For argument problems, question A asks for the main conclusion. This can be done using the Therefore and Because method, which is when you put therefore or because in front of a sentence to see if it would make sense. For example, in Argument 2, the main conclusion is “…so we should support measures to significantly reduce the numbers of dogs kept as pets around the world.” Question B asks for you to state three reasons that support your main conclusion. Each of the reasons are usually found in separate paragraphs and are either the first or last sentence of that paragraph. In order for a statement to be a reason, it has to support the main conclusion and explain it. For example in Argument 2, one of the reasons is, “So, keeping dogs in city apartment, alone for much of the day and with only streets for short evening walks, is a breach of their animal rights.” Question C asks you to evaluate and discuss the weakness/strengths and the flaws of the argument. In order to find the weaknesses and flaws, you need to go through each paragraph and identify what the author isn’t stating correctly. The author can be doing this by making generalizations, assumptions, or any other flaws discussed in class, which is what weakens the argument. Strengths in an argument are specific facts that the author could have included or a well structured paragraph that could convince the reader to take the author’s side of the argument. When answering question C, you must write 3-5 sentence about each paragraph in the passage to identify weakness/strengths. Also when answering question C, it is good to quote statements from the text to support your reasoning. Question D usually asks for you to offer a further argument that could support or challenge the conclusion, or sometimes it gives you a statement and asks you to write your own argument supporting or challenging the claim they have given you. In either situation, you are required to write a couple of paragraphs supporting or challenging the conclusion or claim. You do this by using details that are given to you using the argument. When using details from the argument for your support/challenge, make sure to state what paragraph the details can be found in. An example of a claim that can be given to you in question D is “We need to accept responsibility for our own lives.” This argument, argument 3, talked about how people need to revise their expectations of Obama, because even though he is an all powerful man, changing the world will take effort from all of us. So if you were either to support or challenge this claim, you would write a couple of paragraphs with details from the argument supporting your point of view.
For Evidence problems, question A usually asks for you to state the vested interest. To begin, there are two types of vested interests: vested interest to Lie and vested interest to tell the truth. Overall, someone with a vested interest has a motive to lie or tell the truth because they will benefit some way from the outcome. One method of determining someone’s vested interest is by using C.R.A.V.E.N. (Correlation. Reputation. Ability to observe. Vested interest. Expertise. Neutrality/Biased). This is a quick method that you could use to sketch out someone’s side of the story and what their vested interest seems to be. For example in Evidence 3, Mr. Tlali had a vested interest to tell the truth because he was a harmless confused old man that didn’t look for any trouble. He just wanted to be left alone. For questions B and C, the questions ask how reliable statements or evidence is according to witnesses or the suspects. When answering these questions, you want to use specific details from the different point of views given. For example in Evidence 3, question C asks how reliable are the statements by Mrs. Kapooer and her son, Vaidhya? For this question, you would answer by saying how their side of the story ties in with everyone else’s story. You would talk about if their
