Analyzing Arguments and Evidence

This is Unit Thirty-One, the final unit of College Composition. Unit Thirty examined reasoning and fallacies. This unit brings every analysis skill to bear on whole arguments. Carry one idea through this lecture. Read an argument fairly before judging it, then judge its claims, evidence, assumptions and appeals together, naming strengths as well as weaknesses. Three practice passages near the end apply that method. By the end you will be able to read an argument closely and find its claims. To evaluate its evidence and assumptions. To read for purpose, audience, paragraph function and inference. And to compare and synthesize, bringing the course's four skills together.

Three entries on reading an argument closely and finding its main and supporting claims.

Reading more than once.

CMP 0751 Reading an Argument Closely

Reading an argument closely means reading it more than once. First read for understanding, and summarize its main idea in your own words. Reread for purpose, what the writer wants readers to believe or do. Mark claims, reasons and evidence; note the language and appeals; look for what the writer assumes; and notice whether other views are acknowledged. Then evaluate whether the reasoning and evidence justify the conclusion. Do not evaluate before you understand: a reader who argues before summarizing fairly often attacks a position the writer never took.

The central statement.

CMP 0752 Identifying the Main Claim

The main claim is the central statement the argument asks readers to accept, that something is true or that some action should be taken. Look in the opening and closing paragraphs, and test a candidate by asking whether the rest of the text supports it. A vivid example or statistic is support, not the claim.

Smaller arguments.

CMP 0753 Identifying Supporting Claims

Supporting claims are the smaller arguments that together build the case for the main claim, each needing its own support. An argument for more campus counselors might claim that current staff cannot meet demand and that nearby services are hard to reach. Check each supporting claim separately; one weak link can weaken the whole.

Two entries on evaluating a text's evidence and detecting its unstated assumptions.

Testing someone else's evidence.

CMP 0754 Evaluating Evidence in a Text

Evaluating evidence in someone else's argument means testing whether it is reliable and sufficient. Ask what kind it is, whether it is relevant to its claim, and whether it is sufficient or generalized from too little. Ask whether the facts are accurate and the inferences rely on them, whether opinions offered as evidence rest on expertise rather than emotion, and whether the author is reliable. Finally, ask whether the writer presents enough reliable facts to justify the conclusions. Strong evidence for a modest claim beats thin evidence for a sweeping one.

The hidden step.

CMP 0755 Detecting Unstated Assumptions

An unstated assumption is a belief the argument depends on but never says, the warrant linking its evidence to its claim. To find it, ask what a reader would have to believe for this evidence to prove this claim. Once stated, an assumption can be tested; many weak arguments hide their weakest step there.

Four entries on author's purpose, intended audience, paragraph function and inference.

Why the author writes.

CMP 0756 Author's Purpose

An author's purpose is the reason for the communication: to inform, to persuade, to entertain, or some combination. A report that presents facts and draws conclusions informs; an editorial urging a vote persuades; a text can do both. Infer purpose from the whole text, not from a single sentence.

Who it is for.

CMP 0757 Intended Audience

The intended audience is the readers a writer has in mind, revealed by vocabulary, examples, assumed knowledge and appeals. A text that defines no technical terms assumes experts; one that explains everything assumes newcomers. An argument effective for one audience may fail with another; analyze it for the readers it addresses.

What each paragraph does.

CMP 0758 How a Paragraph Functions

Every paragraph in an argument does a job. Ask whether it introduces the issue or states the main claim, gives background, advances a supporting claim, or supplies evidence for an earlier claim. Ask whether it presents a counterclaim, refutes or concedes part of it, or concludes by restating the claim or calling readers to act. A paragraph's function is defined by its relation to the paragraphs around it, so describe what it does for the argument, not only what it says.

Drawing an unstated conclusion.

CMP 0759 Inference

An inference is a conclusion a reader draws from evidence in the text when the writer does not state it directly. Readers often infer a theme from details, or a writer's position from word choice; a sound inference rests on an accumulation of evidence. An inference must be supported by the text; a guess that goes beyond it is not an inference.

Nine entries on comparing arguments, objections, synthesis, three practice passages, the four skills, preparing for the exam, and the writer you are becoming. The opening idea is paid off at the practice passages.

Same terms for both.

CMP 0760 Comparing Two Arguments

Comparing two arguments on one issue means evaluating them on the same terms. State each main claim and where they disagree. Compare evidence: which is more reliable and sufficient? Compare assumptions: which relies on beliefs readers more likely share? Compare their treatment of counterclaims, and their appeals: which relies on emotion or fallacies in place of evidence? Then decide which is more persuasive for its intended audience, and say why. The stronger argument is not always the one you agree with; keep your own view separate from your evaluation.

Answering the objection.

CMP 0761 The Strongest Objection

A strong argument identifies and answers the strongest objection to its claim, a counterclaim, rather than the weakest. Writers may refute the objection, concede part of it, or limit the claim with a qualifier such as some or many. Conceding a fair point builds credibility; ignoring counterclaims makes an argument seem incomplete.

Combining the findings.

CMP 0762 Synthesizing the Analysis

Synthesizing an analysis means combining your findings about claims, evidence, assumptions and appeals into one judgment of the argument. A synthesis says how well the argument works and why, supported by specific passages. Analysis leads to interpretation and evaluation, a judgment of the text's merits.

A policy argument.

CMP 0763 A Practice Passage: Policy

A practice passage, constructed for this course, pays off the opening idea. A council member argues for a fee on plastic bags, citing neighboring towns that report fewer bags in storm drains. The claim is clear. The evidence is relevant but thin: no source, no size of change, no sign the towns resemble this city. The unstated assumption is that what worked there will work here. The writer names a counterclaim, the cost to families, and answers it with free reusable bags, though without saying who pays. The appeal is mostly logical, with no obvious fallacy. The judgment: a fair, well-organized argument whose evidence is too thin for a skeptic.

A science column.

CMP 0764 A Practice Passage: Science

A second practice passage, constructed for this course, reports a fictional study: tree-lined blocks were cooler at midday over two years, and the columnist concludes that planting trees will solve the city's heat problem. The evidence, a measured comparison, supports a cautious conclusion about these blocks. The leap to the whole city risks a hasty generalization, and solve promises more than was measured. Other differences between the blocks, such as less pavement, could be causes, so assuming the trees alone did it would be a causal fallacy. The evidence is good; the error is in how far the conclusion reaches.

A cultural essay.

CMP 0765 A Practice Passage: Culture

A third practice passage, constructed for this course, is an essay for a community magazine opposing cuts to library hours. It opens with the writer's grandmother learning to read in a public library, which builds pathos and some ethos, though one story is not proof of current need. Its strongest move redefines the library as the one free public room where anyone may sit, read and ask for help, which answers the claim that everything is online. Its structure saves its sharpest question for last. For a sympathetic local audience it is effective; a budget committee would need data on who uses the library now.

Four skills, one draft.

CMP 0766 The Four Skills Together

The course's four skill areas work together in every piece of writing. Conventions keep sentences complete and punctuated, so readers trust the writing. Revision makes the thesis clear, paragraphs unified, evidence supportive and language suited to the audience. Sources are evaluated, integrated fairly and documented in the expected style. Rhetorical analysis sees how a text persuades through its appeals, devices, structure and reasoning. A writer revising a draft uses all four at once. The skills are separate for study, not in practice: a revision question may turn on grammar, logic, evidence and audience together.

Reviewing for the exam.

CMP 0767 Preparing for the Exam

Preparing for the course exam means reviewing by skill area and practicing on passages, not memorizing terms. Revisit the units on revision first, since revision carries the most weight; then sources and rhetorical analysis; then conventions. Read each passage whole before answering questions about its parts.

Looking back, and ahead.

CMP 0768 The Writer You Are Becoming

Writing is a recursive process and an ongoing conversation. You began with the rhetorical situation: purpose, audience, context and genre. You studied the conventions of standard written English as shared expectations, while recognizing that other varieties of English are valid in their own settings. You practiced revision, where most of the real work happens. You learned to research, evaluate and integrate sources, and to document them so readers can follow your trail. And you learned to analyze how texts persuade, through appeals, devices, structure and reasoning sound or flawed. Each skill feeds the others. No single course finishes a writer, so return to any unit when a draft calls for it.

Look at what you can now do. You can read an argument closely, summarizing it fairly before you judge, and find its main and supporting claims. You can evaluate its evidence and bring its unstated assumptions into the open. You can infer its purpose and audience, say what each paragraph does, and draw inferences the text supports. And you can compare arguments, weigh their answers to objections, synthesize your findings into one judgment, and use the course's four skills together. That completes College Composition.