Corbett, Edward, the late : The Ohio State University Main Campus

Eberly, Rosa : The University of Texas at Austin

The second edition of The Elements of Reasoning retains the accessible and succinct approach that made the first edition the best treatment of the essentials of argumentation. It presents the principles that govern the composition of effective argumentative discourse and includes brief examples, with analyses that show students the underlying structure of the argument presented and the ways in which the rhetor was persuasive.

Gives clear and focused instruction in the basic principles of deductive and inductive reasoning, without unnecessary detail.

Emphasizes the roles of the topoi and stases in the invention of reasoned arguments.

Presents the classical strategies of argument, including the dialectic method, argument by analogy, argument by testimony or authority, the syllogism, and the enthymeme.

Serves as a tool for teaching students how to read and analyze argumentative discourse and how to choose the appropriate argument in a given case.

Includes analyzed examples of effective argumentative discourse.

The most succinct and least expensive introduction to reasoning and argument currently available.

New focus on reasoning and public action is reflected in a new chapter, "Becoming a Citizen Critic."

New examples of rhetorical reasoning in public discourse from print media and from radio.

New samples of the discourses of citizen critics show students that they don't have to be "somebody famous" to participate in civic discourse.

Reflects recent scholarship on histories of rhetoric, particularly rhetorical pragmatism and comparative rhetorics.

I. INTRODUCTION: ARE YOU FOR IT OR AGAINST IT?

II. RHETORICAL REASONING: PLACES AND ROADS.

III. FACTS AND CONJECTURES.

IV. DEFINITIONS.

V. CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES.

VI. VALUES AND QUALITIES.

VII. POLICIES, PROPOSALS, AND PROCEDURES.

VIII. BECOMING A CITIZEN CRITIC.