About Arguing Through Writing

About Arguing Through Writing

Arguing Through Writing is heavily adapted from the Lumen Learning English Composition 2 book on the SUNY OER list of texts. The original version of this book was released under a CC-BY license and is copyright by Lumen Learning.

It was then developed in March 2020 by Joshua Dickinson, Associate Professor of English at Jefferson Community College in Watertown, NY. The changes to this book listed are released under a CC-BY-SA license and are copyright by Joshua Dickinson of Jefferson Community College in Watertown, NY.

Note that titles of essays or articles in MLA normally appear in quotes.  However, the software used to create the books does not allow for the use of quotes within title.

List of Changes

  • Added a reader section containing various links and text documents.  While these are organized chronologically, they could as easily be used thematically.  Most of the introductory composition courses feature a blend of fiction and nonfiction sources.
  • Added sample essay assignments.
  • Added Instructor Resources in private view: FAQs for Online Composition Courses, Sample Learning Contract, Sample ENG 101 Grading Rubric, and Are Online English Courses Right for You?
  • Added section entitled Playing the Game: Critical Reading and Writing.
  • Added the Determining Audience and Purpose section, moving two Lumen resources into it: Audience, and Discussion: Establishing Intended Audience (the latter in private view).
  • Added Prewriting section with my lectures.
  • Created What is Argument? section.
  • In Visual Arguments, added Hanna Rosin, “Why Kids Sext” link.
  • Added Causal Arguments section lectures Avoid Relativism (Because I Think So); Cause/Effect Tie in With Most Readings; Argue Without Filtering Through the Self; What is Academic Writing by L. Lennie Irvin; Sample Causal Argument; Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The First American President”; and Robert Kubey, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, “Television Addiction is no Mere Metaphor”; and Plato, The Symposium.
  • Added Definition chapter.
  • In Rhetorical Analysis, added Troubleshoot Your Reading; Sample Rhetorical Analysis Essay; Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”; Mark Twain, “Two Ways of Seeing a River”; and James Gleick, What Defines a Meme?
  • Added The Research Project section, moving in several resources from the original text and then adding my lectures: Essay 4: Persuasion; Audiences Know the Topic Well. . .  Alter Their Actions; Avoid Oversimplifying in Essays; Diotima’s Ladder Video: Check Out the Forms; and Charles Pierce, “Greetings From Idiot America.”
  • In Research Proposal, added Persuasive Writing Differs Markedly From Previous Assignments.
  • In Evaluating Sources, added Anatomy of a Journal Article and Library Research as Problem-Solving.
  • In Integrating Sources, added Introduction of Borrowed Material; A Typical Body Paragraph Pattern; Transition Placemats; The Paragraph Body: Supporting Your Ideas; Signal Phrases; Integration Tips in Preparation for Peer Editing or Editing; and Proper Source Use in Paragraphs.
  • In Citing Sources, added Academic Integrity Tutorial, MLA Checklist, Paragraph Settings Use No Extra Vertical Spaces, Avoid Word Templates for Citations, and Works Cited Entries: What to Include.
  • In Annotated Bibliographies, added Annotated Bibliographies lecture, as well as Annotated Bibliography Assignment.
  • In Structure & Outlining, added Synthesizing and Supporting Refutals, Logical Fallacies, Logical Fallacies Handlist, Academic Writing Review, and How Does “The Witch Sketch” Work Logically?
  • In Revising & Editing, added Revision Strategies, Peer Editing, “Breaking Up is Hard to Do,” and Page One in an Essay Abounds in Pitfalls for Errors.
  • In Final Drafts, added Sample Definition Essay (MLA Style).

You are free to use, modify or adapt any of this material providing the terms of the Creative Commons licenses are adhered to.  Most are Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA).  Enjoy!