In this era of increased polarization of opinion and contentious disagreement, CRITICAL REASONING presents a cooperative approach to critical thinking and formation of beliefs. CRITICAL REASONING emphasizes the importance of developing and applying analytical skills in real-life contexts. This book is unique in providing multiple, diverse examples of everyday arguments, both textual and visual, including the classroom-appropriate long argument passages from real-life sources that can be so hard to find. The writing is accessible to students without talking down to them. The book provides clear, step-by-step procedures to help students decide for themselves what to believe--to be consumers of information in our contemporary "world of experts."