| Formatted contents note |
pt. 1. Critical thinking and reading -- 1. Critical thinking -- Thinking about drivers' licenses and photographic identification -- Thinking about another issue concerning drivers' licenses : imagination, analysis, evaluation -- Writing as a way of thinking -- A checklist for critical thinking -- A short essay illustrating critical thinking -- Alan Dershowitz, Why fear national ID cards? -- Examining assumptions -- A checklist for examining assumptions -- A casebook on examining assumptions : what values do tests have? -- Paul Goodman, A proposal to abolish grading -- Howard Gardner, Test for aptitude, not for speed -- A checklist for evaluating letters of response -- Letters of response to Howard Gardner, from Thomas M. Johnson Jr., Graver Moore, Arnie Lichten, and Janet Rudolph -- Diane Ravitch, In defense of testing -- Exercises -- 2. Critical reading : getting started -- Active reading -- Previewing -- Skimming : finding the thesis -- Reading with a pencil : underlining, highlighting, annotating -- "This ; Therefore, that" -- First, second, and third thoughts -- Summarizing and paraphrasing -- Susan Jacoby, A First Amendment junkie -- A checklist for getting started -- A casebook for critical reading : should some kinds of speech be censored? -- Susan Brownmiller, Let's put pornography back in the closet -- Charles R. Lawrence III, On racist speech -- Derek Bok, Protecting freedom of expression on the campus -- Jean Kilbourne, "Own this child" -- Exercise : letter to the editor -- 3. Critical reading : getting deeper into arguments -- Persuasion, argument, dispute -- Reason versus rationalization -- Some procedures in argument -- Definition -- Assumptions -- Premises and syllogisms -- Deduction -- Sound arguments -- Induction -- Evidence -- A checklist for evaluating statistical evidence -- Nonrational appeals -- Satire, irony, sarcasm, humor -- Emotional appeals -- A checklist for analyzing an argument -- Does all writing contain arguments? -- An example : an argument and a look at the writer's strategies -- George F. Will, Being green at Ben and Jerry's -- Arguments for analysis -- Ronald Takaki, The harmful myth of Asian superiority -- Richard A. Epstein, Thinking the unthinkable : organ sales -- James Q. Wilson, Just take away their guns -- Gloria Jiménez (student essay), Against the odds, and against the common good -- Anna Lisa Raya (student essay), It's hard enough being me -- Judy Brady, I want a wife -- A casebook : what role should diversity play in college and university admission policies? -- Lawrence H. Summers and Laurence H. Tribe, Race is never neutral -- Stanley Rothman, Is diversity overrated? -- Letters of response by Michael Horstein and Andrew Milne to Summers and Tribe and to Rothman -- Amy Ziebarth, Solving the diversity dilemma -- Letters of response by Barbara Kantz, Berhanu Abegaz, and Somnath Saha -- James Traub, Forget diversity -- Sandra Day O'Connor, From majority opinion in Grutter v. Bollinger -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg, From a dissenting opinion in Gratz v. Bollinger -- 4. Visual rhetoric : images as arguments -- Some uses of images -- Appeals to the eye -- Are some images not fit to be shown? -- Reading advertisements -- A checklist for analyzing images (especially advertisements) -- Visuals as aids to clarity : maps, graphs, tables, and pie charts -- A note on using visuals in your own paper -- Additional images for analysis -- Nora Ephron, The Boston photographs.<br/>pt. 2. Critical writing -- 5. Writing an analysis of an argument -- Analyzing an argument -- Examining the author's thesis -- Examining the author's purpose -- Examining the author's methods -- Examining the author's persona -- Summary -- An argument, its elements, and a student's analysis of the argument -- Stanley S. Scott, Smokers get a raw deal -- Tom Wu, Is all discrimination unfair? -- An analysis of the student's analysis -- A checklist for writing an analysis of an argument -- Arguments for analysis -- Jeff Jacoby, Bring back flogging -- Katha Pollitt, It takes two : a modest proposal for holding fathers equally accountable -- David Cole, Five myths about immigration -- John Irving, Wrestling with Title IX -- Peter Singer, Animal liberation -- Jonathan Swift, A modest proposal -- 6. Developing an argument of your own -- Planning, drafting, and revising an argument -- Getting ideas -- The thesis -- Imagining an audience -- The audience as collaborator -- The title -- The opening paragraphs -- Organizing and revising the body of the essay -- The ending -- Two uses of an outline -- Tone and the writer's persona -- We, one, or I? -- Avoiding sexist language -- A checklist for attending to the needs of the audience -- Peer review -- A peer review checklist for a draft of an argument -- A student's essay, from rough notes to final version -- Emily Andrews, Why I don't spare "spare change" -- Exercise -- 7. Using sources -- Why use sources? -- Choosing a topic -- Finding material -- Interviewing peers and local authorities -- Using the library -- Finding information online -- Evaluating sources -- A checklist for evaluating print sources -- A checklist for evaluating electronic sources -- Taking notes -- A word about plagiarism -- A checklist for avoiding plagiarism -- Compiling an annotated bibliography -- Writing the paper -- Organizing your notes -- The first draft -- Later drafts -- Choosing a tentative title -- The final draft -- Quoting from sources -- The use and abuse of quotations -- How to quote -- Documentation -- A note on footnotes (and endnotes) -- MLA format : citations within the text -- MLA format : the list of works cited -- APA format : citations within the text -- APA format : the list of references -- A checklist for papers using sources -- An annotated student research paper in MLA format -- Theresa Washington, Why trials should not be televised -- An annotated student research paper in APA format -- Laura Deveau, The role of spirituality and religion in mental health.<br/>pt. 3. Further views on argument -- 8. A philosopher's view: the Toulmin model -- The claim -- Grounds -- Warrants -- Backing -- Modal qualifiers -- Rebuttals -- A model analysis using the Toulmin method -- A checklist for using the Toulmin method -- 9. A logician's view : deduction, induction, fallacies -- Deduction -- Induction -- Observation and inference -- Probability -- Mill's methods -- Confirmation, mechanism, and theory -- Fallacies -- Many questions -- Ambiguity -- Death by a thousand qualifications -- Oversimplification -- False dichotomy -- Hasty generalization -- Equivocation -- Composition -- Division -- Poisoning the well -- Ad hominem -- The genetic fallacy -- Appeal to authority -- The slippery slope -- Appeal to ignorance -- Begging the question -- False analogy -- Post hoc, ergo propter hoc -- Protecting the hypothesis -- A checklist for evaluating an argument from a logical point of view -- Max Shulman, Love is a fallacy -- 10. A moralist's view : ways of thinking ethically -- Amoral reasoning -- Immoral reasoning -- Moral reasoning : a closer look -- Criteria for moral rules -- A checklist for moral reasoning -- United States v. Holmes -- Peter Singer, Famine, affluence, and morality -- Garrett Hardin, Lifeboat ethics : the case against helping the poor -- Randy Cohen, Three letters (to an ethicist) -- 11. A lawyer's view : steps toward civic literacy -- Civil and criminal cases -- Trial and appeal -- Decision and opinion -- Majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions -- Facts and law -- Balancing interests -- A word of caution -- A checklist for analyzing legal arguments -- A casebook on the law and society : what rights do the Constitution and the Bill of Rights protect? -- William J. Brennan Jr. and William H. Rehnquist, Texas v. Johnson -- Byron R. White and John Paul Stevens, New Jersey v. T.L.O. -- Harry Blackmun and William H. Rehnquist, Roe v. Wade -- 12. A psychologist's view : Rogerian argument -- Carl R. Rogers, Communication : its blocking and its facilitation -- A checklist for analyzing Rogerian argument -- 13. A literary critic's view : arguing about literature -- Interpreting -- Judging (or evaluating) -- Theorizing -- A checklist for an argument about literature -- Examples : two students interpret Robert Frost's "Mending wall" -- Robert Frost, Mending wall -- Jonathan Deutsch, The deluded speaker in Frost's "Mending wall" -- Felicia Alonso, The debate in Robert Frost's "Mending wall" -- Exercises : reading a poem and reading two stories -- Andrew Marvell, To his coy mistress -- Kate Chopin, The story of an hour -- Kate Chopin, The storm -- Thinking about the effects of literature -- Plato, "The greater part of the stories current today we shall have to reject" -- Thinking about government funding for the arts -- 14. A forensic view : oral presentation and debate -- Standard debate format -- The audience -- Delivery -- The talk -- Two examples of oral presentation -- A checklist for preparing for a debate -- Joan B. Claybrook, Yes, SUVs are a safety threat to occupants of other vehicles -- Susan M. Cischke, No, SUVs are not a safety threat to occupants of other vehicles.<br/>pt. 4. Current issues : occasions for debate -- Debates as an aid to thinking -- A checklist for analyzing a debate -- 15. Abortion : whose right to life is it anyway? -- Ellen Willis, Putting women back into the abortion debate -- Randall A. Terry, The abortion clinic shootings : why? -- 16. Affirmative action : is it fair? -- Terry Eastland, Ending affirmative action -- Burke Marshall and Nicholas Deb. Katzenbach, Not color blind : just blind -- 17. Cell phones : should their use while driving be prohibited? -- Advocates for Cell Phone Safety, Yes, prohibit their use -- Robert W. Hahn and Paul Tetlock, No, don't prohibit their use -- 18. Censorship : should public libraries filter Internet sites? -- David Burt, Yes, install filters -- Nancy Kranich, No, do not install filters -- 19. Gay marriages : should they be legalized? -- Thomas B. Stoddard, Gay marriage : make them legal -- Lisa Schiffren, Gay marriage, an oxymoron -- 20. Gun control : would it really help? -- Sarah Thompson, Concealed carry prevents violent crimes -- Nan Desuka, Why handguns must be outlawed.<br/>pt. 5. current issues : casebooks -- 21. The death penalty : can it ever be justified? -- Edward I. Koch, Death and justice : how capital punishment affirms life -- David Bruck, The death penalty -- Potter Stewart, Gregg v. Georgia -- Harry Blackmun, Dissenting opinion in Callins v. Collins -- Helen Prejean, Executions are too costly, morally -- Casey Johnson, Yes, the death penalty should apply to juveniles -- Emma Welch, No, the death penalty should not apply to juveniles -- Alex Kozinski and Sean Gallagher, For an honest death penalty -- 22. Drugs : should their sale and use be legalized? -- William J. Bennett, Drug policy and the intellectuals -- James Q. Wilson, Against the legalization of drugs -- Milton Friedman, There's no justice in the war on drugs -- Elliott Currie, Toward a policy on drugs -- 23. Euthanasia : should doctors intervene at the end of life? -- Ellen Goodman, Who lives? Who dies? Who decides? -- Terry Golway, The culture of death -- James Rachels, Active and passive euthanasia -- Timothy E. Quill, Death and dignity : a case of individualized decision making -- Ronald Dworkin, Assisted suicide : the philosophers' brief -- 24. The just war : what are the criteria? -- G.E.M. Anscombe, The criteria of a just war -- Peter Steinfels, The just war tradition and the invasion of Iraq -- George A. Lopez, Iraq and just-war thinking -- William a. Galston, The perils of preemptive war -- Andrew Sullivan, Yes, a war would be moral -- 25. Privacy : what are its limits? -- Amitai Etzioni, Less privacy is good for us (and you) -- Simson Garfinkel, Privacy under attack -- Nadine Strossen, Everyone is watching you -- E-mail responses to Nadine Strossen -- Judith Wagner Decew, The feminist critique of privacy -- 26. Reparations : under the circumstances are they appropriate? -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Executive Order 9066 -- Anonymous, An apology to the internees -- Tony P. Hall, Yes, the U.S. government should apologize to African Americans for slavery -- Robert W. Tracinski, No, the U.S. government should not apologize to African Americans for slavery -- Charles J. Ogletree Jr., Litigating the legacy of slavery -- Max Twine, A backward-looking argument for reparations -- Brent Staples, The slave reparations movement adopts the rhetoric of victimhood -- Letters of response to Brent Staples by Martin Kilson and Leon W. Zelby -- Jeff Jacoby, The slavery reparations hustle -- 27. Sexual harassment : is there any doubt about what it is? -- Tufts University, What is sexual harassment? -- Ellen Goodman, The reasonable woman standard -- Ellen Frankel Paul, Bared buttocks and federal cases -- Sarah J. McCarthy, Cultural fascism -- 28. Torture : is it every justifiable? -- Clinton R. Van Zandt, It should be permissible to torture suspected terrorists to gather information -- Vincent Iacopino, It should not be permissible to torture suspected terrorists to gather information -- Philip B. Heymann, Torture should not be authorized -- Alan M. Dershowitz, Yes, it should be "on the books" -- Michael Levin, The case for torture.<br/>pt. 6. Enduring questions : essays, stories, poems, and a play -- 29. What is the ideal society? -- Thomas More, From Utopia -- Niccolò Machiavelli, From The prince -- Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Declaration of sentiments and resolutions -- Martin Luther King Jr., I have a dream -- Edward Bellamy, From Looking backward -- W.H. Auden, The unknown citizen -- Langston Hughes, Let America be America again -- Ursula K. Le Guin, The ones who walk away from Omelas -- 30. How free is the will of the individual within society? -- Plato, Crito -- Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, Do we have free will? -- George Orwell, Shooting an elephant -- Walter T. Stace, Is determinism inconsistent with free will? -- Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham jail -- Stanley Milgram, The perils of obedience -- Thomas Hardy, The man he killed -- T.S. Eliot, The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock -- Susan Glaspell, Trifles -- Mitsuye Yamada, To the lady -- 31. What is happiness? -- Thoughts about happiness, ancient and modern -- Epictetus, From The handbook -- Alexander Pope, Ode on solitude -- Omar Khayyám and Edward Fitzgerald, From The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám -- Bertrand Russell, The happy life -- Alice James, From The diary of Alice James -- Danielle Crittenden, About love -- The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, Inner contentment. |
