12 Argument Types

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The 12 Argument Types

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Strengthen/Weaken, Assumption, Main Point, Method of Argument, Paradox, Parallel Reasoning, Principle, Point at Issue, Role of Statement, Inference, Flaw

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QUESTION STEM: "The main point is"; "The main conclusion is"; "The argument leads to the conclusion that statements commit X to the position that"

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Main Point

Hint 2

Locate the author;s conclusion. Be wary of misleading conclusion keywords.

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QUESTION STEM:... "The main point at issue is"; An issue in dispute is"; "Are committed to disagreeing about"; Expresses a point of agreement"

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Point at Issue

Hint 3

Find the issue on which both speakers have an opinion and disagree. Then search for the answer that matches this.

Front 4

QUESTION STEM:... "The argument proceeds by"; "A method of reasoning employed by the argument"; "A technique of reasoning employed by the argument"

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Method of Argument

Hint 4

Paraphrase the argument into abstract terms.

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QUESTION STEM:... "X responds by"; " X responds in which one of the following ways"; "X uses which one of the following techniques in countering"

Back 5

Method of Argument

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QUESTION STEM:... "The role of the statement X in this argument is"; "The statement X figures in the argument in which one of the following ways"

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Role of the Statement

Hint 6

Locate the statement and then characterize it within the confines of the argument. Is it part of the evidence or part of the conclusion. Is it the main conclusion or a sub conclusion.

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QUESTION STEM:... "must also be true"; "can most properly be concluded"; "most strongly support the inference"; "which of teh following conclusions can be properly drawn"

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Inference

Hint 7

Determine what must be true from the stimulus. Paraphrase in broad terms and then determine the correct choice.

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QUESTION STEM:... "an assumption on which the argument depends"; "is assumed by the argument"; "is required in order for the conclusion to be properly drawn"; "relies on the fact that"

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Assumption

Hint 8

Bridge the gap between the conclusion and the evidence. Seek out terms/words in the conclusion that are not used in the evidence and then build the bridge of understanding between the two terms and that is your assumption.

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QUESTION STEM:... "most seriously weakens the argument"; "undermines the conclusion"; "calls into question"; "casts doubt upon conclusion"; "would not follow if..."; "overlooks the possibility that..."

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Weakening question

Hint 9

Sum up the argument, identifying evidence and conclusion. Look for assumptions and alternatives the make the conclusion less likely. Find the answer choice that makes the conclusion less likely to follow from the evidence.

Front 10

QUESTION STEM:... "most strengthens"; "most strongly supports the conclusion"; "allows the conclusion to be properly drawn"; "follows logically if which one of the following is assumed"

Back 10

Strengthening question

Front 11

QUESTION STEM..."Justify principle if established"; "would most help to justify principle"; "most closely conforms to which one of the following principles"

Back 11

Principle

Front 12

The "Main Point" task is...

Back 12

to identify the argument's conslusion: what the person making the argument wants you to believe.

Hint 12

Locate the author;s conclusion. Be wary of misleading conclusion keywords.

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In a "Main Point", analyze and apply by...

Back 13

finding the conclusion, it it's explicitly state; if not, the opposite of the conclusion may be stated instead.

Hint 13

Locate the author;s conclusion. Be wary of misleading conclusion keywords.

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In a "Main Point", avoid Choices that...

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are worded more strongly than the argument; go beyond the conclusion; are premises of the argument.

Front 15

In a "Main Point", look for choices that...

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bring the whole argument together; are specific rather than general.

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The "Point at Issue" task is...

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to find a statement about which the participants in conversation definitely hold different opinions or, possibly, the same opinion.

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In a "Point at Issue", analyze and apply by...

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finding the conclusion and premises for each participants argument; summarizing the exact thing they're arguing about.

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In a "Point at Issue", avoid Choices that...

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pertain to one side of the conversation but not the other; rely on implication; answer the wrong question (agree rather than disagree).

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In a "Point at Issue", look for choices that...

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pertain to what's explicitly stated; are clearly something about which the participants would say 'yes' or 'no'.

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The "Role of the Statement" task is to...

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describe the indicated part of an argument in terms of its overall logical structure.

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In a "Role of the Statement", analyze and apply by...

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finding the conclusion and the premises, then summarizing which of these two roles the statement plays; if neither, summarizing the relationship between the statement and the premises and conclusion.

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In a "Role of the Statement", avoid choices that...

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do not match the argument closely; mistakenly identify the conclusion; mistakenly identify a statement as the main conclusion when its only a step in the argument's chain of reasoning.

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In a "Role of the Statement", look for choices that...

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match the argument piece by piece; correctly describe the relationship between the indicated statement and the conclusion.

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The "Inference" task is...

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to find a statement that has to be true on the basis of passage information; note that these passages are often not arguments.

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In a "Inference", analyze and apply by...

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summarizing teh passage; if it seems to lead to a specific conclusion, you should find it before moving on; some may involve a series of related conditional statements that can be diagrammed.

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In a "Inference", avoid choices that...

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are too strongly worded; use terms with no clear relationship to passage material; are too specific or demand too much input to be reveland; involve questionable comparisons.

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In a "Inference", look for choices that...

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are wishy-washy and say as little as possible; are specific, but not too specific; include stipulations or qualifications; seem to restate passage material.

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The "Assumption" task is...

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to find a statement that has to be true in order for the argument's conclusion to be true

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In a "Assumption", analyze and apply by...

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finding the conclusion, the premises, and any gap or flaw in the reasoning; find the most specific notion of the argument's problem that you can

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In a "Assumption", avoid choices that...

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weaken the argument; explain why or how too specifically; are more strongly worded than the argument's conclusion; are not directly relevant to the conclusion

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In a "Assumption", look for choices that...

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help the conclusion; logically connect pieces of the argument to one another; if false, weaken the conclusion; are weakly worded; eliminate a possible weakness of the argument

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The "Weaken" task is...

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find a new fact that, if true, would make the conclusion unlikely to be true

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In a "Weaken", analyze and apply by...

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finding the concludion, the premises, and any gap or flaw in the reasoning; you will not be able to predict the correct answer's exact contents, but you should be able to say what it must tell or show

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In a "Weaken", avoid choices that...

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are not directly relevant to the conclusion; strengthen; are trying to weaken but do not attack the conclusion strongly; require extensive explanations to show relevance; attempt to contradict a premise

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In a "Weaken", look for choices that...

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strongly attack the conclusion; present a specific instance in which the conclusion is incorrect; present a sweeping contradiction of the conclusion; present a possibility the argument overlooks.

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The "Strengthen" task is...

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to find a new fact that, if true, would make the conclusion certain, more likely to be correct, or at the very least, less likely to be incorrect

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In a "Strengthen", analyze and apply by...

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finding the conclusion, the premises, and any gap or flaw in the reasoning; you will not be able to predict the correct answer's exact contents, but you should be able to say what it must tell or show.

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In a "Strengthen", avoid choices that...

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are not directly relevant to the conclusion; weaken; restate premises in different words

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In a "Strengthen", look for choices that...

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present a sweeping assurance that the conclusion is correct; state assumptions; logically connect pieces of the argument; present a specific instance in which the conclusion is correct; explain why or how the conclusion is correct; support the conclusion using a method not employed in the argument; eliminate a possible weakness of the argument.

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The "Principle" task is...

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always find a general statement that supports the arguments conclusion/judgment; for conform also match the method of reasoning as closely as possible

Front 41

In a "Principle", analyze and apply by...

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identifying the conclusion/judgement in the argument and the premises/situation on which it is based (you will most likely not be able to predict the exact contents of the correct answer)

Front 42

In a "Principle", avoid choices that...

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are incapable under any circumstances of matching the judgment made in the conclusion; make reference to items of information not known about the situation presented in the premises; for conform, support the conclusion using a method the argument does not

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In a "Principle", look for choices that...

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for justify, support as strongly as possible, even if it goes beyond the argument; for conform, match the method of reasoning used in the argument as closely as possible without going beyond it.

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The main point is the main conclusion is the argument leads to the conclusion that statements commit X to the position that

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MAIN POINT: to identify the argument's conslusion: what the person making the argument wants you to believe. FIND the conclusion, if it's explicitly state; if not, the opposite of the conclusion may be stated instead.

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the main point at issue is An issue in dispute is Are committed to disagreeing about Expresses a point of agreement

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POINT AT ISSUE: to find a statement about which the participants in conversation definitely hold different opinions or, possibly, the same opinion. FIND the conclusion and premises for each participants argument; summarizing the exact thing they're arguing about.

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the argument proceeds by a method of reasoning employed by the argument a technique of reasoning employed by the argument

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ID REASONING: describe how an argument supports its conclusion. FIND the conclusion and the premises, then summarizing the process used in the argument.

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x responds by responds in which one of the following ways uses which one of the following techniques in countering

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ID RESPONSE: in a conversation, describe how a response relates to the first person's argument in the conversation. FIND the conclusion and the premises of both parts of the conversation, then summarizing the relationship between them as specifically as possible

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the role of the statement X in this argument is the statement X figures in the argument in which one of the following ways

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ROLE OF THE STATEMENT:describe the indicated part of an argument in terms of its overall logical structure. FIND the conclusion and the premises, then summarizing which of these two roles the statement plays; if neither, summarizing the relationship between the statement and the premises and conclusion

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an assumption on which the argument depends is assumed by the argument is required in order for the conclusion to be properly drawn relies on the fact that

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ASSUMPTION:to find a statement that has to be true in order for the argument's conclusion to be true FIND the conclusion, the premises, and any gap or flaw in the reasoning; find the most specific notion of the argument's problem that you can

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most seriously weakens the argument undermines the conclusion calls into question casts doubt upon conclusion would not follow if overlooks the possibility that

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WEAKEN: to find a new fact that, if true, would make the conclusion unlikely to be true FIND the concludion, the premises, and any gap or flaw in the reasoning;

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most strengthens most strongly supports the conclusion allows the conclusion to be properly drawn follows logically if which one of the following is assumed

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STRENGTHEN:to find a new fact that, if true, would make the conclusion certain, more likely to be correct. FIND the conclusion, the premises, and any gap or flaw in the reasoning;

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would be most useful to know in evaluating the argument the answer to which one of the following questions would contribute to an evaluation in evaluating the argument, it would be most useful to know whether

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EVALUATE: to identify a statement that, if teue, either weakens or strengthens the conclusion and, if false, does the other. FIND the conclusion, the premises, and any gap or flaw in the reasoning;

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principle if established, would most help to justify principle provides the strongest support for the conclusion conforms to which one of the following generalizations reasoning most closely conforms to which one of the following principles

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PRINCIPLE: find a general statement that supports the arguments conclusion/judgment; for conform also match the method of reasoning as closely as possible IDENTIFY the conclusion/judgement in the argument and the premises/situation on which it is based.

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REASONING STRATEGIES: Weakening Causal Arguments and what to look for.

Back 54

When an argument makes a claim of causation, look for one of the three classic alternatives to "X caused Y" argument.

Hint 54

1) The causality is reversed (Y actually caused X)
2) An alternative cause exists or the effect (Z caused Y) very common,
3)The connection between X and Y is coincidental

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REASONING STRATEGIES: Strengthen the Arguments and what to look for.

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What would make it more believable that the evidence really does lead to the conclusion?

Hint 55

A valid strengthener need not prove an argument, it simply must make the conclusion more believable.

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REASONING STRATEGIES: Strenghten EXCEPT

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Characterize the answer choices...the four wrong answers will be strengtheners.

Hint 56

In a Strengthen EXCEPT question predict as usual. Then scan for strengtheners and eliminate them