104 pages • 3 hours read
Andrea A. Lunsford, John J. RuszkiewiczEverything's an Argument
Nonfiction | Reference/Text Book | Adult | Published in 1998A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Key Figures
Andrea A. Lunsford
Andrea A. Lunsford is one of the two authors of Everything’s an Argument. According to her faculty pages at Stanford University and Ohio State University, she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Florida before completing her doctorate in English at Ohio State University. She teaches as a professor at both Stanford University and the Bread Loaf Graduate School of English. Her professional experience includes being a Distinguished Professor of English at Ohio State; designing and teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, including rhetoric and intellectual property; serving as chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, the Conference on College Composition and Communication, and the MLA Division on Writing; and participating as a member of the MLA Executive Council. Her awards include the Exemplar Award from the Conference on College Composition and Communication, MLA’s Mina P. Shaughnessy Award for best book on the teaching of writing, and the YWCA Women of Achievement Award.
Along with her prolific experience in rhetorical writing education, Lunsford has authored and edited multiple books on rhetorical theory and writing. These prestigious professional and academic experiences champion her mastery of the application and analysis of rhetoric. The book carries a tone of confident authority on this topic that is accessible to the population she works with most: college students. She recognizes the need for a down-to-earth tone and concrete explanations to engage and instruct her intended audience of college writers.
Lunsford’s academic perspective on argumentation is reflected in the book’s praise of Rogerian and invitational arguments, which are crafted to understand and explore a topic from multiple perspectives. This type of argument is typically seen in academic discourse and research. As the coeditor and coauthor of books such as Essays on Classical Rhetoric and Modern Discourse (1984) and Writing Together: Collaboration in Theory and Practice (2011), Lunsford clearly values a collaborative approach to making arguments. She sees argumentation as a pathway to innovative solutions that meet the needs of many.
John J. Ruszkiewicz
According to his University of Texas faculty page, Amazon.com biography, and LinkedIn profile, John J. Ruszkiewicz earned his bachelor’s from St. Vincent College and his doctorate in English from Ohio State University. Retired from teaching as Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas, Ruszkiewicz established and directed their Department of Rhetoric and Writing and served as president of the Conference of College Teachers of English (CCTE) of Texas. He has written multiple books, including How to Write Anything (2008) and A Reader’s Guide to College Writing (2013). Ruszkiewicz’s academic and professional background clearly supports his authority on the topics of rhetoric and rhetorical analysis presented in Everything’s an Argument.
In addition to teaching rhetoric, Ruszkiewicz also taught British literature and Shakespeare, supplementing his background of analysis and examination of language. Ruszkiewicz’s works feature a conversational tone intended to foster connection with a young adult audience, and he grounds his ideas in real-world application. He, too, exemplifies the concept of arguing to understand and explore, as he was awarded the Frances Hernandez Teacher-Scholar Award, which recognizes outstanding teaching, scholarship, and professional achievement.
Stephen Toulmin
Stephen Toulmin, a British philosopher and educator, developed the argumentative structure known as the Toulmin model described in Chapter 7. His 2009 New York Times obituary describes him of a man of varied talents: Toulmin had degrees in mathematics and physics and wrote on a range of topics. He taught at a number of universities, including Oxford, the University of Leeds, Northwestern University, and more, after earning his doctorate in philosophy at Cambridge University, according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His New York Times obituary discusses how he studied the way “the human mind forms representations of the world” (Grimes, William. “Stephen Toulmin, Philosopher and Educator, Dies at 87.” The New York Times, 12 Dec. 2009). He focused on ethics, moral language, and the history of scientific ideas.
Toulmin is most known for the argumentative method he identifies in The Uses of Argument, published in 1958. As presented in Everything’s an Argument, the Toulmin method includes a claim, qualifiers, reasons, warrants, and backing. The authors write the remainder of the book within the context of this method, discussing how to develop and qualify claims, establish a line of reasoning, identify the warrants underlying that reasoning, and provide evidence for the warrants. As his obituary notes, Toulmin recognized the nuance and influence of context on an argument by acknowledging that not all components apply universally. The authors of Everything’s an Argument continually acknowledge the need to consider an argument’s rhetorical situation, or context, and to admit the limitations and possible alternatives to one’s argument.
Carl Rogers
Author and psychotherapist Carl Rogers developed the person-centered approach to therapy known as humanistic psychology. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, he earned his master’s and doctorate from Columbia University’s Teachers College before teaching at Ohio State University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Wisconsin. Throughout his tenure at these universities, he wrote several books on children’s psychology and client-centered therapy approaches, such as On Becoming a Person (1961). In the early 1960s, he founded the Center for Studies of the Person, which states its purpose is fostering personal connections.
Carl Rogers’s New York Times obituary explains that client-centered therapy views those they work with as clients who direct the course of therapy rather than patients who receive directive care (Goleman, Daniel. “Carl R. Rogers, 85, Leader in Psychotherapy, Dies.” The New York Times, 6 Feb. 1987). His approach focuses on relating to others, similar to the Rogerian argument presented in Everything’s an Argument. The Rogerian argument first establishes alternative perspectives before asserting one’s own and explaining its benefits for opponents. Like Rogers’s connection-based approach, the Rogerian argument seeks to understand and move together toward a solution.
The authors of Everything’s an Argument praise this form of argumentation. They believe these arguments accomplish the ultimate goal of rhetoric, which is to discover solutions benefitting many. Throughout the book they emphasize the need to acknowledge opponents’ arguments, a strategy that shows the speaker has considered a range of evidence and relates to potential audience perspectives, building both logos and ethos.
