Recommend me a book in logic, rhetoric and argument skills/crafting
May 9, 2012 2:22 PM Subscribe
Recommend me a book in logic, rhetoric and argument skills/crafting But nothing ideological please. I basically need something that will help polish my writing and compress my ideas.. if that makes sense. I need to be incredibly efficient and concise with my writing as I will be starting a degree in (undergraduate) law.
Something better than this in quality and value or any other alternative (e-) resource
I am to qualify as a solicitor but it would be great if a recommendation can help me inculcate enough self-confidence and skills to join a mooting club at university.
thanks very much
I am to qualify as a solicitor but it would be great if a recommendation can help me inculcate enough self-confidence and skills to join a mooting club at university.
thanks very much
Oops - here's a link for A Rulebook for Arguments, in a more recent edition.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:45 PM on May 9, 2012
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:45 PM on May 9, 2012
Not a book, but would some of the resources at http://lesswrong.com suit your needs at all?
posted by woodenzen at 2:49 PM on May 9, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by woodenzen at 2:49 PM on May 9, 2012 [1 favorite]
For concision, the best thing is to practice, practice, practice. Take a page-long argument and condense it to a single paragraph. Take an article and write an abstract for it that's no longer than say 300 words. It will help if you have a tutor or grad student or someone else who knows the material read over your short summaries to be sure you are capturing the essential points clearly.
Have you read the (short) classic book The Elements of Style by Strunk and White? Its grammatical advice is outdated, so don't get hung up on that part, but its advice about concision is wonderful. They list common stylistic "tics" they saw in their students in the early 20th century, and although the "tics" that today's students have are different, reading Strunk and White's description gives you the right mindset to remove such tics from your own writing.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:55 PM on May 9, 2012
Have you read the (short) classic book The Elements of Style by Strunk and White? Its grammatical advice is outdated, so don't get hung up on that part, but its advice about concision is wonderful. They list common stylistic "tics" they saw in their students in the early 20th century, and although the "tics" that today's students have are different, reading Strunk and White's description gives you the right mindset to remove such tics from your own writing.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:55 PM on May 9, 2012
George Gopen is a lawyer and former legal writing scholar who wrote an intro to legal writing a while back as well as more recently a handbook for expository prose style/structure that would both be worth considering, especially the more recent one, since it focuses not on abstract rules for thinking but on how arguments play out as connected patterns of words on the page, which is where legal writers spend their time.
Also, you might enjoy the on-line journal Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing, which contains short pieces on a range of issues around writing, reading, and research that lawyers and law students encounter.
BTW: Hats off to you for seeking guidance in this area; many lawyers and law students just don't seem to give a fuck, which is a big part of why legal writing is the way it is these days. Best of luck.
posted by 5Q7 at 3:09 PM on May 9, 2012
Also, you might enjoy the on-line journal Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing, which contains short pieces on a range of issues around writing, reading, and research that lawyers and law students encounter.
BTW: Hats off to you for seeking guidance in this area; many lawyers and law students just don't seem to give a fuck, which is a big part of why legal writing is the way it is these days. Best of luck.
posted by 5Q7 at 3:09 PM on May 9, 2012
Thank You For Arguing is geared to more of a popular audience than an academic book, but it actually does a very good job of covering the basics of classical rhetoric. It sounds like you are maybe in the UK. I can't speak to legal education there, but Getting to Maybe is the go-to book for issue-spotting essays in American law schools (which doesn't necessarily bear much relation to logic, development of argument, or even good essay writing in any other context).
posted by stopgap at 3:29 PM on May 9, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by stopgap at 3:29 PM on May 9, 2012 [1 favorite]
LobsterMitten: "For concision, the best thing is to practice, practice, practice."
Not only the best thing, but probably the only thing. I have to do a lot of this in my work and it takes a lot of practice to be able to distil a complex situation into a few short paragraphs. I don't think I'm much good at writing, but I can make things very concise once they're written. The only way I got to be good at this was from being forced to do it over the past several years. As with most things in life, there is no short-cut to practice.
posted by dg at 3:42 PM on May 9, 2012
Not only the best thing, but probably the only thing. I have to do a lot of this in my work and it takes a lot of practice to be able to distil a complex situation into a few short paragraphs. I don't think I'm much good at writing, but I can make things very concise once they're written. The only way I got to be good at this was from being forced to do it over the past several years. As with most things in life, there is no short-cut to practice.
posted by dg at 3:42 PM on May 9, 2012
Legal argument, and mooting in particular is very different from argument and rhetoric in other contexts, style in good legal argument "should" translate neatly to clarity.
The core of all good legal argument is to avoid wasting time on weak arguments and to anticipate the attacks that will be made on your strong arguments.
The key to confidence in mooting is to just try a few "newbie" moots and you will realise just how bad almost everyone else is at that stage. Your mooting ability will improve rapidly with consistent practise and dedicated preparation.
One of the best resources available to you is the Sky News Supreme Court Live Feed. Most days you can watch oral arguments from the top barristers and you will learn a huge amount about the realities of how a legal argument is constructed and delivered.
Especially as you intend to become a solicitor, the earlier you read Writing that Works by Roman and Raphaelson the better. It is directed at buisness writing, but taking its lessons onboard will dramatically improve the coherence of your writing in all areas.
Second, reread Bingham's "The Rule of Law" (which I assume you already own). In terms of making a concise and powerful argument in a good legal style it remains a great example. Equally recommended and much less well known is Stephen Sedley's Ashes and Sparks.
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 4:17 PM on May 9, 2012 [2 favorites]
The core of all good legal argument is to avoid wasting time on weak arguments and to anticipate the attacks that will be made on your strong arguments.
The key to confidence in mooting is to just try a few "newbie" moots and you will realise just how bad almost everyone else is at that stage. Your mooting ability will improve rapidly with consistent practise and dedicated preparation.
One of the best resources available to you is the Sky News Supreme Court Live Feed. Most days you can watch oral arguments from the top barristers and you will learn a huge amount about the realities of how a legal argument is constructed and delivered.
Especially as you intend to become a solicitor, the earlier you read Writing that Works by Roman and Raphaelson the better. It is directed at buisness writing, but taking its lessons onboard will dramatically improve the coherence of your writing in all areas.
Second, reread Bingham's "The Rule of Law" (which I assume you already own). In terms of making a concise and powerful argument in a good legal style it remains a great example. Equally recommended and much less well known is Stephen Sedley's Ashes and Sparks.
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 4:17 PM on May 9, 2012 [2 favorites]
Nthing Strunk & White. I have been both a journalist and a law student. In both activities, my best work reflected the simple, clear and important rules set out in that short book.
Writing in Strunk's suggested style will also force you to think and argue clearly.
posted by dgrobinson at 4:48 PM on May 9, 2012
Writing in Strunk's suggested style will also force you to think and argue clearly.
posted by dgrobinson at 4:48 PM on May 9, 2012
You want Joseph M. Williams's Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. I used to teach composition and this is absolutely the best book out there for making your writing more polished and concise. (It is often recommended in conjunction with Strunk and White.)
posted by désoeuvrée at 5:06 PM on May 9, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by désoeuvrée at 5:06 PM on May 9, 2012 [4 favorites]
Give Jamie Whyte's Bad Thoughts: A Guide to Clear Thinking a try.
posted by ZipRibbons at 4:03 AM on May 10, 2012
posted by ZipRibbons at 4:03 AM on May 10, 2012
Response by poster: Hi thanks everyone.. I got burnt during a um, debate session both offline and online. I also have a tendency of doing/reverting to commentary style analysis lol, during which I realised my mediocre, nonexistent rhetoric (I started analysing the way people presented their points, even if what they were saying was banal). Granted, most of those who took part were personally affected by the topic.
I have also been unfortunately plagued by serious writing and expression (?) anxiety my whole life (except when I'm manic; though I swear such a state of mind is usually inadvertent lol). It's such a pity that uk law degrees are so concentrated (mere three years).
I have begun to appreciate the american four year model. In retrospect I should have attended the college I applied to two years ago (Fordham, albeit for undergraduate level) as, to my understanding, writing tutorials are usually obligatory in any undergraduate american programs.
Thanks again. I definitely do need to give clear thinking and informal logic a real go. The other stupid thing is that I come from a (south east asian) culture that does not have european style enlightenment style renaissance woven in its past, and a family where clear logical reasoning is deemed disrespectful and cold. Although, logic/reasoning in the west is usually woven with liberal and libertarian ideology (nothing wrong it all, only when i rears its head in discussions which require cross-cultural knowledge). Thanks very much once again.
posted by thespiritroom at 8:36 AM on May 16, 2012
I have also been unfortunately plagued by serious writing and expression (?) anxiety my whole life (except when I'm manic; though I swear such a state of mind is usually inadvertent lol). It's such a pity that uk law degrees are so concentrated (mere three years).
I have begun to appreciate the american four year model. In retrospect I should have attended the college I applied to two years ago (Fordham, albeit for undergraduate level) as, to my understanding, writing tutorials are usually obligatory in any undergraduate american programs.
Thanks again. I definitely do need to give clear thinking and informal logic a real go. The other stupid thing is that I come from a (south east asian) culture that does not have european style enlightenment style renaissance woven in its past, and a family where clear logical reasoning is deemed disrespectful and cold. Although, logic/reasoning in the west is usually woven with liberal and libertarian ideology (nothing wrong it all, only when i rears its head in discussions which require cross-cultural knowledge). Thanks very much once again.
posted by thespiritroom at 8:36 AM on May 16, 2012
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Looking up the phrase "rules for arguments" gives fairly useful web results too.
Will you be taking a course in informal logic as part of your degree? Such a course, or even an introduction to philosophy course, would probably be very useful.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:43 PM on May 9, 2012