Week 8: Week 8 — Evaluating Arguments: Claims, Reasons, and Evidence
Week of Mon, Jan 4 · week closes Sun, Jan 10
This week's items
Exact due times are in Canvas. Each week opens on its Monday and stays open. Practice is never late — but the MCAP window opens April 5, 2027, so keep pace.
Know these cold
- An argument has three working parts: a claim (what the author wants you to believe), reasons (why it is true), and evidence (facts, data, examples, or expert statements that back up each reason).
- A claim is debatable. 'Our school offers three computer science classes' is a fact; 'Our school should offer a coding class to ninth graders' is a claim.
- Evidence is relevant when it actually connects to the claim. A heartfelt story about a grandmother's magnolia tree does not prove that a county should plant 10,000 street trees.
- Evidence is sufficient when there is enough of it, from strong enough sources, to support the size of the claim. One friend's good quarter cannot prove a schedule works for a whole county.
- Check sources. Ask who collected the evidence, when, and from whom. An old survey of the wrong group can make an argument look stronger than it is.
- Faulty reasoning includes attacking the person instead of the idea, bandwagon appeals, false cause, either-or choices, and broad conclusions drawn from too few examples.
- Strong arguments address counterclaims. Look for a fair statement of the other side followed by a rebuttal that answers it with reasons or evidence.
- On MCAP, evaluation questions ask you to judge, not just find. Use words such as relevant, sufficient, reliable, and flawed when you explain your thinking.
Meerk's quiz — open the Week 8 gate
10 questions, no time limit. One counted try: 85% opens the gate. Miss it and Meerk's Study Path opens: it teaches every miss back to you, then a mastery check — and it cannot finish before 25 minutes of real study. Then your second try opens. Work alone; the point is to know it, not to have seen it.
Stuck?
Raise your hand. Mr. James gets a message right away and can help you remotely. Nothing else is stored — just your last name, grade, and where you're stuck.
My Progress
Dinner Table Question
Ask at home: What is something you have heard people claim is true just because everyone believes it? What evidence would actually convince you?
En español: ¿Qué es algo que has oído que la gente afirma que es verdad solo porque todos lo creen? ¿Qué evidencia te convencería de verdad?