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Assignment #1 – Argument Structure & Analysis

Within this class, I am expecting you to develop and utilize two different skills: one is to be able to recognize and analyze the arguments made by others; the second is to make well constructed arguments yourself. This assignment is your first chance to practice that first skill. I want you to start by reading both of the recent editorials below; you will then choose one of the editorials to use for this assignment.

When you get any piece of writing in this class, the first task is to pick out exactly what the argument is that the author is making. Then you should go on to analyze the quality of the argument by making and supporting a claim that the argument presented is good or bad (I ask you to do the tasks in this order since you obviously can’t say whether the argument is good or bad until you are clear about what the argument is). Therefore, this assignment has two parts. Start by re-reading the editorial you have chosen, and then do the following:

Part 1, Argument Structure: Tell me which specific sentence you think is the main conclusion of the editorial. Then tell me what reasons (premises) the author gives to support that conclusion. This summary of the structure of the argument should only be about a paragraph long, and I want you to quote directly from the article when you list the statements that you think are serving as the conclusion and the premises of the argument. So, you should write something like the following: I think that the main conclusion of this piece is " . . . ". The author supports this with " . . . ", ". . . " and " . . . ". (This is just an example; you may find more or fewer premises). Again, what you are looking for here is the author’s view or claim about the subject; why did he or she write this editorial, and what reasons does he or she give to support his or her opinion about the subject?

Part 2, Analysis of the Quality of the Argument: For this section, I want you to write a paragraph telling me whether you think the argument you outlined in part one is a good one or not and why you think that it is or is not good. You should address the following questions: is the argument valid (does the conclusion follow from the premises?). If it is valid, are the premises true (thus it would be a sound argument)? If it is invalid, why doesn’t the conclusion follow from the premises? If it is valid, but not sound, which premise might be false? Does it fit any of the special argument forms that you studied in Handout #1 (it might not, and that’s okay)? Are there alternatives that the author overlooked when drawing the conclusion? Does the author use any unwarranted assumptions?

The total assignment should only be about two good paragraphs long. It is worth 10 points and will be graded as follows: Argument Structure – 5 points, Argument Analysis – 5 points.

Here are the web addresses for the two editorials:

1. Scorecard on Health Insurance Exchanges, The NY Times 1/6/13

2. Health Care Entitlements, The NY Times 11/28/12

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