Chapter 1- Starting an Argument

Learning the Basics...

How to Start an Argument








This textbook chapter is available online for your viewing.  Sometimes, simply learning content a few different ways can make all of the difference in the content making sense to us.  

• Maybe my explanation of the subject will not 'click' for a student, yet when I refer him/her to an outside link from another professor who is expressing the same content in his/her own voice, it makes sense to the student.  
• Our textbooks are the same way.  Every institution approves textbooks for teaching courses.  Maybe our textbook does not provide a clear enough picture for you on a specific assignment topic.  Therefore, when I find similar textbook content online for students to review, I like to post it on my site in case they need a different perspective on the overall topic.  

However, please keep in mind that if you have read the requirements from your instructor and something in this external textbook site does not meet the instructor's criteria for scoring your work, ALWAYS FOLLOW YOUR INSTRUCTOR'S GUIDELINES.  After all, it is your instructor who will award you points for each of your assignments, and therefore, he/she has the final say.

Online Textbook Information

Textbook Title: Argument Today

Chapter 1: “Starting an Argument”

Authors: Richard Johnson-Sheehan and Charles Paine

Publisher: Pearson Higher Education

Content available as a .pdf at https://www.pearsonhighered.com/johnson-sheehan-argument-info/assets/pdf/jsp-argument-today-ch1.pdf

MyWritingLab with eText for Johnson-Sheehan / Paine Argument Today

ISBN-10: 0321993020 | ISBN-13: 9780321993021

Generative and Persuasive Arguments

The authors employ a continuum that reveals how people engage in two basic types of argument.

• Generative arguments, or "power with" arguments, are designed to build understanding and consensus among people who share some common values. Generative arguments often don't look like arguments because the participants are busy figuring out where they agree, discussing their differences, and working to solve common problems. Generative arguments allow people to sort out their beliefs, work as a team, and take action together.
• Persuasive arguments, or "power over" arguments, use reasoning, authority, and emotion to try to convince others to believe something or to take a specific action. Persuasive arguments help people clarify their views and work together toward changing the minds of others. In many cases, persuasive arguments are used to convince others to do something they wanted to do in the first place.