Reasoning and Argument Structure

Deductive reasoning

General principle → specific conclusion.

Identify this example: Quote (Jefferson, 1776): "All men are created equal… [Therefore] governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Deductive reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

Specific evidence → general conclusion.

Identify this example: Quote (Ida B. Wells, 1892): "Not one of these lynchings was for the crime of rape… Yet the excuse is ever before the public."

Inductive Reasoning

Counterargument

Addressing an opposing view.

Identify this example: Quote (Paine, 1776): "I know it is difficult to get over local attachments… but Britain hath failed in her obligations."

Counterargument

Concession

Acknowledging part of an opposing view.

Identify this example: Quote (Madison, Federalist No. 10, 1787): "It may be conceded that a pure democracy… can admit no cure for the mischiefs of faction."

Concession

Refutation

Proving an opposing argument wrong.

Identify this example: Quote (Douglass, 1845): "The slaveholders' religion is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes."

Refutation

Logical Fallacy (Exposed) (Fallacious Reasoning)

Faulty reasoning.

Identify this example: Quote (Ida B. Wells, A Red Record, 1895):"This is the old threadbare lie that lynching is done to protect womanhood."

Logical Fallacy (Exposed) (Fallacious Reasoning)

Syllogism

Major premise + minor premise → conclusion.

Identify this example: Quote (Emerson, 1841):"Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist."

Syllogism

Cause and Effect

Showing one event producing another.

Identify this example:Quote (Upton Sinclair, 1906): "They use everything about the hog except the squeal." (argues that industrial conditions cause moral and sanitary harm)

Cause and Effect

Analytic Claim

Interpretation-based claim.

Identify this example: Quote (W.E.B. Du Bois, 1903): "The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line."

Analytic Claim

Qualifier

A word that limits a claim.

Identify this example: Quote (Henry George, 1879): "In most cases, the increase in wealth goes to those who do not produce it."

Qualifier