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Current Issues and Enduring Questions
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The unique collaborative effort of a professor of English and a professor of philosophy, Current Issues and Enduring Questions is an extensive resource for teaching argument, persuasive writing, and rigorous critical thinking. This extraordinarily versatile text and reader continues to address current student interests and trends in argument, research, and writing.Its comprehensive coverage of classic and contemporary approaches to argument includes Aristotelian, Toulmin, and a range of alternative views, including a new chapter on analyzing and writing about arguments in popular culture.
Readings on contemporary controversies (including student loan debt, locavorism, and the boundaries of online privacy) and classical philosophical questions (such as How free is the will of the individual?) are sure to spark student interest and lively discussion and writing, and new e-Pages take advantage of what the Web can do by including videos, speeches, film trailers, and other multimodal arguments.
The unique collaborative effort of a professor of English and a professor of philosophy, Current Issues and Enduring Questions is an extensive resource for teaching argument, persuasive writing, and rigorous critical thinking. This extraordinarily versatile text and reader continues to address current student interests and trends in argument, research, and writing.Its comprehensive coverage of classic and contemporary approaches to argument includes Aristotelian, Toulmin, and a range of alternative views, including a new chapter on analyzing and writing about arguments in popular culture.
Readings on contemporary controversies (including student loan debt, locavorism, and the boundaries of online privacy) and classical philosophical questions (such as How free is the will of the individual?) are sure to spark student interest and lively discussion and writing, and new e-Pages take advantage of what the Web can do by including videos, speeches, film trailers, and other multimodal arguments.
864 pages, Paperback
Published August 23, 2013
81 people are currently reading
1392 people want to read
About the author
Sylvan Barnet
224 books15 followersSylvan Barnet is an American literary critic and Shakespearean scholar. He is a Fletcher Professor of English Emeritus at Tufts University.
Barnet is the author of numerous books and articles on Shakespeare. He is the general editor of the Signet Classics Shakespeare,[1] the author of A Short Guide to Shakespeare,[2] and has written many textbooks. He is the co-author with William Burto of occasional essays on aspects of Japanese art.[3] He has also written books about the art of writing.
Barnet is the author of numerous books and articles on Shakespeare. He is the general editor of the Signet Classics Shakespeare,[1] the author of A Short Guide to Shakespeare,[2] and has written many textbooks. He is the co-author with William Burto of occasional essays on aspects of Japanese art.[3] He has also written books about the art of writing.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 24, 2018
Had to read this for a class and the teacher was terrible so I might be biased in my rating.
January 21, 2025
English 101 made my brain hurt
Want to read
June 4, 2025Cutting is for Love is a Fallacy
By Max Shulman
By Max Shulman
August 6, 2007
This book will open up your eyes and make you think differently about many different issues concering out society today. You might also realize those issues are much more complicated than they seem on the surface.
The book is in two parts: the first lays down the elements of citical thinking and the art of dissecting an argument, and the second is an excellent selection of readings which offer both pro and con views on a wide variety of social and moral subjects.
I found myself continually referring to the second section of the book, because the readings selected are compelling, and very well written. They include modern writers, as well as the best writings of past authors who explore contemporary issues of their day. That they continue to be "hot" issues today speaks to the continuing struggle we have with certain kinds of issues.
After each pair of readings the authors have offered a series of questions for further thought, which can be used for independent analysis of the reading, or as part of a course in critical thinking. I found these questions very helpful in stimulating discussion with others, especially those with strong feelings in the subject areas.
This book has become a "must read" in my circle of critically thinking frinds.
The book is in two parts: the first lays down the elements of citical thinking and the art of dissecting an argument, and the second is an excellent selection of readings which offer both pro and con views on a wide variety of social and moral subjects.
I found myself continually referring to the second section of the book, because the readings selected are compelling, and very well written. They include modern writers, as well as the best writings of past authors who explore contemporary issues of their day. That they continue to be "hot" issues today speaks to the continuing struggle we have with certain kinds of issues.
After each pair of readings the authors have offered a series of questions for further thought, which can be used for independent analysis of the reading, or as part of a course in critical thinking. I found these questions very helpful in stimulating discussion with others, especially those with strong feelings in the subject areas.
This book has become a "must read" in my circle of critically thinking frinds.
November 18, 2008
As I approach the end of the semester, I'm more and more unhappy with this book as a reader for my argumentative writing class. The sections that were written by the authors are truly painful to read, not just for my students but for me as well. There are a lot of excellent essays included, but the way the book is structured it's confusing to assign only the ones I want students to read, so I end up assigning whole chapters, and then I have to figure out how to use the extra material so that my students don't feel they've wasted their time.
The lousy part is that I didn't have time to read any of the other approved books for this course, so I have to use it again next semester. Hopefully I can do better this time.
The lousy part is that I didn't have time to read any of the other approved books for this course, so I have to use it again next semester. Hopefully I can do better this time.
December 14, 2013
I read this textbook for a sophomore level composition class. It's main focus is on teaching students to write argumentative essays. It contains several good essays on controversial topics that are worth reading. Highlights include essays by Jonathan Swift, Plato, Rush Limbaugh, and Thomas More (to name a few); and poetry by Robert Frost, Andrew Marvell, and Kate Chopin. The essays were thought provoking and well written.
December 22, 2011
This book was alright overall. There were some essays that I thought were great, but others...not so much. They told us a lot of what we already knew, I didn't feel like I was able to glean any new information from the book.
Want to read
January 19, 2021Didn't mean this book and I couldn't remove it.
December 20, 2010
I really enjoyed this book and it was really well written.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews