AnalysisofArgument.docx

AnalysisofArgument.docx

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AnalysisofArgument

AnalysisofArgument

来源：

ETS

WhatisanArgument?

Astrongargumentattemptstopersuadethereadertoacceptapointofview.Assuch,itconsistsofaproposition,adeclarativestatementwhichiscapableofbeingargued,andaproof,areasonorgroundwhichissupportedbyevidence.Theevidence,inturn,iscomposedofrelevantfacts,opinionsbasedonfactsandcarefulreasoning.Ifyouareanalyzinganargument,youshouldlookforbothofthese:

apropositionandtheevidencesupportingtheproposition.

Inthesamewaythatananalysisofissueessaymuststartwithathesis,soalsoanessaythatanalyzesanargumentmuststartwithatopicsentencewhichprovidesfortheanalysisofaproposition.Everyargumentshouldhaveaproposition,andtheidentificationofthispropositioniscrucialtothewritingofananalysisofanargument.Forinstance,thefollowingcouldappearintheanalyticalwritingsectionoftheGMAT:

Thetwoclausesbeginningwithsinceprovideevidenceinsupportoftheproposition.Inturn,thepropositionitselfisframedbythesecondsentence.

Sincetheworldpopulationwilldoubleto11billionpeoplebythemiddleofthe21stcenturyandsincefoodproductionwillnotshowacorrespondingincrease,effortsshouldbemadetolimitpopulationgrowth.Governmentsmustinstitutepopulationcontrolpoliciestoinsureanadequatefoodsupplyforfuturegenerations.

Oneaspectofargumentationthatneedsspecialattentionistheuseofterms.Inanargument,allofthetermsshouldbeclearandwell-defined.Ifthetermsareunclear,proofislikelytobeimpossible,creatingaweakargument.Onetypeofweaktermistheemotionallyloadedterm.Termssuchas"socializedmedicine"evokeemotionalresponsesand,thus,obscuretheargument.Thus,anyonewhowritesananalysisofanargumentshouldexaminethetermsusedandbesurethatthewriteravoidsemotive,subjectiveterms.Totheextentofyourability,makesurethatthewriterdefinestermsclearlyandobjectively.

Inaddition,thepeoplewhowriteandgradetheanalysisofanargumentsectionfortheGMATexpectthefollowing:

i）Theywantanessaythatanalyzestheseveralaspectsoftheargumentwithcriticalinsight.

ii）Theywantacogentlydevelopedessaythatislogical.

iii）Theywantacoherentessaywithwell-chosentransitionaldevices.

iv）Theyalsoexpectanessaythatusesvariedsentencestructureandvocabulary.

v）Theyexpectanessaythatisfreeofmechanicalerrorsinspelling,punctuation,capitalization,grammaranderrorsintheuseofstandardwrittenEnglish.

Asinthecaseoftheanalysisoftheissue,thetopicsentencemustcontainthegermoftheideathatpermeatestheentireparagraph.Eachexampleorillustrationmustbeconnectedtothatideawithtransitionalmarkerssuchasforexample,furthermore,therefore,thusormoreover.

DissectArguments

ASSUMPTIONHUNT:

OnAnalysisofIssuequestionsyoutrytoanswergrandissuessuchas"ShouldChinabeintheWTO",or"Shouldparentshavevoucherstosendchildrentotheschooloftheirchoice".ThequestionsaredifferentthanAnalysisofArgument,whereyoulookforbadlyflawedreasoning.ThedifferencebetweenAnalysisofIssueandAnalysisofArgumentisthatreasonablepeoplecoulddifferonAnalysisofIssue,butnoreasonablepersonwouldabsolutelysupportsomethinginanAnalysisofArgumentquestion.WhenyouaredoingAnalysisofArgumentquestions,lookforreasoningfallacies.

TheStimulus

InthefirstpartoftheAnalysisofArgumenttopic,thewritertriestopersuadeyouoftheirconclusionbyreferringtoevidence.Whenyoureadthe"arguments"inthesequestions,beonthelookoutforassumptionsandpoorlogicalreasoningusedtomakeaconclusion.

TheQuestionStem

Questionstemswillaskyoutodecidehowconvincingyoufindtheargument.Youwillbeaskedtoexplainwhyanargumentisnotconvincing,anddiscusswhatmightimprovetheargument.Forthistask,you'llneedto:

first,analyzetheargumentitselfandevaluateitsuseofevidence;second,explainhowadifferentapproachormoreinformationwouldmaketheargumentitselfbetter（orpossiblyworse）.

Aquestionstemmightlooklikethis:

Inmanycountries,includingtheUSA,thepostalserviceisaquasi-governmentalorganizationwhoseprimarymissionistodelivermailtoindividualswithinthebordersofthecountry.Since,itisargued,maildeliverytoruraladdresseswherethepopulationissparsecannotbedoneeconomicallyunderanyacceptablecircumstance;thepostalserviceisgivenamonopolyonmaildelivery.Actually,however,maildeliverycouldbedoneeconomicallybyprivatecorporationsaslongaseachcorporationweregivenamonopolytoserviceanygivenareawheresparselypopulatedareaswerebalancedagainstdenselypopulatedareas.

Howwouldyouaddressthisargument?

1）Explainhowlogicallypersuasiveyoufindthisargument...analyzetheargument'slineofreasoninganduseofevidence.

Translation:

Youshouldcritiquetheargument.Discusswhetheryouthinkit'sconvincingornotandexplainwhy.

2）Explainwhat,ifanything,wouldmaketheargumentmorevalidandconvincingorhelpyoutobetterevaluateitsconclusion.

Translation:

Spotweaklinksintheargumentandofferchangesthatwouldstrengthenthem.

AttacktheArgument

Eachargument'sstimulushasbeenintentionally"loaded"withflaws（fallacies）thatyoushouldacknowledgeanddiscuss.Ifyoufailtoseethemorefundamentalproblemsintheargument,youwillnotgetahighscore.

Thepurposeoftheessayisforyoutocritiquethereasoningintheargument（thestimuluswilltellyoutomakethisevaluation）.Yourpersonalopinionsarenotrelevant.Youressayneedstofocusonflawsintheargument.WhileintheAnalysisofIssueyouwriteyouropiniononasubject,intheAnalysisofArgumentyouwritealogicalcritiqueofaflawedargument.Thus,theapproachestothetwoessaysshouldbedifferent.

EvaluatetheArgument

Pickoutflawsintheargumentbyidentifyingitsweaknesses:

•Whatistheargument'sconclusion?

•Whatisthebasisoftheauthor'sconclusion?

•Doyoufindtheargumentpersuasive?

Whatmakesitpersuasiveornotpersuasive?

•Whatcouldbedonetostrengthentheargument?

•Whatassumptionsdoestheargumentrelyupon?

（thereshouldbeseveral）

SAMPLEARGUMENT

Forexample,theGMATtestmaypresentastatementsuchasthefollowingfortheanalysisofanissue:

Inmanycountries,includingtheUSA,thepostalserviceisaquasi-governmentalorganizationwhoseprimarymissionistodelivermailtoindividualswithinthebordersofthecountry.Since,itisargued,maildeliverytoruraladdresseswherethepopulationissparsecannotbedoneeconomicallyunderanyacceptablecircumstance;thepostalserviceisgivenamonopolyonmaildelivery.Actually,however,maildeliverycouldbedoneeconomicallybyprivatecorporationsaslongaseachcorporationweregivenamonopolytoserviceanygivenareawheresparselypopulatedareaswerebalancedagainstdenselypopulatedareas.

Howwouldyouaddressthisargument?

Intheaboveargumentforanalysis,thepropositioniscontainedinthelastsentenceofthestimulusandsotheanalysisoftheargumentmustfocusonthissentence.Theyaretryingtoarguefortheprivatizationofthepostalsystem.

I.Thepropositionregardingtheprivatizationofthepostofficeisbasedontwoquestionableassumptionsandismostlikelynottrue:

A.PopulationintheUSAisdistributedinsuchawaythatpostalmarketareascanbedividedandcostlymarketareascanbebalancedagainstlucrativemarketareas.

B.Privatecorporationsaremorecosteffectivethanquasi-governmentalorganizations.

II.Postalmarketscannotbedistributedsothatservicetoanygivenmarketiseconomical:

A.reasonforthedistributionofpopulation

B.effectofthatdistributionongeographicallycontiguousareas

C.effectofthatdistributionongeographicallynon-contiguousareas

III.Privatecorporationsarenotnecessarilymorecostefficientthanquasi-governmentalcorporations.

A.caseofdefensecontractors

B.caseofprivatecorporations

IV.Thecasefortheprivatizationofthepostofficedepartmentisbasedonquestionableassumptions.

Theideathatthepostofficedepartmentcanbeprivatizedisbasedontwoquestionableassumptions:

Inthefirstplace,itcanbeshownthatpopulationintheUSAisnotdistributedsothatpostalmarketareascanbedividedwiththeresultthatcostlymarketareasarebalancedagainstlucrativemarketareas.Inthesecondplace,itcanbeshownthatprivatecorporationsarenotnecessarilymorecosteffectivethanquasi-governmentalorganizations.Itis,therefore,mostlikelythatprivatizationofthepostofficedepartmentcannotbeaccomplished.

Inthefirstplace,duetomechanization,oneworkeronthefarmcansupportatleastthreehundredpeoplelivinginthecity.Largecombineswithrelativelysmallcrewscanrollacrosstheprairiesharvesting500tonofwheatinaday,enoughtofeedhundredsofpeopleforayear.Asaresult,therehasbeenlessandlessemploymentinruralareasand,asafurtherresult,peoplehavelefttheruralareasforlifeinthecity,creatingthecontemporarydilemmaforpostalplanners.Itiseasytodistributetonsofmailtobigcitydwellersinhighrisebuildingsatareasonablecost.ButwhoisgoingtofindacosteffectivewaytodeliverasinglefirstclasslettertwentymilesdownacountryroadinasnowstorminJanuary?

Therefore,postalmarketscannotbedistributedsothatservicetoanygivenmarketiseconomicalusingcontiguousgeographicalmarkets.

Perhapstheanswerliesindistributingthecostofmaildeliverybybalancingacostintensivemarke