Exercises — Week 8: Week 8 — Evaluating Arguments: Claims, Reasons, and Evidence
1 hands-on tasks. Do them in order; each one feeds the Canvas item it names.
30 min · written
1. Argument Scorecard: The Uniform Proposal
- Read this short argument: 'Our school should require uniforms. Last year, students at a nearby school wore uniforms and their test scores went up. Everyone I talked to at lunch agreed with me. Some people say uniforms limit self-expression, but students can still express themselves through what they say and do. Either we adopt uniforms or we accept that our school will keep falling behind.'
- Identify the claim and list every reason the writer gives, in your own words.
- Judge each piece of evidence as relevant or not relevant and sufficient or not sufficient, with one sentence of explanation for each.
- Name at least two examples of faulty reasoning in the argument and quote the exact words where each appears.
- Evaluate the counterclaim and rebuttal in two to three sentences: is the rebuttal convincing, and what evidence would make the whole argument stronger?
Turn in / bring: A completed argument scorecard: the claim, the reasons, a relevance and sufficiency judgment for each piece of evidence, two quoted flaws, and a short evaluation of the rebuttal.