Building an argument
Thesis, argument and example, the three means of persuasion, concession and rebuttal, logical connectors and the main fallacies: defending a choice in a structured way and spotting faulty reasoning.
- 33 cards
- 5 topics
- Free
The outline, topic by topic
Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.
- Concepts
- Questions
- Sort and link
- Scenarios
- Understand
A few cards from the deck
Thesis: what is it?
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The position defended in a text, which all the arguments must support.
Test: you should be able to say it in one sentence starting with “I want to show that”. In a technical memo: “we recommend moving to PostgreSQL”.
“This developer was fired from his old company, so his view on the architecture does not count.” Which fallacy is this?
- A personal attack
- A straw man
- A slippery slope
- A hasty generalisation
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A personal attack
The person is discredited rather than the argument. It is not a straw man, which would distort his position, nor a slippery slope, which announces a chain of disasters.
An argumentative paragraph chains the argument, the …, the … and a partial conclusion.
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An argumentative paragraph chains the argument, the explanation, the example and a partial conclusion.
The argument asserts, the explanation links the argument to the thesis, the example makes it concrete, the conclusion says what to retain.
Concession: what is it?
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An opposing fact or argument that one admits is valid before defending one's own position.
It makes the thesis more credible since it shows the objection was weighed: “Admittedly, the migration will take time, but it removes the locking outages”.
In a recommendation memo you put your thesis at the end. The director reads only the first two lines. What fix?
- Lengthen the introduction with more context
- Put the conclusion before the arguments but keep the thesis at the end
- State the thesis in the introduction, then back it with arguments
- Replace the thesis with a series of questions
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State the thesis in the introduction, then back it with arguments
A busy reader must know at once what is defended; the arguments then serve to convince. Delaying the thesis or replacing it with questions tells them nothing.