Exercise 2
1. Make a Rationale Reasoning map
representing the argument in the following text:
People should cycle to work since it
saves money. We know this because there is no petrol cost for bicycles. Cycling to work would reduce pollution, for it reduces the number of cars on the
road.
Drag and drop sections
of the above text onto the workspace to proceed. This works with any version of
Rationale.
Hints
- Look for indicator words that reveal whether claims are positions,
reasons, or objections
- Refine all your claims
- Text won't always have indicators to provide clues: in the absence of
indicators you'll need to work out the argument's logical structure by
thinking about which claims give support to, or undermine, other claims, and
which claim expresses the position (the main point at stake)
- To work out which level a claim belongs at ask yourself: does this
reason offer direct support for the position, or does it offer support for
some other reason?
2. Check your work against the
model.
Set 5 - Locating arguments in prose • Example • Exercise 1 • Exercise 2 • Exercise 3 • Exercise 4 • Final
© Austhink 2007.
Rationale Exercises version 0.1,
Sep-07
Note: these exercises are undergoing continual improvement. Next time you come
back they might be a bit different.
Let us
know what you think!
