The Imaginative Argument

"Would that I had read this book or taken Frank Cioffi's class fifty years ago. Better yet, I wish the contents of this book resided in the minds of all of us who produce soporific sentences in the name of 'technical' or 'professional' writing. If it did, we would all benefit. God knows I would read more technical papers. And kudos to the author for nicely making the point that creative writing is not solely the property of those who write fiction."--James L. Adams, Stanford University, author of Conceptual Blockbusting"It's not enough to have an opinion or an idea. Writing well means making your reader follow, understand, agree or disagree, care. To do that you'll need the 'imaginative argument' Frank Cioffi explores here. With its sympathetic diagnoses of writing goals and writing problems, this useful book celebrates the kind of writing that actually gets work done."--William Germano, author of From Dissertation to Book"The Imaginative Argument is an extremely useful writing guide. Cioffi makes a good case for the importance of writing in our day-to-day lives-as a tool for clarifying our thoughts, persuading others, and enhancing our lives. Writing teachers as well as students will find it interesting and accessible."--Kathryn Watterson, University of Pennsylvania"This book is a significant contribution to the expository writing field. Cioffi's ideas about imagination and his suggestions for teaching it are brilliant and provocative. His own writing is consistently sparkling, frequently witty, and serves as a model for students."--Alfred E. Guy, Jr., Yale UniversityPraise for the previous edition: "Anyone interested in the process of writing will learn a great deal from this book."--Murray Sperber, Indiana University, BloomingtonPraise for the previous edition: "The Imaginative Argumentis a model of the kind of writing college students should be producing."--Valerie Sayers, author of Brain Fever, and Professor of Creative Writing, University of Notre DamePraise for the previous edition: "Kudos to the author for nicely making the point that creative writing is not solely the property of those who write fiction."--James L. Adams, Stanford University, author ofConceptual Blockbusting