Download Argument Evaluation: Analyzing the Quality of an Author's Claims and Reasons - Prof. Antho and more Study notes English Language in PDF only on Docsity! 1 English 104 Instructor: Anthony Ubelhor Argument Evaluation The argument evaluation combines a summary of the text's major claims and reasons with an assessment of the essential elements of the argument. While the summary component is objective, the evaluation component is critical; that is, the evaluation raises questions about the quality of the argument, the logic of its reasoning, the adequacy of the evidence, the soundness of the definitions, the acceptability of underlying assumptions, and so on. An evaluation is itself an argument in that it is developed from a thesis and supported by reasons and evidence. An argument evaluation should address one or more of the following: • Thesis: a one-sentence summary of the author's argument using a "because" clause. Example: Smith claims homosexual couples should be allowed to marry because marriage will encourage commitment and reduce the number of AIDS cases due to casual sex. • Evidence: Describe the evidence (e.g., facts, statistics, interpretations, personal testimony) the author uses to support this argument. Do you think this evidence is persuasive? Is the evidence sufficient? If not, what kinds of evidence should the author have used to make this an effective argument? • Speaker: Is this author qualified to make this argument? What is motivating this author to make this argument? Do you think the author is fair to those with opposing viewpoints? Why or why not? • Audience: Who is the intended audience for this argument? How do you know? Do you think the intended audience would be persuaded by this argument? • Style and Clarity: Does the author's writing style help or hurt the argument? What recommendations in organization, word choice, etc would you suggest to improve the effectiveness of this argument? Helpful Hints • Begin your analysis with a brief summary of the text you are analyzing. Rarely should your summary take more than one paragraph, but in longer articles, or articles where the author has multiple claims or reasons, you may extend your summary to two paragraphs. In any event, the first paragraph should contain your statement of the author's thesis, or enthymeme. • Pick one or two points of agreement or disagreement you have with the author and develop them into the body of your essay. You may, for example, feel that the author didn't provide sufficient evidence to back up his or her claim. In that case, discuss what evidence the author did provide and then explain what kind of evidence the author should have provided to make his or her case more convincing. On the other hand, if you thought the author's evidence was compelling, discuss that evidence and explain why you think it works so well. Perhaps, instead of evidence, you'll
