The Argument Builder

I'm proud to be the first to rate this wonderful publication! I'm surprised no one has purchased a copy as of yet. Anyway, this is full of excellent quality content. After reading this piece of work, you will be thoroughly acquainted with what exactly a real argument is, and what it is not. The book steers one clear of the misnomers about people's wrong notions about arguments. For people fall into the misunderstanding that arguments are back and forth cases of verbal attacks. This is well worth the money, and has several chapters full of content ( and I do mean SEVERAL)!

Our middle school uses this book and the Art of Argument and the teachers really like it. They have used the books for five years which says a lot in a time when books are scraped yearly for something else.

The author does a very good job describing the common topics of Rhetoric. The examples are clearly explained and easy to follow. The text is very appropriate for teenagers (late middle school to high school). Well done!

Great book

It is an answer key/teachers' book to logic. Not really much to say.

Not for 4-7th grades! Also the cover and isbn is the same for the different versions. The print date and version number- inside cover- are how you can tell which you have.It is a great book that bridges understanding fallacies in logic to rhetoric’s writing good arguments.Grade Level: Grades 8-12Course Length: Trimester, semester, or yearlongContent Credit: 1/2 high school creditISBN: 9781600510274Width: 8.5inHeight: 11.0inPages: 192Version: 1.1

From the forward, the purpose of The Argument Builder is "to train you in the art of building a strong argument". Using the Common Topics method, developed by Aristotle, the text takes you through all five of these common topics (Definitions, Testimony, Comparison, Relationship, Circumstance) while developing a hypothetical argument about curfew.The text is comprised of 25 chapters, with an appendix on debate techniques. Each of the first 22 chapters includes a exercises not only in defining terms and answering basic questions about the topics introduced, but also in analyzing and identifying arguments from a wide variety of authors, scholars, and statesmen. The final 3 chapters of the book cover a cumulative review, a brief introduction to logical fallacies, and instructions on how to hold a debate. The Teacher's Edition - a necessary component - includes not only the answers to the text exercises, but suggestions and recommendations for extending the material. For further support, CAP also offers an online class taught by the author.I am particularly thrilled to find this text - we'll be adding it in for our high school students, as a component of their logic/philosophy studies. Especially attractive to me is the author's inclusion of primary source documents from history as a source of analytical exercises. The Argument Builder is easy to understand, clearly laid out and provides great training in analyzing and building arguments. As a high school course, this could be done in one semester by an ambitious student, but might be best spread out over the course of a year, especially if you intend to include the debate component.Paired with Discovery of Deduction, another CAP title, the Art of Argument makes the study of logic understandable and accessible to high school students, homeschooled or otherwise.(Note: the author was provided a free copy for review. But likes it enough to use it with her own kids!)