From Reading to Writing

Have you ever changed your mind about something? What caused you to re-examine a belief or an idea? Most likely, you read or heard someone else’s perspective that challenged you to think about an issue in a different way. It might have been a clear, thoughtful presentation of information, a personal story that tugged at your conscience, a startling statistic, or even a bit of humor or satire that presented a familiar issue in a new and enlightening way. It’s less likely that you were bullied into reconsidering your opinion by a loud voice that belittled your ideas.

By carefully and respectfully reading the viewpoints of others and considering a range of ideas on an issue, we develop a clearer understanding of our own beliefs—a necessary foundation to writing effective arguments. In this chapter, we’re going to analyze elements of argument as a means of critical thinking and an essential step toward crafting argumentative essays.