Summary ENGL 112 Critical Thinking And Argument Paper Complete Solution.

Critical Thinking And Argument People argue to settle differences of opinion. Using intelligence and reasoning in an exchange of words rather than blows, arguers strive to convince their audience to accept an idea, course of action, or point of view. In his book The Elements of Reasoning, Professor Edward Corbett has written, “When we argue informally with fiends and acquaintances, many of us resort to arguing by vigorous assertion rather than by reasoned demonstration”: Reliable evidence and logical presentation sometimes take a back seat to shouting and demotion. However, sound and fury rarely persuade people as successfully as a convincing presentation of well-marshaled facts. The familiar process of gathering information, deciding what it means, and using it to shape someone else’s thoughts or actions occurs repeatedly in you own life. Your history exam requires that you write a short essay answering the question, “What caused the end of the Cold War?” Your boss asks you to prepare a report comparing two computer software packages and recommending the one that seems better. To cut costs, the school board is thinking of closing your child’s school, sending him or her to a more distant one. You decide to write a letter to the local newspaper in protest. Each of these tasks requires the complex skills of critical thinking and argumentative writing—more than just reporting facts and summarizing information. Each writing task mentioned in the preceding paragraph will have as its focus a central thesis, an assertion of the writer’s position on the subject: “The primary causes of the end of the Cold War were a, b, and c”; “The Digital Dynamite software will best serve our needs”; “The school board should not close our neighborhood elementary school because of y and z.” Convincing readers of the truth of these assertions requires analysis, evaluation, and interpretation of the facts to transform the information into a well-reasoned point of view, a persuasive case, and adequately supported stand.