Intro to arguments

Question 1

Argument

Answer 1

one or more statements where one statement is supported by the other

Question 2

So, remember:

Answer 2

Premises are supporting statements and conclusions are supported statements.

Question 3

Premises

Answer 3

support conclusion

Question 4

Conclusion

Answer 4

Supported by premises

Question 5

Argument

Answer 5

Premise + Conclusion

Question 6

Support

Answer 6

Internal structure

Question 7

Premise

Answer 7

a sentence that supports another sentence = supports the conclusion

Question 8

Conclusion

Answer 8

a sentence that is supported by another sentence = supports the premise

Question 9

How to find conclusion

Answer 9

• why
• persuasion: intuition
• indicators: words

Question 10

Why:

Answer 10

Take the sentence that you think may be the conclusion (or at random) and ask yourself, “Why should I believe it?” What reasons has the passage provided to accept the supposed conclusion? Try to answer that question by referring to the other sentences in the passage. If those sentences give you a satisfactory answer to why you should believe what the conclusion sentence says, then you may have found the conclusion. Or, you could also be just very easily satisfied.

Question 11

Persuasion

Answer 11

ask yourself, “What does the author really want me to believe?” I know he’s saying all this stuff to me. But, if I told him to shut up and get to the point, then, what would he say? What is it that he really cares about? What is it that he really wants to persuade me of? The answer to all those questions should be the same, i.e., it should be the conclusion. Now, of course, this method relies on your intuition. You have to intuitively know what’s being supported, what’s giving support and generally understand what the passage is saying.

Question 12

For, Since, Because = preceded by a comma (,)

Answer 12

• Show premises and conclusion
• these 3 always introduce a premise
• a conclusion is present after or before these 3 indicators

Question 13

Context vs. Argument

Answer 13

• context: background info

- argument: idea the author is trying to convey

Question 14

But, although, however

Answer 14

• indicate a turn in the context of the author’s argument

- these 3 indicate where the argument begins

Question 15

“Some people say”

Answer 15

• introduces someone else’s argument

Question 16

Note: fluff

Answer 16

• It’s very important to be able to tell when context ends and when argument begins.
• Remember to ask yourself where the background information ends. Where does other people’s argument end? Where does our argument begin?

Question 17

Grammar: 3 important things

Answer 17

• subject, predicate, details (sometimes also called “modifiers” and “embedded clauses”).

Question 18

The subject

Answer 18

• ” who or what, it’s the argument referring to”

What is the subject? The subject is the thing which the sentence is about. It’s the center around which everything else turns. So, if I ask you, “What is this sentence about?” you would tell me that this sentence is about “candidates”. You’d be right. This sentence is about candidates. What does this sentence want to tell us about candidates? To answer that question, we need to look at the predicate.

Question 19

The predicate

Answer 19

• ” what about …? there is a keyword, disregard detail”

What is the predicate? It’s almost always a verb. It tells you something about the subject. Here, we know that the subject is “candidates”. What about the candidate? Well, they “have” something. They “have” an “advantage”.

I skipped over a lot of the other words in the sentence. It’s important not to get distracted by those words. First, you have to figure out what the subject and what the predicate are. All the other words are just details. It doesn’t mean they’re not important. They are very, very important. It just means that they have a tendency to distract you from understanding the basic structure of the sentence. So, save the details for last.

Question 20

The detail

Answer 20

• “detail about the subject and predicate”

Sometimes the details are contained in “modifiers” like adjectives or adverbs and sometimes they are contained in “embedded clauses”.

“Unfair” for example, is a detail. It modifies “advantage” by telling us what kind of “advantage”. Okay, “unfair advantage”. But, in what? An eating competition? Nope. More details: “in publicizing their platforms”.

Question 21

Referential phrases

Answer 21

• It refers to something previously mentioned
• this
• that
• those
• these
• it
• its
• pronouns ( they, their, he, she)

Question 22

Subject

Answer 22

• Ask: what is or what are…?
• the subject is one word
• When using people: what about the person?
• what about the subject

Question 23

Predicate

Answer 23

• it is an action VERB by which the subject is defined

Question 24

Comparative Statement: How to identify

Answer 24

1. Identify the “than”
2. Identify the two things
3. identify the quality/characteristic of comparison
4. Declare a “winner”

Question 25

Therefore

Answer 25

- Always introduces a conclusion