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Oxford Guide to Effective Argument and Critical Thinking
How do you approach an essay or discussion question? How do you review what claims others have made and offer counter-claims? And how do you weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of your own argument before putting together a persuasive conclusion?
This accessible book takes you step by step through the art of argument, from thinking about what to write and how you might write it, to how you may strengthen your claims, and how to come to a strong conclusion. Engagingly written and featuring useful summaries at the end of each chapter, this new book offers easily transferable practical advice on assessing the arguments of others and putting forward effective arguments of your own. The book's strength lies in its clear guidance and the use of real-life arguments - both contemporary and historical - and real-life essay questions from a variety of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences. These interesting, relevant, and often entertaining, examples are used not to illustrate, but to make essential points about what can be learnt, what techniques can be borrowed, and what pitfalls to avoid in the area of analytical thinking and writing.
The Oxford Guide to Effective Argument and Critical Thinking is sure to improve the written work of any student required to demonstrate the key skills of critical writing and thinking. It is equally as valuable for professionals needing these skills (e.g. journalists, lawyers, researchers, politicians) as well as for anyone who has a case to put forward and would like to do so convincingly.
This accessible book takes you step by step through the art of argument, from thinking about what to write and how you might write it, to how you may strengthen your claims, and how to come to a strong conclusion. Engagingly written and featuring useful summaries at the end of each chapter, this new book offers easily transferable practical advice on assessing the arguments of others and putting forward effective arguments of your own. The book's strength lies in its clear guidance and the use of real-life arguments - both contemporary and historical - and real-life essay questions from a variety of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences. These interesting, relevant, and often entertaining, examples are used not to illustrate, but to make essential points about what can be learnt, what techniques can be borrowed, and what pitfalls to avoid in the area of analytical thinking and writing.
The Oxford Guide to Effective Argument and Critical Thinking is sure to improve the written work of any student required to demonstrate the key skills of critical writing and thinking. It is equally as valuable for professionals needing these skills (e.g. journalists, lawyers, researchers, politicians) as well as for anyone who has a case to put forward and would like to do so convincingly.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 19, 2019
A lot of examples of the actual arguments, many from prior centuries, many i found quite boring. Much lighter on the theory than i would like, though many concepts are mentioned. It is OK, but i would not find it sufficient for my purposes: 1) to systematise my own knowledge; 2) to be able to explain main points to a 12 year old).
January 3, 2020
A surprisingly unpleasant read. For a book that teaches how to structure an argument, it doesn't seem well structured itself.
There are too many negative examples and not enough positive ones. You kind of get a sense of what is wrong to do in terms of arguments but not a clear idea on what is right. Even though suggestions for improvement are given, it's not the same as seeing the correct version done well. Other books on critical thinking do this and I don't believe it takes away from the learning experience. Quite the contrary.
It would also have been good to dive into the negative examples after providing substantial information and explanations on the principle or idea of the chapter, together with some general guidelines. However, that information is somewhat scattered between the examples and is thus a bit hard to take in.
On a more positive note, there are tiny summary and reflective question sections on every other page or so, which helps out a lot. They help you not get completely lost in the messy text and to apply your mind to it (when disengagement is already tempting because of the aforementioned problems). But they don't save the text from its faults completely, in my opinion.
There are too many negative examples and not enough positive ones. You kind of get a sense of what is wrong to do in terms of arguments but not a clear idea on what is right. Even though suggestions for improvement are given, it's not the same as seeing the correct version done well. Other books on critical thinking do this and I don't believe it takes away from the learning experience. Quite the contrary.
It would also have been good to dive into the negative examples after providing substantial information and explanations on the principle or idea of the chapter, together with some general guidelines. However, that information is somewhat scattered between the examples and is thus a bit hard to take in.
On a more positive note, there are tiny summary and reflective question sections on every other page or so, which helps out a lot. They help you not get completely lost in the messy text and to apply your mind to it (when disengagement is already tempting because of the aforementioned problems). But they don't save the text from its faults completely, in my opinion.
September 2, 2022
unmitigated drivel
the many quotes are very interesting but rather bizarrely the author needs an intensive course in critical thinking
the many quotes are very interesting but rather bizarrely the author needs an intensive course in critical thinking
June 12, 2021
I was hoping this book can teach me to write essays, and boy, was I wrong. It started out fine with me studying enthusiastically every example of 'poor argumentation'. It even felt nice, you know. Noticing some smart people's mistakes. (Every chapter is dedicated to an imperfection even good authours might be found guilty of).
However, I grew a bit tired of analysing other people's writing by chapter 5 (there are 10). I was expecting the author to switch from examples of poor writing to better ones at some point, yet it never happened. The book focuses on weak argumentation and logical fallacies, so, it may teach you how to avoid those, but it never shows what you should do instead, since avoiding some types of mistakes doesn't really guarantee not making all the other ones.
The biggest drawback is the absence of good examples to follow: the list of imperfect texts used in every chapter is endless, yet the book only contains 2 (two!) exemplar arguments.
Anyway, it's a useful book for teachers (you might use examples in Critical thinking or Academic writing class) and for those already able to write decently (it'll help you spot your mistakes and improve your argumentation).
However, I grew a bit tired of analysing other people's writing by chapter 5 (there are 10). I was expecting the author to switch from examples of poor writing to better ones at some point, yet it never happened. The book focuses on weak argumentation and logical fallacies, so, it may teach you how to avoid those, but it never shows what you should do instead, since avoiding some types of mistakes doesn't really guarantee not making all the other ones.
The biggest drawback is the absence of good examples to follow: the list of imperfect texts used in every chapter is endless, yet the book only contains 2 (two!) exemplar arguments.
Anyway, it's a useful book for teachers (you might use examples in Critical thinking or Academic writing class) and for those already able to write decently (it'll help you spot your mistakes and improve your argumentation).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews