Chapter 1 - Argument Structure

Question 1

What is premise?

Answer 1

• *** Piece of evidence ( fact or claim) that supports the author’s conclusion.***
• Part of the core of the argument; present in every argument.
• Supports the author’s conclusion.
• Can be a fact** or an **opinion; can be description, historical info, statistical or numerical data, or a comparison of things.
• Often signaled by words or phrases such as because of, since, due to, and as a result of

Question 2

What is (final) conclusion?

Answer 2

• ****Author’s main claim****
• Part of the core of an** **argument; present in most arguments.
• Represents the author’s main opinion or claim; can be in the form of prediction, a judgement of quality or merit, or a statement of causality
• Is supported by at least one Premise.
• Often signaled by words such as therefore, thus, so and consequently (though note that harder arguments might use such a word elsewhere in the arguent in an attempt to confuse)

Question 3

What is background?

Answer 3

• **** Information helps to set the context for an argument***
• Not part of the core; often present but not always
• Provides context to help understand the core
• Almost always fact-based; can be in almost any form: historical info, numerical or other data, description of plans or ideas, def of words or concepts and so on.

Question 4

What is counterpoint or counterpremise?

Answer 4

• ****Goes against the author’s conclusion****
• Not part of the core; only present occassionally
• Opposes or goes against the author’s conclusion in some way
• Introduces mutiple opportunities for traps: believing that the conclusion is the opposite of what it is, mistakenly labeling a counterpoint the premise ( vice versa) and so on
• Often signaled by transition words such as however, yet, and but, some; typically the transition word will be founf somewhere between the counterpremise and conclusion (though the two sentences may not be right next to each other).

Question 5

What represents the core?

Answer 5

Core represents what the author is trying to tell or prove. Premise and conclusion represent the core. Not all arguments will have a conclusion but all will have at least one premise.

Question 6

What is an intermediate conclusion?

Answer 6

***Both a conclusion and a premise; it supports the final conclusion.****

A premise supports a conclusion, and that conclusion then supports a further conclusion. The first conclusion is called the intermediate conclusion ( also known as the secondary conclusion). The second conclusion can be called the final conclusion to distinguish it from the intermediate conclusion.

Question 7

What is ‘Therefore Test”?

Answer 7

When we have more than one conlusion, we can use the “Therefore Test” to find the final conclusion. Either “A is true, THEREFORE B is true” or “B is true, THEREFORE A is true”