Wrtiting Analytically - Chapter 4 Notes PDF

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Chapter 4 outline for Writing Analytically....

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Writing Analytically: Chapter 4- Reasoning from Evidence to Claims 1. Linking Evidence and Claims  a. Self-evident - no explanation because the truth can be seen easily  b. Make the connection between claims and evidence obvious because not  everyone sees it the same 

c. Cannot put evidence next to claim and expect reader to make connections  2. The Functions of Evidence  a. Evidence shows corroboration - proving/testing validity of a claim  b. Prove - (1) evidence is strong enough to say something is true or  believable; (2)   testing   for   truth   and   believability  i. Using only the first definition could result in ignoring other evidence  ii. Second definition allows you to include and consider other  perspectives c. Unsubstantiated claims - “Because I say so”  i. Claims that do not have supportive evidence  ii. Happens when  1. author focuses on conclusions and not the details that led  them to   that   conclusion  2. Author uses excess detail for a general claim  iii. Circular Argument - rephrasing your claim and using it as evidence  1. Infers that you expect readers to take your word for it  2. Shuts down your thinking process and blocks out readers  iv. Claims without much evidence tend to be faulty  3. Distinguishing Evidence from Claims  a. Look for excessive opinions in your writings by labeling sentences as  evidence (e) or   claims   (c)  b. Important to use evidence to test and help refine your claims  c. The writer’s opinion is not self-evident truth  d. Giving Evidence a Point: Making Details Speak  i. Explain how the evidence is relevant to and qualifies your claims  ii. Make evidence obvious and do not leave it up to interpretation for  the reader  iii. Example (pg 94) 

4. More than Just “the Facts”: What Counts as Evidence?  a. Evidence should not be one-sided or subjective  b. “Is the author’s perspective biased?  Does this bias undercut the  trustworthiness of   their   information?”  c. Methodology - how the data was collected; helps determine relevance  5. The Rules of Argument  a. Using words to argue factors   in the human experience is not precise like  math b. Syllogism i. Major Premise: a general claim believed to be true  ii. Minor Premise: a lesser claim also assumed to be true  iii. Conclusion: a claim following from the two premises, if the  argument is   properly   structured  iv. Example 1. All men are mortal (major premise).  2. Socrates is a man (minor premise).  3. Therefore, Socrates is mortal (conclusion).  v. Only as true as the major and minor premises  c. Enthymeme - incomplete syllogism because one premise is left unstated  i. More common than syllogisms  ii. Examples 1. Cats make better pets than dogs because cats   are  independent a. Unstated Assumption: Independent animals make  better pets  2. Charter schools will improve the quality of education  because they encourage competition.  a. Unstated Assumption: Competition improves the  quality of   education.  d. Toulmin’s Alternative Model of the Syllogism   f A  rgument ( 1958) i. Uses o ii. He believed that the syllogism did not accurately represent the way  people think  iii. Toulmin’s Syllogism  1. Data: evidence supporting claim, response to “what do you  have to   go   on?”  2. Warrant: general reason connecting the data and claim,  response to “how did   you   get   there?”  3. Claim: a conclusion from data 

4. Example (pg 99) 5. Backing - extra supporting information  6. Think of it as: Aristotelian syllogism promises to never  mistake the   forest   for   the   trees   and   Toulmin’s   syllogism  never lets   us   forget   the   forest   is   in   fact   made   up   of   trees  iv. Rogerian Argument and Practical Reasoning  1. Booth and rogers believed argument was not to battle in  order to   beat   an   opponent   but   instead   to   find   common  ground 2. Understand and represent the views of the “opponent”  6. Deduction and Induction: Two ways of Linking Evidence and Claims  a. Induction: reasoning from particulars to the general  i. Credible if a writer can demonstrate that the theory is based on a  decent sample   of   many   instances  b. Deduction: reasoning from the general to the particular  i. Uses evidence to draw out implications  ii. Inferring the consequences c. Refer to Fig 4.3 on pg 102 for diagrams  d. Scientific Method uses induction to come to conclusions but uses  deductive tests according   to   a pattern  i. Deductive premise is only as good as the inductive reasoning  proposed in the   first   place  7. “1 on 10” a. Term for deduction 

b. Look at multiple examples to see if there is an applicable claim  c. When a   scientist looks at a certain phenom and compares it to a theory  they are   using   deductive   reasoning 

d. Organizing papers using “1 on 10”   nd F  ocus o  rThe M  ethod ( Ch1)) i. Start with claim (use N  otice a ii. As you look at evidence that reassures your claim  iii. Formulate reasons to show that the evidence supports the claim  iv. Workout how separate data connects  v. Revise and strengthen the implications of your claim (the  1) on the  bases of   the   examples   (the   10)  e. Potential Problems with “1 on 10”  i. Superficial thinking- forget to pay careful attention to detail  ii. Mistaken assumptions about the evidence  8. Doing “10 on 1”: Saying More About Less  a. Inductive ways to start a piece of writing  b. The 1 now stands for the single strong example  c. The 10 stands for the various observations you are able to make  d. Draw out as much meaning as possible from your absolute best example  e. Organizing papers using “10 on 1”   nd F  ocus o  rThe  M  ethod ( Ch1) to find   revealing   pattern  i. Use Notice a or tendency   in   your   evidence  ii. Select a representative example  iii. Do 10 on 1 to produce an in-depth analysis of your example  iv. Test your results in similar cases  f. Potential Problems with “10 on 1”  i. Ot demonstrating the representativeness of your example  ii. Example must be a part of a bunch of similar evidence, not one  particular instance  iii. Unwarranted Inductive Leap - generalizing from too little and  unrepresentative evidence  g. Example (pg 107) ...