Reflecting the belief that learning is best fostered by encouraging students to read, reflect, and write about serious issues, this book is designed to help students argue on behalf of their beliefs so that other people will take them seriously. The 85 readings gathered in the book (60 of which are new to the fourth edition) give students adequate information for writing about a variety of topics. Readings in the book are drawn from the fields of biology, business, education, history, journalism, law, literature, political science, psychology, public health, and sociology. Part 1 introduces students to the basic principles of argumentation they need to analyze the arguments they read and to compose arguments of their own. Part 2 discusses the evaluation, annotation, paraphrase, summary, synthesis, and documentation of texts. Part 3 presents sources for arguments on the topics of gun control, AIDS in the workplace, sexual harassment, immigration, culture and curriculum, freedom of expression, and literary criticism. Part 4 presents some classic arguments, including Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," Karl Marx's and Friedrich Engels'"Communist Manifesto," and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Part 5 discusses how to find sources in a library. The book contains 13 essays written by students which respond to sources reprinted in the book. A glossary of terms is attached. (RS)