The Purposeful Argument: A Practical Guide, Brief Edition (with 2016 MLA Update Card)

Harry Phillips earned a Ph.D. in English from Washington State University (WSU) in 1994 and an M.A. in English with a minor in Education from North Carolina Central University in 1988. From 1994 to 2009, he was Instructor of English at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he regularly taught Argument-Based Research and a range of American literature courses. He began teaching argument in 1993 at WSU and recommended that this course be a part of the North Carolina Community College Common Course Library, a suggestion that led to the course being adopted across the N.C. Community College system. He continues to view argument as an essential set of skills both for two- and four-year college students, as well as for everyday people intent on crafting effective communication. Dr. Phillips was Curator of Native Plants at the North Carolina Botanical Garden and the principal author of GROWING AND PROPAGATING WILD FLOWERS (University of North Carolina Press, 1985). Since retiring from CPCC, he spends his time as a mediator, climate crisis activist and avid gardener.

Patricia Kennedy Bostian is the author of over 90 scholarly works for presses such as Greenwood and Facts on File. She also is the editor of the peer-reviewed scholarly journal TEACHING AMERICAN LITERATURE: A JOURNAL OF THEORY AND PRACTICE (http://cpcc.edu/taltp). For 29 years she has taught literature, composition and humanities courses for several two- and four-year institutions, including Central Piedmont Community College, the University of South Carolina and Johnson C. Smith University. She completed an M.A. in English and doctoral coursework in composition/rhetoric at the University of South Carolina and now is completing an M.A. in Humanities from California State University.