"My chief objection to a quarrel," Chesterton wrote, "is that it ends a good argument."
Junior high aged students will argue (and sometimes quarrel), but they won't argue well without good training. Young teens are also targeted by advertisers with a vengeance. From billboards to commercials to a walk down the mall, fallacious arguments are everywhere you look. The Art of Argument was designed to teach the argumentative adolescent how to reason with clarity, relevance and purpose at a time when he has a penchant for the "why" and "how". It is designed to equip and sharpen young minds as they live, play, and grow in this highly commercial culture. This course teaches students to recognize and identify twenty-eight informal fallacies, and the eye-catching text includes over sixty slick and clever, “phony advertisements” for items from blue jeans to pick-up trucks, which apply the fallacies to a myriad of real life situations.
This text comes in a workbook format with clear explanations and many updated illustrations and examples to insure understanding and mastery. The text aims at the practical application of the informal fallacies through an analysis of current social, commercial and political issues, which are discussed and evaluated. This practical application should insure that students continue to evaluate arguments, detect fallacies and reason well long after the course is completed.
Students master 40 fallacies (such as begging the question, the straw man, ad hominen, et al) by studying many pertinent examples. The text features a variety of:
- Dialogues
- Worksheets
- Real-World Applications
- Phony Advertisements
- Dialectic Discussion Questions
- Tests
- Fun extras such as a humorous skit for students to perform, and the famous short story, Love is a Fallacy by Max Shulman
Parents and teachers beware--students may use these skills against you!
The Art of Argument Teacher's Materials is also available. It features answers to the questions in the student text as well as extra quizzes and tests.
Sample Chapters and "How to" Files:
The Art of Argument (PDF)
How to use the AA Teacher's Materials (PDF) with the AA Student Text.
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