Everything's an Argument 4e & Documenting Sources in MLA Style: 2009 Update

by Andrea A. Lunsford, John J. Ruszkiewicz, Keith Walters

Shows readers how to analyze all kinds of arguments and then how to use what they learn to write their own effective arguments.

Genres: Textbooks, Nonfiction, Writing, School, Education, Reference, Psychology

610 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 1998

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hell yeah I'm counting textbooks! They have eaten valuable REAL reading time.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah, that's right: I just five-starred a comp textbook. WHAT OF IT.

But for real, this is going to be my go-to 102/105 text from here on out. The chapters are clear and interesting, none of them are crazy long, and the book is relatively inexpensive. It's a keeper. (AND I'M DONE WITH MY 105 SYLLABUS. BAM.)

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taught several chapters in ENGL 101. A little woke at times, although there are a few good-faith attempts to be fairminded about a controversial issue.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I greatly valued the logical fallacies chapters in teaching my college students, I do feel that the other chapters were not as helpful as I had thought they would be. As the third book required on my syllabus this past fall, I do feel this book failed my students in terms of getting their money's worth.

[Garrett Zecker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as a reviewer, and also as an educator interested in including more timely information into my execution of persuasive rhetorical writing. It is a general textbook about argumentative writing, but the beauty of it lies withing the author's use of pop culture and real-world examples of rhetorical argument throughout our world. I have to say that the book is an excellent tool for students and teachers looking to incorporate more argumentative writing into their lessons, but also (and perhaps most importantly in today's modern new media world) for just about anyone who needs to learn how to read an article or view an image so that they completely understand the motivations of the photographer, author, or editor. It is a great tool to interpret every piece of written and visual communication in order to distill it down to its elemental properties of rhetorical argument. I would recommend this book to teachers of writing (I will be using a great deal of the information I gained from this text, as well as the examples that the authors presented), people who want more information regarding the interpretation of any pieces of writing/advertising/media for bias or inconsistencies, or for anyone who would like a better understanding of our world and how rhetoric fits into new media and modern journalism.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comp textbooks are comp textbooks to a certain extent, but having taught out of a number of comp textbooks, I consistently like Andreas Lunsford's work. This book works quite well at presenting rhetorical concepts clearly and effectively (for the most part), and it's readable without either pandering to students or obfuscating through erudite obscurantism (see what I did there?).

The book didn't have sections directly relevant to some of the projects I was teaching (like the Profile essay), but that's kind of just something we as instructors have to expect unless we're designing assignments based on a textbook.

[Megan Fritz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed using this text for my composition class. It's a great resource for learning rhetoric and logical fallacies and brushing up on MLA and APA as well.

[Denae Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skimmed through this. It helped me organize my lessons on argument.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

AP Language & Composition, my personal purgatory that I signed up for.

[Tracey Langenbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read an earlier edition of the book. I loved it. Great points about building an argument and examining them.

[The Grimm Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is really good when it comes to writing. I wish that we would have covered more of it in class -- there is so much good material and touching on only the first few chapter is barely skimming the surface. If you have to read this book for a college English class, read the WHOLE book, not just what the professor assigns. There is so much good information here.

[Josue · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're at all interested in argumentation through writing, advertising, proposing, evaluating, and/or persuading, this is a great book to get you started. Even if you aren't interested in it, this is a great book to read just to help people out when evaluating the claims of candidates for president! There is much to like about this book, but I especially like how the authors cover a multitude of means by which people make arguments (orally, written, in the media, photography, etc.), hence the title.

If I were to evaluate the arguments of this book according to its own content, it would fill up a least two pages, and I really don't have the energy to do that at the moment. I will say, however, that my only disappointment is the authors' political leanings that are implicitly argued throughout. A more balanced approach would have been better, methinks.

[Cricket Muse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually wouldn't count a textbook among my desired reads. However, I needed to read this book for a course I'll be teaching and I surprisingly enjoyed it. Reading how to understand and form arguments is definitely not beach read material, yet, like the title states--everything is an argument. From the t-shirt slogan we wear to the car we drive, we are making a statement about what we believe in and we are persuading others of our opinion.
Updated topics with a colorful layout makes the book easy on the eyes. I did find myself a bit lost with the terms peppered throughout. There must be an assumption the reader is already familiar with the basic tenets of argument. Having sidebar glossary as a refresher is far more convenient than traipsing back to the glossary constantly.

[Nostalgia Reader]

Relied too much on quotes from other sources to make the points. Not helpful to understanding most aspects of argumentative writing. It barely ever explained things in a way that you could understand, nor did it really define a lot of basic terms. I learned more from Googling and further researching the aspects covered online, than I did from actually reading.

[Maggie Needham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything in here is kind of common sense.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

not bad liked it for simple and clear message on writing. great reference

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sure it's great normally but I did not enjoy reading this textbook.