Request full copy

Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments, 7th edition

Published by Pearson (January 15, 2017) © 2018

  • Lester Faigley University of Texas at Austin
  • Jack Selzer The Pennsylvania State University

eTextbook

per month

  • Anytime, anywhere learning with the Pearson+ app
  • Easy-to-use search, navigation and notebook
  • Simpler studying with flashcards
$54.99

  • Hardcover, paperback or looseleaf edition
  • Affordable rental option for select titles
  • Free shipping on looseleafs and traditional textbooks

Revel

from$59.99

  • Inspire engagement through active learning
  • Provide an immersive reading experience
  • Assess student progress with performance insights

For courses in rhetoric and arguments.

A practical, visually engaging introduction to argument, supported by contemporary readings

The ability to create an effective argument will prove invaluable to students. That's the philosophy embodied in Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments, an argument rhetoric/reader which avoids complicated schemes and terms in favor of offering students practical ways to find "good reasons" to argue for the positions they take. The text uses nontechnical language, an appealing design, numerous examples and timely readings to engage students' interest.

The revised 7th Edition includes more than 40 new readings, along with new case studies, chapters, and projects.

Hallmark features of this title

  • Straightforward, accessible language is used throughout, ensuring that explanations, examples, captions and exercises are as clear as possible.
  • An attractive design supports learning with visual arguments, graphics, photos and more.
  • Created with a show rather than tell philosophy, the text offers annotated student writing samples and professional essays throughout. The latter are used to illustrate 6 basic types of arguments: definition, causal, evaluation, narrative, rebuttal, and proposal arguments.
  • Fresh, timely readings (including academic readings) on current topics demonstrate how complex conversations develop around important issues. Readings from canonical essays to contemporary journal articles give different points of view on provocative topics.
  • Free download: The Pearson Guide to the 2021 MLA Handbook.

New and updated features of this title

  • NEW: Professional readings on evaluation, narrative, rebuttal, and proposal arguments have been added, along with 40 new professional readings in Part 6, including those in the all-new “City Life” chapter with readings focused on green spaces, smart cities, urban farming and other timely topics.
  • REVISED: Readings cover diverse, provocative topics such as regulating technology and substances (Ch. 26) and the ways in which technology is shaping our culture, invading our privacy, and making us both smarter and dumber (Ch. 27).
  • NEW: 2 new case studies (sustainability on college campuses; and a college teaching best practices debate) are included, as well as a new student sample analysis demonstrating how to analyze visual and multimedia arguments, and coverage of audio media.
  • UPDATED: MLA coverage reflects MLA Handbook, 8th Edition guidelines, including how to cite social media and other online-only sources.
  • NEW: Projects at the end of the chapters in Part 3 offer practice with each argument strategy and development of persuasive essays and multimedia texts.
  • NEW: An emphasis on inquiry as an important aspect of argument is incorporated throughout Parts 1 to 3.

PART 1: READING AND DISCOVERING ARGUMENTS

  1. Making an Effective Argument
  2. Reading Arguments
  3. Finding Arguments
  4. Drafting Arguments
  5. Revising and Editing Arguments

PART 2: ANALYZING ARGUMENTS

  1. Analyzing Written Arguments
  2. Analyzing Visual and Multimedia Arguments

PART 3: WRITING ARGUMENTS

  1. Definition Arguments
  2. Causal Arguments
  3. Evaluation Arguments
  4. Narrative Arguments
  5. Rebuttal Arguments
  6. Proposal Arguments

PART 4: DESIGNING AND PRESENTING ARGUMENTS

  1. Designing Multimedia Arguments
  2. Presenting Arguments

PART 5: RESEARCHING ARGUMENTS

  1. Planning Research
  2. Finding Sources
  3. Evaluating and Recording Sources
  4. Writing the Research Project
  5. Documenting Sources in MLA Style
  6. Documenting Sources in APA Style

PART 6: CONTEMPORARY ARGUMENTS

  1. Sustainability
  2. City Life
  3. Education
  4. Science and Ethics
  5. Regulating Substances, Regulating Bodies
  6. Brave New Gadgets

About our authors

Lester Faigley holds the Robert Adger Law and Thos. H. Law Professorship in Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin. He was the founding director of the Division (now Department) of Rhetoric and Writing at Texas in 1993, and he later served as Director of the University Writing Center. He was the 1996 Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication. Faigley has published over thirty books and editions, including Fragments of Rationality (Pittsburgh, 1992), which received the MLA Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize.

Jack Selzer has collaborated with colleagues at Penn State and elsewhere in all kinds of ways. With his long-time friend Lester Faigley, he has written two Pearson books, Good Reasons and Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments, now in their 7th Editions, and he also has edited a number of versions of Conversations: Readings for Writing, currently in its 8th Edition (now edited by Dominic Delli Carpini). A Fellow of the Rhetoric Society of America, once a president of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, and the creator of Penn State's innovative Paterno Fellows Program, he has published or edited a number scholarly articles and books, including Rhetorical Bodies (with Sharon Crowley), Kenneth Burke in the 1930s (with Ann George), and Kenneth Burke in Greenwich Village. He enjoys teaching a first-year seminar on the rhetoric of the civil rights movement, and happens to be a charter member of the longest continuously running fantasy sports league on the face of the earth.

Need help? Get in touch

Revel

Inspire engagement through active learning. Revel® integrates interactives and assessments into a compelling digital narrative. By applying concepts as they read, students immerse themselves in learning, deepening their understanding. This mobile, user-friendly platform empowers students to learn and study on the go, anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Pearson+

All in one place. Pearson+ offers instant access to eTextbooks, videos and study tools in one intuitive interface. Students choose how they learn best with enhanced search, audio and flashcards. The Pearson+ app lets them read where life takes them, no wi-fi needed. Students can access Pearson+ through a subscription or their MyLab or Mastering course.

Video
Play
Privacy and cookies
By watching, you agree Pearson can share your viewership data for marketing and analytics for one year, revocable by deleting your cookies.

Video transcript (PDF | 33KB) 

Help students learn, wherever life takes them

Your students deserve more than just a digital textbook. Revel® combines content, media, and assessment to create an engaging, immersive experience that lets them learn on the go — anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Digital Learning NOW

Extend your professional development and meet your students where they are with free weekly Digital Learning NOW webinars. Attend live, watch on-demand, or listen at your leisure to expand your teaching strategies. Earn digital professional development badges for attending a live session.

Explore webinars