Conclusion: Alison wrote a 10-page paper. Usually in science, an idea is considered a hypothesis until it has been well tested, at which point it graduates to being considered a theory. Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through female Anopheles mosquitoes. When you do this, you get to see what works, what doesn't, what strategies another author uses, what structures seem to work well and why, and more. Each year, over half a billion people will become infected with malaria, with roughly 80% of them living in Sub-Saharan Africa. Argument Analysis. With an estimated 300 million people in Africa not being protected by mosquito nets, theres the potential to save three million lives by spending just a few dollars per person. People see libraries as a way to connect with others and get their questions answered, benefits tablets cant offer nearly as well or as easily. The continents spending per person for eradicating malaria was just a quarter of what Brazil spent. Ask below and we'll reply! From there, we can also infer how the writer's sense of their audience shaped their choices as they wrote. Accessibility StatementFor more information contact us atinfo@libretexts.orgor check out our status page at https://status.libretexts.org. So the first order of business in analyzing an argument is to recognize what the main claim isthe conclusionand what other claims are being used to support itthe premises. (Firefighters are a subset of people who know CPR.) It describes a chain reaction: if the first thing happens, then the second thing happens, and if the second thing happens, then the third thing happens. By reading good argumentative essay examples, you can learn how to develop your essay and provide enough support to make readers agree with your opinion. When you're analyzing an argument for content, you're looking at things like claims, evidence to support those claims, and if that evidence makes sense. Premise: If I drop my phone into the swimming pool, my phone will be ruined. 3) Think of as many alternative explanations and counterexamples as you can. Notice that the second premise and the conclusion look like the contrapositive of the first premise, ~q ~p, but they have been detached. Writing an analysis requires a particular structure and key components to create a compelling argument. Taking away a significant part of that revenue would hurt smaller programs that rely on that money to keep running. The paragraphs themselves should be placed in an order that reflects some overall plan so that the paragraphs reveal the steps or stages of the argument. There are plenty of other forms of arguments that are invalid. Premise: If the old lady swallows a cat, she will swallow a dog. Your college admissions essay may end up being one of the most important essays you write. If youre a high school or college student or youre studying for your GRE, youll probably be expected at some point to understand, restate, comment on, or discuss an authors position assertion (strongly stated position). The following example is one such puzzle. Common scientific theories, like Newtons theory of gravity, have all stood up to years of testing and evidence, though sometimes they need to be adjusted based on new evidence, such as when Einstein proposed the theory of general relativity. Conclusion: You didnt brush your teeth before bed. The argument now has a structure that can be outlined or diagrammed. Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: PrepScholar 2013-2018. For example, in the argument, This medication is labeled as totally natural, so it is safe for me to take it, the suppressed premisethat natural guarantees safeis not trivial and can certainly be challenged. Diagramming or mapping someone elses argument serves a double purpose. , step by step, until you feel confident working with this important college skill. When we talk about a paper, we usually talk about the papers main claim as being its thesis statement. They combine persuasive arguments with fact-based research, and, when done well, can be powerful tools for making someone agree with your point of view. This video reviews the ways you can break apart an argument to find premises and conclusions, then determine if they are logical. By failing to consider variations between governments, geography, and infrastructure, the program was not nearly as successful as it could have been. In many areas, libraries are such an important part of the community network that they could never be replaced by a simple object. Based upon previously successful programs in Brazil and the United States, the program focused mainly on vector control. Premise: If the old lady swallows a horse, she will die, of course. These essays typically follow one of two formats: the Toulmin model or the Rogerian model. Because money is so scarce in Sub-Saharan Africa, the low cost is a great benefit and a major reason why the program is so successful. To analyze an argument with a truth table: Represent each of the premises symbolically. From the second premise, we are told that a tiger is contained within the set of cats. Conclusion: If Hayley commits a reckless foul, she will be suspended for the next match. When we learned about the contrapositive, we saw that the conditional statement h b is equivalent to ~b ~h. Legal. I have two choices, and one of them is not going to happen, so the other one must happen. Premise: If you listen to the Grateful Dead, then you are a hippie. Thatll make your essay much more effective than if you only focused on your side of the argument. How? Identify which statements are premises and which statement is the main conclusion. HOW TO ANALYZE AN ARGUMENT Example 1. Nobody is despised who can manage a crocodile. Solve the puzzle. After youve written it, its a great idea to show your thesis to a couple different people--classmates are great for this. Represent each of the premises symbolically. There should be lots of numbers in your argumentative essay that support your side of the argument. Example Student Argument Analysis ~ Winter 2001 Note: I have linked the student Analyzer's references to paragraphs in Schiel's Essay #2 Argument (below) for your reference. Here are the basic moves that are required in order to create a clear diagram or outline of an argument. The fallacy of the converse arises when a conditional and its consequent are given as premises, and the antecedent is the conclusion. People do all three when they write or talk in real life, so we cannot tell whether a statement is a conclusion simply by where it is positioned in the argument. When writing your essay, remember to always make your thesis clear, show where the other side is weak, and back up your opinion with data and evidence. Create a conditional statement, joining all the premises to form the antecedent and using the conclusion as the consequent. The first part of the essay lays out why the counter argument (treatment rather than prevention) is not as effective, and the second part of the essay focuses on why prevention of malaria is the better path to take. This essay includes numerous facts and cites studies to support its case. This will make your essay much stronger compared to only relying on your own opinions to support your argument. Follow our step-by-step guide on writing a personal statement to have an essay that'll impress colleges. By paying college athletes and putting their salaries out in the open, the NCAA could end the illegal and underhanded ways some schools and coaches try to entice athletes to join. They could be in the form of a free-market approach, where athletes are able to earn whatever the market is willing to pay them, it could be a set amount of money per athlete, or student athletes could earn income from endorsements, autographs, and control of their likeness, similar to the way top Olympians earn money. Argumentative essays are one of the most popular types of essays youll write in school. Diagramming or mapping someone elses argument serves a double purpose. Evaluate their quality. A listener or reader who is not alert to suchunstatedorsuppressed premisesis, without realizing it, agreeing to debate on the communicators termswhen those terms may be unfair. To become a good writer, we must develop the language of writing and learn how to use that language to talk about the moves other writers make. There are multiple drugs available to treat malaria, and many of them work well and save lives, but malaria eradication programs that focus too much on them and not enough on prevention havent seen long-term success in Sub-Saharan Africa. A Comprehensive Guide. Nearly half a million people die of malaria every year, most of them young children under the age of five. Choose your argument. 1. 2:19: To put it another way, an argument is a claim that is supported with evidence. By analyzing the contradiction itself, the allegory of the cave, the structure Plato defines for a just individual, , and the overall mission of a philosopher, it becomes clear as to why Plato presents justice and its justification in the manner which he does. While replacing libraries with tablets may seem like a simple solution, it would encourage people to spend even more time looking at digital screens, despite the myriad issues surrounding them. You might use color coding, or underlining, or circling, or + signssome way to connect the linked premises before drawing. Learn more about Andrew here! We do not need to understand the future, which, after all, does not exist, has not yet been created. There are two general types of arguments: inductive and deductive arguments. The fallacy of the converse incorrectly tries to assert that the converse of a statement is equivalent to that statement. Sub-Saharan Africa has neither the money nor the infrastructure to support such an elaborate program, and it couldnt be run the way it was meant to. Good. The content analysis may come a little easier for you, but the rhetorical analysis is extremely important. Grade Range: 9. I realize that I left the interior lights on overnight (you stupid idiot)no analysis necessary. It ends by stating that college athletes shouldnt be paid by arguing that paying them would destroy college athletics programs and cause them to have many of the issues professional sports leagues have. Reducing the number of people who contract malaria would also reduce poverty levels in Africa significantly, thus improving other aspects of society like education levels and the economy. This included widely distributing chloroquine and spraying large amounts of DDT. Similarly, a Pew survey conducted in 2015 found that nearly two-thirds of American adults feel that closing their local library would have a major impact on their community. Both sides of the argument are well developed, with multiple reasons why people agree with each side. Premise: If you brushed your teeth before bed, then your toothbrush will be wet. Of course, arguments are not limited to these six basic forms; some arguments have more premises, or premises that need to be rearranged before you can see what is really happening. One of the cheapest and most effective ways of preventing malaria is to implement insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs). What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? Recognize that there may be sub-conclusions in addition to a final or main conclusion. The Toulmin method described earlier in this learning area is a great tool for analyzing the content of an argument. Adopt some sort of numbering or labeling system for the claims. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. A strong working population creates a stronger economy, which Sub-Saharan Africa is in desperate need of. Remember, an essay cant be an argumentative essay if it doesnt support its argument with evidence. Premise: Alison was required to write a 10-page paper or give a 5-minute speech. Premise: Alison did not give a 5-minute speech. A writing tutor can be very helpful in guiding you through this process of how to analyze an argument, step by step, until you feel confident working with this important college skill. Both the premises are true. They could also access more materials because libraries wont have to buy physical copies of books; they can simply rent out as many digital copies as they need. In an argumentative speech/essay, the claim is the speaker's main idea or thesis. First, the process helps you clearly see just what the other person is saying. People who argue against the idea of paying college athletes believe the practice could be disastrous for college sports. Arguments of Plato's Republic. A piece of writing that both explains and evaluates another author's text by focusing on and judging the merits of its purpose, methods of persuasions, and rhetorical effectiveness. Try to recreate each step and see how the truth table was constructed. transcript for Analyzing the argument- Part 1 of 2 here (opens in new window), transcript for Analyzing the Argument- Part 2 of 2 here (opens in new window), http://lcubbison.pressbooks.com/chapter/core-201-analyzing-arguments/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP8dWURrEF0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVf_iJpSIrM&t=234s. Certain statements on both sides are directly rebuffed in order to show where the strengths and weaknesses of each side lie and give a more complete and sophisticated look at the argument. My car will not start. These are the people an American educator spoke of when he said, Many people should have written on their tombstones: Died at 30, buried at 60. Sub-Saharan Africa simply cant rely on a plan that requires more money, infrastructure, and expertise than they have to spare. In other words, the questionpresupposes that the senator is out of touch. However, this unstated premise is debatable once it is brought out into the open. Evaluate their quality. 1.4: Analyzing Arguments is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts. What is the point, or conclusion, of this paragraph? Consider this highly unscientific poll conducted by a TV news station. A study done on tablet vs book reading found that people read 20-30% slower on tablets, retain 20% less information, and understand 10% less of what they read compared to people who read the same information in print. This makes the argument clear for readers to understand and follow throughout the essay. Do you need to write an argumentative essay as well? If we let g = listen to the Grateful Dead and h = is a hippie, then this is the argument: This argument is invalid because it uses inverse reasoning. To analyze whether the example is good to take help from or not. If we are responsible to ourselvesand response-able, we can continue growing in directions that are good for us. Explore examples of how to create a strong thesis statement that will support the argument or claim of the essay. The general form is: The order of the two parts of the disjunction isnt important. Writing the second premise correctly can be a challenge; it can be rephrased as If you can manage a crocodile, then you are not despised.. When an opinion is supported with evidence, it becomes an argument. After each essay, we explain in-depth how the essay was structured, what worked, and where the essay could be improved. If youre struggling to write an argumentative essay or just want to learn more about them, seeing examples can be a big help. Proponents of this idea state that it will save local cities and towns money because libraries are expensive to maintain. For example, the editor of a. Continuing to offer the current level of benefits to student athletes makes it possible for as many people to benefit from and enjoy college sports as possible. 2) Identify the argument's claims, conclusions and underlying assumptions. It helps you identify the logical structure of the argument, which is necessary if you are to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the argument in order to know whether or not to accept it. For example, the premise, reached by induction, that College students overestimate the amount of binge drinking that is taking place might introduce a cluster of three paragraphs, each showing that the overestimation varies by subgroupwith member of sororities, member of fraternities, and non-Greek populations arriving at different estimates. Get the latest articles and test prep tips! Conclusion: Marcus does not live in Washington. Conclusion: Alexei will not be assessed a 2-minute penalty. Learn some, Complicated, huh? If you were drawing or mapping the argument, you would be able to draw an arrow from an independent premise directly to the conclusion it supports. Additionally, while the paper uses lots of data, the author also mentions their own experience with using tablets. A logical argument is a claim that a set of premises support a conclusion. We can interpret a deductive argument visually with an Euler diagram, which is essentially the same thing as a Venn diagram. Main assertion: Worthwhile life = taking reasonable risks. The transitive property has as its premises a series of conditionals, where the consequent of one is the antecedent of the next. She has taught English and biology in several countries. You can now summarize the authors position and, if required, agree or disagree in part or in whole, offering examples from your own experiences. If we let c = I drink coffee after noon and h = I have a hard time falling asleep, then our argument looks like this: This argument uses converse reasoning, so it is an invalid argument. The conclusion is the other option. A staff person at the clinic where she is sentenced to spend 28 days for rehab explained: Insanity is repeating the same behavior over and over and expecting different results. Maybe more people should watch that movie. Here, tutorAndrew P.shares his guide to success. These unacknowledged premises may be ones that the author hopes the audience will not notice or question. There have been dozens of other recruitment scandals where college athletes and recruits have been bribed with anything from having their grades changed, to getting free cars, to being straight out bribed. And by practicing the following writing strategy would be beneficial : Use connecting words to link ideas in logical order. However, the program suffered from many problems and in 1969, WHO was forced to admit that the program had not succeeded in eradicating malaria. Although its a bit unusual to have the thesis appear fairly far into the essay, it works because. The Transitive Property (Hypothetical Syllogism). Let m = I go to the mall, j = I buy jeans, and s = I buy a shirt. From the first premise, we know that the set of people who live in Seattle is inside the set of those who live in Washington. Notice that the premises are specific situations, while the conclusion is a general statement. Here, tutor, If youre a high school or college student or youre, , youll probably be expected at some point to understand, restate, comment on, or discuss an, Learning these straightforward points and steps will help you understand. Recall this argument from an earlier example: This argument has the structure described by the law of detachment. Additionally, a family with members who have malaria spends roughly a quarter of its income treatment, not including the loss of work they also must deal with due to the illness. From the title to the conclusion, the analysis has been constructed as a unified whole. From the first premise, we draw the set of cats as a subset of the set of mammals. An inductive argument uses a collection of specific examples as its premises and uses them to propose a general conclusion. If there were no college athletes, the NCAA wouldnt exist, college coaches wouldnt receive there (sometimes very high) salaries, and brands like Nike couldnt profit from college sports. Additionally, staring too long at a screen has been shown to cause numerous health problems, including blurred vision, dizziness, dry eyes, headaches, and eye strain, at much higher instances than reading print does. This can make it easier to determine whether the argument is valid or invalid. Your job is to pretend that the premises are true and then determine whether they force you to accept the conclusion. Components of an Argument A. Argumenta related series of statements that are made in an attempt to persuade the reader or listener to believe that the conclusion is true. Lewis Carroll, author of Alices Adventures in Wonderland, was a math and logic teacher, and wrote two books on logic. When you do this, you get to see what works, what doesnt, what strategies another author uses, what structures seem to work well and why, and more. The general form is: The Latin name, modus tollens, translates to mode that denies. Premise: If a soccer player commits a reckless foul, she will receive a yellow card. Premise: If you live in Seattle, you live in Washington. Add a conclusion. If it is always true, then the argument is valid. Bed nets are also very effective because most mosquito bites occur while the person is sleeping, so bed nets would be able to drastically reduce the number of transmissions during the night. Most argumentative essays follow either the Toulmin model or the Rogerian model. SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination BoardTM. Therefore, if we want to ignore the second thing, we can say that if the first thing happens, then we know the third thing will happen. In this case, this is a fairly weak argument, since it is based on only two instances. First, we have the argument's claim, which is a statement of its position about an issue. Premise: If I drink coffee after noon, then I have a hard time falling asleep that night. From the final column of the truth table, we can see this is a valid argument. Using the transitive property with the first and third premises, we can conclude that b d; that all babies are despised. After all, all humans are mortal, and . It would also end access to many of the benefits of libraries that people have come to rely on. , you need to explain how and why something works or does not work. If an argument doesnt seem to fit the pattern of any of these common forms, though, you may want to use a Venn diagram or a truth table instead. Is there sufficient evidence for this conclusion? They may also be easier to read. However, it would be a serious mistake to replace libraries with tablets. The general form is: The earlier example about buying a shirt at the mall is an example illustrating the transitive property. People on this side also point out that, while the NCAA brings in a massive amount of money each year, it is still a non-profit organization. Evaluate their quality. Those against paying college athletes also believe that the athletes are receiving enough benefits already. Premise: If I work hard, Ill get a raise. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(360031, '21006efe-96ea-47ea-9553-204221f7f333', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. The College Entrance Examination BoardTM does not endorse, nor is it affiliated in any way with the owner or any content of this site. We end with tips for making your own argumentative essay as strong as possible. Create a truth table for the statement. A deductive argument is more clearly valid or not, which makes it easier to evaluate. In 7.2: Tailoring an Argument to an Audience, we discussed how to shape our own arguments with a particular audience in mind.We analyze an argument, we work backward to infer what the intended audience was. When considering that election's low voter turnout rate, the author jumps to the conclusion that the town can no longer be considered democratic. In them, he would propose premises as a puzzle, to be connected using syllogisms. You may attack the premises in a court of law or a political discussion, of course, but here we are focusing on the structure of the arguments, not the truth of what they actually say. Premise: If the old lady swallows a goat, she will swallow a cow. ANALYZING ARGUMENT CLAIMS: Main points in the argument Conclusions of the speaker/writer Claim is what the argument asserts or seeks to prove. She plays an alcoholic in a destructive relationship with a guy who wants only to have fun. Argument Analysis Argument Analysis Sometimes, the best way to learn how to write a good argument is to start by analyzing other arguments. The introduction of the essay does a good job of laying out the seriousness of the problem, but the conclusion is short and abrupt. It could also ruin the tight camaraderie of many college teams if players become jealous that certain teammates are making more money than they are.
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