This text is a concise and elegant introduction to the basic elements of argumentative prose and the conceptual tools necessary to understand, analyze, criticize, and construct arguments. The book serves not only as a text but as a useful handbook of reasoning in much the same way that Strunk and White's ELEMENTS OF STYLE provides a handbook for writers. While the book covers the standard formal tools of introductory logic, its emphasis is on practical applications to the kinds of arguments students most often encounter.