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Reading and Writing 6-8 / Week 09 / Friday
5/6
Week 09 · Tracing Arguments

Friday

Nova's Signal Review
// Claim, reasons, evidence, and whether they hold
⏱ about 20 min

Friday: Nova's Signal Review

Nova hovers above the balance, which now hangs still. Four letters and opinion pieces lie in a row on the Signal Desk.

"The bench. The story hour. The fence. The two letters about the paper," she says. "Four arguments, one week."

Rocket stretches. "Claim, reasons, evidence. Supported or not. Relevant or not. Sound or a leap."

"Four tests," Raven says. "What do you notice about the order we learned them?"

"Each one needs the one before. You cannot judge the reasoning until you have found the claim."

Nova dims to a steady glow. "Then review in that order," she says. "Hints only."

Look back

This week you read four arguments from this week's Signal and learned four tests.

Find the claim, reasons and evidence. Sort supported from unsupported claims. Set aside irrelevant evidence. Check that the reasoning is sound and the evidence is sufficient.

REVIEW 1: THE FOUR ARGUMENTS
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Which piece had three reasons, each with its own evidence?
Which piece mixed supported claims with claims like everyone agrees?
Which piece included two true but irrelevant sentences?
Which piece leaped from one neighbor to the whole neighborhood?
REVIEW 2: THE FOUR TESTS
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
A sentence says: Obviously, the ramp is the best place in town. Which test does it fail?
A letter about the library adds that the ramp has a new tarp. Which test does that sentence fail?
A letter says: Two people came late once, so the whole schedule must change. Which test does it fail?
Week reviewTrue or false?
A claim is what the writer wants the reader to believe or do.?
Evidence that is true is always relevant.?
One example is usually sufficient evidence for a big claim.?
Words like everyone and simply are warning signs of unsupported claims.?
Agreeing with a claim makes its evidence stronger.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEThe four tests work no matter which side you are on. That is what makes them tests.
THE FOUR TESTS, IN THE ORDER YOU LEARNED THEM
  • ?Find the claim, the reasons and the evidence.
  • ?Sort supported claims from unsupported ones.
  • ?Set aside irrelevant evidence.
  • ?Check that the reasoning is sound and the evidence is sufficient.
WHY THIS EXERCISEEach test depends on the one before it, so the order is the method.
TRACE THE FENCE LETTER
  • Trace from the claim to the judgment.
  • Tap the cards in order.
1First
2Next
3Then
4Last
The letter with the survey count of fourteen said The Signal should stay what kind of paper? Type the one word.
WHY THIS EXERCISERemembering where the strongest evidence sat is part of weighing two arguments against each other.
Try it
Pick one of the four pieces and explain to someone which test it passed best and which it failed.
Use the words claim, reason and evidence as you explain.

Four arguments weighed. Tomorrow is Press Day, and your own trace of an argument goes in the issue.

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