ABSTRACT
This is a textbook primarily for the second term of first-year English or a more advanced composition course emphasizing argumentative rhetoric, the research paper, and writing from sources. It is also a survival guide for self-defense against manipulation by politicians, the media, teachers, and assorted propagandists. Our culture places huge value on physical fitness and self-defense. Newspapers and television are filled every day with ads for building muscles, working off fat, and martial arts. There are not many ads for building our mental muscles, reducing the fat in our brain, or defending ourselves in argumentation. Isn’t it
equally important to be able to fight back against those trying to take verbal and intellectual advantage of us?
