This book emphasizes the role of critical thinking and reading skills in the development of persuasive writing. The book also introduces several different methods to teach argument (for example, those of Aristotle, Stephen Toulmin, and Carl Rogers) as a way of giving students the freedom to find the systems that work best for them and to find ways of incorporating these systems into their writing and thinking. Following a brief introduction, the 10 chapters in the book are: Purposes of Argument; Analyzing Arguments; Writing Claims and Defining Terms; Knowing Yourself; Knowing Your Audience; Assembling the Written Argument; Writing the Evaluative Argument; Writing the Proposal; Preparing Oral Presentations; and Conclusion. An appendix contains several examples of argumentative writing for each chapter in the book. (NKA)