brief Guide to Arguing About Literature

Fourth Edition ©2024 John Schilb; John Clifford

As first-year writing courses continue to foreground skills of critical analysis and argumentation, A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature provides concise instruction in reading literature and writing arguments. The book activates students’ analytical skills through instruction in cl...

Read more

ISBN:9781319331733

ISBN:9781319570811

A Brief Guide to Arguing About Literature by John Schilb; John Clifford - Fourth Edition, 2024 from Macmillan Student Store

A brief, affordable guide to literary analysis and argument

As first-year writing courses continue to foreground skills of critical analysis and argumentation, A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature provides concise instruction in reading literature and writing arguments. The book activates students’ analytical skills through instruction in close critical reading of texts; then, it shows them how to turn their reading into well-supported and rhetorically effective argumentative writing. For instructors who prefer to offer their own anthology of readings and literary works for their composition courses, A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature comprises only the writing-guide chapters from Arguing about Literature: Guide and Reader. 

Achieve with Arguing about Literature puts student reading and writing at the core of your course with reading comprehension quizzes for the book’s selections, LearningCurve adaptive quizzing for literature, and a dedicated composition space that guides students through draft, review, source check, reflection, and revision.

Features

Thorough treatment of rhetorical and literary analysis with instruction in argument and research. A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature explains and models ways of reading literature that will help students form arguments of their own. The book includes literary works and focuses on how to write arguments about them. It also guides students through the process of research, detailing how to find, critique, incorporate, and cite sources.


Evaluating internet sources and visual arguments. It’s important for students to be able to identify when sources, websites, and images offer real information and credible claims--and when they don’t. Chapter 8, “Evaluating Internet Resources in the Post-Truth Age” addresses these skills and helps students develop their analytical eye.


Plentiful writing opportunities throughout. Writing exercises, questions, and assignments prompt students to respond to the readings and try out the techniques they are learning.

 

New to This Edition

Emerging issues that will resonate with students. Chapter 1 includes a timely opinion article in which two scholars of disability studies raise questions about the ethics of gene editing.


A guide to using inclusive language. A new section in Chapter 2 “Writing Effective Arguments” explains how to use inclusive language and that using inclusive language will only strengthen one’s writing. Many instructors have told us that they and their students would appreciate having a resource like this to consult. 


New literature selections and arguments. Readings and visual arguments tackle contemporary issues such as our cell phone-focused society, the ethics of gene editing, immigration and refugees, and climate change, including:

  • Pamela Paul, The Phone Call
  • Sandy Sufian and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, The Dark Side of CRISPR
  • Jimmy Santiago Baca, So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans
  • Tracy K. Smith, Refugee
  • Rena Priest, The Index
  • Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, Dear Matafele Peinem

“Arguing about Literature has always been a preferred textbook in our department. The fact that it is keeping up with current learning and teaching trends, utilizes the new technologies, and provides relevant readings is major.”  –Jarrod Patterson, Alabama A&M University

“I come from a rhetoric background, so when I learned we were switching our ENGL 1302 approach from rhetoric to literature, I was hesitant. However, Arguing about Literature does reflect many of the rhetorical strategies that I already had been teaching, and it's refreshing how much the chosen literature reflects common issues in today's society. It's a good blend.” – Beverly Powell, Dallas Baptist University    

“Arguing about Literature combines the process for analysis with the theme of literature in various genres. It’s a resource guide for teaching argument through a literary lens.”  – Maria Gray, Tulsa Community College

“Arguing about Literature is substantive and thorough. It includes diverse voices and perspectives, and it also helps students understand the timeless themes and issues revealed in literature. Its usefulness is in providing enough content that students can choose from a wide but curated selection of issues and writers to research and write their final projects on.” – Jacqueline Boals, Dalton State College

“Arguing about Literature has a diverse variety of quality literature and essays to help build your course and teach not only literary analysis but the writing of research essays.” – Timothy Ruoff, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College

Digital Options

ACHIEVE icon

Achieve

Achieve is a comprehensive set of interconnected teaching and assessment tools that incorporate the most effective elements from Macmillan Learning's market leading solutions in a single, easy-to-use platform.

Schedule Achieve Demo

Table of Contents

Preface for Instructors 
Contents by Genre 

PART ONE: A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature

1. What Is Argument? 
An Argument about Cell Phones
Paul Goldberger, Disconnected Urbanism 
Getting Another Perspective
Pamela Paul, The Phone Call
Understanding Rhetoric 
The Elements of Argument 
Sample Argument for Analysis
Sandy Sufian and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, The Dark Side of CRISPR  
Writing a Response to an Argument
Further Strategies for Analyzing an Argument So You Can Write a Response to It 
An Argument for Analysis
Regina Rini, Should We Rename Institutions That Honor Dead Racists? 

2. Writing Effective Arguments 
Strategies for Developing an Effective Style of Argument 
Structuring Your Argument: Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay 
A Student Response to an Argument
Paul Austin, The Need for True Consent to CRISPR 
Arguing in the First Person: Can You Use I? 
Use Inclusive Language 
Arguments for Analysis
Lee Siegel, Why I Defaulted on My Student Loans
Alexandra Petri, Take all books off the shelves. They’re just too dangerous.  

3. How to Argue about Literature 
Why Study Literature in a College Writing Course? 
A Story for Analysis
Jamaica Kincaid, Girl 
Strategies for Arguing about Literature 
A Sample Student Argument about Literature
Ann Schumwalt, The Mother’s Mixed Messages in “Girl” 
Looking at Literature as Argument
Jimmy Santiago Baca, So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans
Robert Frost, Mending Wall
Ted Chiang, The Great Silence
Literature and Current Issues: Poems about Climate Change 
Jane Hirshfield, Let Them Not Say
Rena Priest, The Index
Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, Dear Matafele Peinem 

4. The Reading Process 
Strategies for Close Reading 
A Poem for Analysis
Sharon Olds, Summer Solstice, New York City 
Applying the Strategies 
Reading Closely by Annotating
Emily Skillings, Girls Online 
Further Strategies: Topics of Literary Studies 
Lynda Hull, Night Waitress 
Identify Speech Acts
Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Elizabeth Bishop, One Art
 
5.  The Writing Process
Rachel Kadish, Letters Arrive from the Dead 
Strategies for Exploring 
Strategies for Planning 
Strategies for Composing 
First Draft of a Student Essay 
Dylan Rieff, Letters Don’t Arrive from the Dead 
Strategies for Revising 
A Checklist for Revising 
Revised Draft of a Student Essay 
Dylan Rieff, Letters Don’t Arrive from the Dead
Strategies for Writing a Comparative Essay 
Don Paterson, Two Trees 
Luisa A. Igloria, Regarding History 
A Student Comparative Essay 
Jeremy Cooper, Don Paterson’s Criticism of Nature’s Owners

6. Writing about Literary Genres 
Writing about Stories 
Rivka Galchen, Usl at the Stadium 
The Elements of Short Fiction 
Final Draft of a Student Essay
Lydia Marsh, Why It’s Good for Usl to Wait 
Writing about Poems 
Mary Oliver, Singapore 
Yusef Komunyakaa, Blackberries 
Edwin Arlington Robinson, The Mill 
The Elements of Poetry 
Final Draft of a Student Essay 
Michaela Fiorucci, Negotiating Boundaries 
Comparing Poems and Pictures 
Rolando Perez, Office at Night 
Edward Hopper, Office at Night 
A Sample Essay Comparing a Poem and a Picture 
Karl Magnusson, Lack of Motion and Speech in Rolando Perez’s “Office at Night” 
Writing about Plays
August Strindberg, The Stronger 
A Student’s Personal Response to the Play 
The Elements of Drama 
Final Draft of a Student Essay 
Carly Chen, Which Is the Stronger Actress in August Strindberg’s Play? 

7. Writing Researched Arguments 
Begin Your Research by Giving It Direction 
Search for Sources in the Library and Online 
Evaluate the Sources 
Record Your Sources’ Key Details 
Strategies for Integrating Sources 
Avoid Plagiarism 
Strategies for Documenting Sources (MLA Format) 
Directory to MLA Works-Cited Entries 
Books 
Short Works from Collections and Anthologies 
Multiple Works by the Same Author 
Works in Periodicals 
Online Sources 
Citation Formats for Other Kinds of Sources 
A Note on Endnotes 
Three Annotated Student Researched Arguments 
Sarah Hassan, “The Yellow Wallpaper” as a Guide to Social Factors in Postpartum Depression 
How Sarah Uses Her Sources
Nathan Johnson, The Meaning of the Husband’s Fainting in “The Yellow Wallpaper” 
How Nathan Uses His Sources
Fatima Nagi, The Relative Absence of the Human Touch in “The Yellow Wallpaper” 
How Fatima Uses Her Sources 
Contexts for Research: Confinement, Mental Illness, and “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper 
Cultural Contexts
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Why I Wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper”
S. Weir Mitchell, From “The Evolution of the Rest Treatment” 
John Harvey Kellogg, From The Ladies’ Guide in Health and Disease 

8.  Evaluating Internet Resources in a “Post-Truth” Age 
Evaluating Written Arguments You Find on the Internet 
Margaret Atwood, All Bread
Helena Minton, “Bread”
Varda He, Restaurants Should Be More Aware of Celiac, Gluten-Free Diet Limits 
Critically Analyzing Web Sites’ Truth Claims 
Summing Up the Recommendations 
Understanding Strategies in Visual Arguments on the Internet 
Topic: War
     Wilfred Owen, Dulce et Decorum Est (poem) 
     WWI recruitment poster 
     Identifying the Visual Strategies 
Topic: Environmental Destruction
     Linda Hogan, Songs for Turtles in the Gulf (poem) 
     Image: Anti-liter ad 
     Identifying the Visual Strategies 
Topic: Refugees
     Tracy K. Smith, Refuge  
     Photograph: Ukrainian refugees 
     Identifying the Visual Strategies 
Topic: Borders
     Alberto Ríos, The Border: A Double Sonnet (poem) 
     Map: U.S.-Mexico Border
     Identifying the Visual Strategies 
Topic: Guns
     Katie Bickham, The Ferryman (poem) 
     Graph: Mass Shootings in 222 
     Identifying the Visual Strategies 
Summing Up the Strategies 
Identifying Biases You Might Bring to Your Internet Research 

Appendix: Writing with Critical Approaches to Literature 
Contemporary Schools of Criticism 
Working with the Critical Approaches
James Joyce, Counterparts 
Sample Student Essay
Molly Frye, A Refugee at Home (student essay)
James Joyce, Eveline (story) 
Index of Authors, Titles, First Lines, and Key Terms 

John Schilb

John Schilb (Ph.D., State University of New York—Binghamton) is Culbertson Chair and Professor of English Emeritus at Indiana University, Bloomington. From 2006 to 2012, he was editor of the journal College English. He has coedited Contending with Words: Composition and Rhetoric in a Postmodern Age, and with John Clifford, Writing Theory and Critical Theory. He is author of Between the Lines: Relating Composition Theory and Literary Theory and Rhetorical Refusals: Defying Audiences’ Expectations.

John Clifford

John Clifford (Ph.D., New York University) is Professor of English Emeritus at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. He is the editor of The Experience of Reading: Louise Rosenblatt and Reader Response Theory and has written a number of literature and composition textbooks with John Schilb, including Making Literature Matter and Constellations. He has published scholarly articles on pedagogy, critical theory, and composition theory in a variety of journals.

Arguing About Literature by John Schilb; John Clifford - Fourth Edition, 2024 from Macmillan Student Store

Arguing About Literature

John Schilb; John Clifford | Fourth Edition | 2024 | ISBN:9781319331719

Learn More