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Reading and Writing 6-8 / Week 09 / Thursday
4/6
Week 09 · Tracing Arguments

Thursday

Sound reasoning and enough evidence
// Claim, reasons, evidence, and whether they hold
⏱ about 20 min

Thursday: Sound Reasoning and Enough Evidence

Two letters lie side by side on the Signal Desk, both about the same question.

"Should The Signal come out twice a week?" Rocket reads. "Letter A says no. Letter B says yes. I want yes."

"Wanting is not weighing," Raven says. "Read B's second sentence. What do you notice?"

"One neighbor asked when the next issue was coming, so the whole neighborhood wants more." Rocket stops. "One neighbor. Whole neighborhood."

"A leap," Raven says. "The step does not follow."

Nova hovers between the two letters. "Sound reasoning walks," she says. "Each step touches the ground. Watch for the jump."

Rocket sighs and picks up Letter A.

Learn it: sound reasoning and sufficient evidence

Reasoning is sound when each step follows from the one before. A leap is a step that does not follow, such as one person wants it, so everyone does.

Evidence is sufficient when there is enough of it to hold the claim. One example is rarely enough. A count, a survey and an example together are stronger.

Raven thinks aloud: "Letter A says fourteen neighbors on the porch survey preferred one careful issue. Fourteen is more than one, and a survey is a count. That is closer to sufficient."

Common leaps to watch for: one case stands for all, all or nothing, and more is always better.

  • Read each reason and ask: does this step follow from the evidence?
  • Count the evidence. Is there enough to hold the claim?
  • Name the leap if you find one: one for all, all or nothing, or more is always better.

Read it

Both letters ran in this week's Signal, side by side.

Read it
Two Letters: Should The Signal Come Out Twice a Week?
Letter A
The Signal should stay a weekly paper.
The crew spends six days on each issue: planning, reporting, drafting, reading aloud, fixing and folding.
A second issue would cut each step in half. The step that would shrink most is reading aloud, where most mistakes are caught.
Last spring the crew tried a rushed issue for the garden fair, and three names were spelled wrong.
Readers told the crew they would rather have one careful issue than two hurried ones. Fourteen neighbors said so on the porch survey.
So one issue a week, done carefully, serves readers best.
Letter B
The Signal should come out twice a week.
One neighbor asked me on Monday when the next issue was coming, so clearly the whole neighborhood wants more.
If The Signal does not come out twice a week, nobody will read it at all.
More issues means more news, and more news is always better.
The crew already walks the neighborhood every day, so writing twice as much should be easy.
Twice a week, starting now.
CHECK IT: TWO LETTERS
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Which letter gives a count as evidence?
Which sentence in Letter B is a leap from one case to all?
Which sentence in Letter B is an all or nothing leap?
What evidence does Letter A give that rushing causes mistakes?
Sound or a leap?True or false?
"One neighbor asked, so the whole neighborhood wants more" is sound reasoning.?
"Reading aloud catches mistakes, and a second issue would shrink that step" follows step by step.?
"More news is always better" is supported by evidence in Letter B.?
Letter A gives more evidence than Letter B.?
Walking the neighborhood every day proves that writing twice as much is easy.?
WHY THIS EXERCISELetter A walks from reasons to evidence to claim. Letter B jumps three times and lands on nothing.
How many neighbors answered the porch survey in Letter A? Type the number.
WHY THIS EXERCISEA count from a survey is the kind of evidence that can make support sufficient.
LETTER A, TRACED
  • ?Claim: The Signal should stay weekly.
  • ?Reason: a second issue would shrink the reading aloud step, where mistakes are caught.
  • ?Evidence: the rushed fair issue had three names spelled wrong.
  • ?Evidence: fourteen neighbors preferred one careful issue.
  • ?Conclusion: one careful issue serves readers best.
WHY THIS EXERCISEWhen you can lay an argument out in this order with no gaps, the reasoning is sound.
Try it
Read Letter B aloud and jump a little every time you hear a leap.
Then read Letter A aloud and walk your fingers across the table, one step per sentence.

Sound steps, enough weight. Tomorrow Nova reviews all four arguments from this week's Signal.

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