Argument and Rhetoric OER/ZTC Resources

We set out to create this anthology to provide a free and open resource to composition instructors and students, full of essays that could supplement OER rhetoric and writing texts that lacked readings. Over time, however, we came to see that this anthology, and its editors, subscribe to the notion, presented by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her 2009 TED Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story” (included in this book), that “we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story… we regain a kind of paradise.” That is, this anthology is designed to work for as many different rhetorical situations as college writing students might find themselves in.

Three themes are developed as the text proceeds from argument identification and analysis, to the standards and techniques of evaluation: (i) the importance of asking the right questions, (ii) the influence of biases, cognitive illusions, and other psychological factors, and (iii) the ways that social situations and structures can enhance and impoverish our thinking. On this last point, the text includes sustained discussion of disagreement, cooperative dialogue, testimony, trust, and social media. Overall, the text aims to equip readers with a set of tools for working through important decisions and disagreements, and to help them become more careful and active thinkers.

To inform, sell to, persuade, and motivate us, the authors and sponsors of these messages and stories use the power of language, choosing to word their message in particular ways. Behind their messages lie particular worldviews, discourses, and ideologies that may or may not align with those of the audience. In making certain word and grammatical choices, they show us their perspective and invite us to share in it. To do this, these authors may use rhetorical or language power techniques like metaphor, euphemism, hyperbole, address forms, weasel language, and epithets. These can be enacted with particular grammatical features; for example, an epithet may use a noun phrase, hyperbole a superlative adjective, or weasel language a passive form. We need critical language awareness to see these connections.

This book is about analyzing others' arguments and crafting your own. The rhetorical choices that you make as a writer–from evidence to structure to tone–impact how your audience will receive your ideas. Using those tools effectively will help your voice be heard.

Example of OER Remix/Adapt Project: Delving Into Writing and Rhetoric curates content from A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing by Melanie Gagich & Emilie Zickel, The Writing Textbook by Josh Woods & an unnamed author, Writing in College by Amy Guptill, A Dam Good Argument which is a collected works, and links to several essays from the open source textbook series Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. The book was curated, revised, edited, and formatted by James Charles Devlin. Within each chapter there are sections written by each of the above authors attributed in each section. This book also contains other resources integrated under Creative Commons licenses. These open-access resources include complete and also remixed chapters.

In this text, you'll study the ways that rhetoric and communication developed over time, you'll learn about the different rhetorical tools that are used in effective communication, and you'll learn how to employ those tools in your own compositions.

Focuses on communicating in professional environments. Our goal in this text is to break down the communication process in professional environments so you can maximize your chance to get hired and retain your job once you graduate from university. We will do this by looking at communication through political, rhetorical, ethical, and interpersonal lenses and applying this knowledge to your future career.

The textbook for English 101: College Composition I and English 102: College Composition II at Central Arizona College

Many students who enter college writing courses may at first feel apprehensive or may not see how these courses connect to their intended majors. In reality, college writing courses teach students to use writing to communicate and use critical thinking skills to become savvier consumers of information.

How Arguments Work takes students through the techniques they will need to respond to readings and make sophisticated arguments in any college class. This is a practical guide to argumentation with strategies and templates for the kinds of assignments students will commonly encounter. It covers rhetorical concepts in everyday language and explores how arguments can build trust and move readers.

This text was designed not only to teach students about composition and rhetoric, but about research skills, too. The editors of this text maintain that research skills, or information literacy as librarians put it, have rhetorical elements. Contents include: Getting Started with the Writing Process -- The Rhetorical Situation -- Types of Argumentation -- Process and Organization -- Joining the Academic Conversation -- Researched Writing -- Ethics
(Rev.2nd Ed.)

Putting the Pieces Together: Reason and Writing for Success is a text that provides instruction in steps, builds writing, reading, and critical thinking, and combines comprehensive grammar review with an introduction to paragraph writing and composition; This text is designed as a companion resource to WRIT: Reason and Writing, which is Fanshawe College's introductory writing curriculum. Edition update: July 2024.

A Guide to Success in the First Year Writing Class offers students necessary concepts and practice to learn all the elements needed for successful first year writing and set the stage for future writing success in college.

You will need fluency in all three domains (academic, professional, and public) as you address problems in your future professional and personal lives. This text is designed to give you practice writing across these domains, so you will become more a flexible and adaptive writer who feels confident approaching the diverse writing situations you will almost certainly encounter.

This course equips students with a strong understanding of how to use rhetorical modes that underpin much academic writing. The textbook covers modes related to creative writing, such as narration and illustration, while also covering analytically-focused modes such as comparison and cause and effect. Detailed assignment sheets are supplemented by helpful student worksheets for each major paper assignment. The book's final chapter includes grammar and style exercises.

This textbook guides students through rhetorical and assignment analysis, the writing process, researching, citing, rhetorical modes, and critical reading. Guided by Oregon's statewide college writing outcomes, this book collects previously published articles, essays, and chapters released under Creative Commons licenses into one free textbook available for online access or print-on-demand. Faculty guide available.

Relevant Chapters:
Chapter 9 Rhetorical Analysis: Interpreting the Art of Rhetoric
Chapter 10 Position Argument: Practicing the Art of Rhetoric
Chapter 11 Reasoning Strategies: Improving Critical Thinking
Chapter 12 Argumentative Research: Enhancing the Art of Rhetoric with Evidence
Chapter 13 Research Process: Accessing and Recording Information
Chapter 14 Annotated Bibliography: Gathering, Evaluating, and Documenting Sources
Chapter 16 Print or Textual Analysis: What You Read
Chapter 17 Image Analysis: What You See

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, rhetoric is “The art of using language effectively so as to persuade or influence others, esp. the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques to this end.” Very generally speaking, rhetoric refers to a set of strategies that authors use to connect to their readers. More often in this book, though, I use “rhetoric” to refer to any text that tries to do something to a reader, viewer, or listener.