The Imaginative Argument

The Imaginative Argument
Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Total Pages : 256
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0691122903
ISBN-13 : 9780691122908
Rating : 4/5 (908 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Imaginative Argument by : Frank L. Cioffi

Download or read book The Imaginative Argument written by Frank L. Cioffi and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2005-04-03 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than merely a writing text, The Imaginative Argument offers writers instruction on how to use their imaginations to improve their prose. Cioffi shows writers how they can enliven argument--the organizing rubric of all persuasive writing--by drawing on emotion, soul, and creativity, the wellsprings of imagination. While Cioffi suggests that argument should become a natural habit of mind for writers, he goes still further, inspiring writers to adopt as their gold standard the imaginative argument: the surprising yet strikingly apt insight that organizes disparate noises into music, that makes out of chaos, chaos theory. Rather than offering a model of writing based on established formulas or templates, Cioffi urges writers to envision argument as an active parsing of experience that imaginatively reinvents the world. Cioffi's manifesto asserts that successful argument also requires writers to explore their own deep-seated feelings, to exploit the fuzzy but often profoundly insightful logic of the imagination. But expression is not all that matters: Cioffi's work anchors itself in the actual. Drawing on Louis Kahn's notion that a good architect never has all the answers to a building's problems before its physical construction, Cioffi maintains that in argument, too, answers must be forged along the way, as the writer inventively deals with emergent problems and unforeseen complexities. Indeed, discovery, imagination, and invention suffuse all stages of the process. The Imaginative Argument offers all the intellectual kindling that writers need to ignite this creativity, from insights on developing ideas to avoiding bland assertions or logical leaps. It cites exemplary nonfiction prose stylists, including William James, Ruth Benedict, and Erving Goffman, as well as literary sources to demonstrate the dynamic of persuasive writing. Provocative and lively, it will prove not only essential reading but also inspiration for all those interested in arguing more imaginatively more successfully.


The Imaginative Argument Related Books

The Imaginative Argument
Language: en
Pages: 256
Authors: Frank L. Cioffi
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2005-04-03 - Publisher: Princeton University Press

GET EBOOK

More than merely a writing text, The Imaginative Argument offers writers instruction on how to use their imaginations to improve their prose. Cioffi shows write
Problems in Argument Analysis and Evaluation
Language: en
Pages: 312
Authors: Trudy Govier
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-11-05 - Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

GET EBOOK

No detailed description available for "Problems in Argument Analysis and Evaluation".
An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments: Learn the Lost Art of Making Sense (Bad Arguments)
Language: en
Pages: 66
Authors: Ali Almossawi
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2014-09-23 - Publisher: The Experiment, LLC

GET EBOOK

“This short book makes you smarter than 99% of the population. . . . The concepts within it will increase your company’s ‘organizational intelligence.’.
The Creative Argument
Language: en
Pages: 374
Authors: Thomas Girshin
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2024-04-22 - Publisher: Hackett Publishing

GET EBOOK

The Creative Argument sets itself apart from its competitors by presenting a series of compelling works of literary nonfiction that challenge what students thin
A Circular Argument
Language: en
Pages: 245
Authors: Martin Cathcart Frödén
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-08-16 - Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing

GET EBOOK

Uniquely combining two parts, one critical in the form of a research piece, and the other creative in the form of a fictional novel, A Circular Argument spans c