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ANALYZING AN ARGUMENT 1

ANALYZING AN ARGUMENT 2

Analyzing an Argument

There are many methods used to analyze or evaluate ideas or arguments. In an argumentative analysis, the author provides a brief report on an argument that interprets events by presenting claims and supporting evidence. The Toulmin method is developed by Stephen Toulmin to analyze an argument; it splits the argument into different component parts (Hitchcock & Verheij, 2007). A diagram is used for more straightforward studies. According to the Toulmin method, every argument has three essential parts, which are: the claim; the ground; and the warrant (Hitchcock & Verheij, 2007). A good argument should have an opinion and evidence that is supported by more detailed information .

In a letter to the New York Times, Guzman (2021) argues that the U.S. government requirement for all American citizens coming back from abroad to present a negative Covid test. The test should be taken within seventy-two hours before the return flight. The author also notes that the requirement also includes citizens vaccinated in the U.S. before the trip. According to the author of the letter, aside from the expense of the test, it is also inconvenient to people that left the country for short business trips. The following steps have been used to analyze the argument.

Clarification of meaning:

The first step in analyzing is clarifying of the meaning of the argument. In this point, the main argument is written in a way that is easy to understand. In the letter to the editor, Guzman (2021)explains that it is inconvenient to require a negative-COVID test result from vaccinated U.S. citizens. . First some business trips have a quick turn around, e.g., a day or two . As such, COVID tests are unnecessary. Moreover, the cost is prohibitive in some countries.

Clarity is an essential part of analyzing an argument, ensuring that the argument is understood, thereby avoiding confusion. This part involves spotting the main argument. This clarifying step lays a foundation for the entire process of analyzing. It is easy to analyze something that is clear. In the Toulmin diagram, this step is under claim. The claim is the main argument, the assertion that the author wants the audience to believe. In this case, the author of the letter wants to convince the audience that it would be advantageous if the U.S. government issues vaccine passports to fully vaccinated persons for travel convenience.

Identification of conclusion:

The second step is to identify the conclusion. Every argument should have a persuasive conclusion that sums up the whole argument. In the letter to the editor, the author concludes the argument by stating that instead of providing vaccine passports to vaccinated individuals, the U.S. government is demanding citizens to provide negative COVID test results from other countries. The author perceives this governmental travel requirement as unreasonable and onerous.

In the Toulmin diagram, this step is under claim which involves bolstering a claim by providing more information, thus helping to understand the argument . The conclusion also highlights the author’s main argument. In the letter to the editor, clarifying question posited is why the government is not issuing vaccine passports. This illuminates the point that vaccine passports would not inconvenient or put unnecessary travel expense. Citizens and permanent residents are expending money and time by taking the COVID-19 test. All these inconveniences and onerous burden led the author to ask why the government is not issuing vaccine passports.

Portrayal of structure:

The third step involves the portrayal of structure. At this juncture, one has to explain the structure used in an argument. Every argument should consist of two main parts, a conclusion and evidence. The conclusion is the culmination of all the points of the argument. At this moment, the audience/readers would have been convinced by the whole argument. The author ends the letter with a claim that the government by not issuing vaccine passports is placing additional and unnecessary expense and burden on the people (Guzman, 2021).

The second part of the structure is the evidence. Evidence refers to the facts and documentation that points to the truth claim . Evidence serves as support to the claims. In the letter to the editor, provides evidence that the government is unreasonable and onerous.

The evidence in the argument is that the government demands negative test results from citizens who have been fully vaccinated; this shows that no passport is awarded after vaccination. Also, the author gives an example of how people are spending much in the covid 19 test.

Formulation of unstated assumptions:

The fourth step is the formulation of unstated assumptions, which is also assumed as the missing premise. A missing premise is a statement that an argument needs to be stronger; it plays a pivotal role in ensuring an argument is successful. Apart from making the argument stronger, the premise makes an argument reasonable. Mostly, numerous ideas are left out of an argument that provides more support to the argument that is not part of the conclusion.

The author assumes that the government is being ridiculous or wildly unreasonable by not issuing vaccine passports. To an extent, this is an assumption because he doesn't show the reasons behind the government not issuing the passports. In the Toulmin diagram, this step is an underground stage. The grounds stage provides more information (facts) that helps to support the claim. The fact provided in the little is that; it is inconvenient for people traveling for short trips to take the covid test, it will consume more time. Also, it is inconvenient for people to travel often; taking up numerous tests is expensive.

Criticism of Inferences and premises:

Inferences are not always correct (Fox & Modgil, 2007). Whether an inference is valid depends on its form. In this case, the term valid doesn't refer to the premises or the conclusion being true. An inference can still be valid even when the parts are false and can be invalid with true parts. The government requires people to provide negative test results from a country they are traveling from that is taken within seventy-two hours. It is inconvenient for people traveling for short trips like a day or two. Some countries give the results after a day; this means that some will have to wait longer.

The argument is reliable because strong ideas support it, and the premise is true. This step is under the grounds or argument in the Toulmin method. Facts and examples well support the conclusion that people are suffering despite being fully vaccinated.

Introduction of other relevant arguments

In this step, other related arguments are introduced; they must relate to the main argument. Its purpose is to provide more information that supports or dissatisfy an argument. It is not logical for people making numerous travels to provide covid 19 results after every travel, forcing people to travel often. It is not also economic friendly, people spending money on covid test and they have been vaccinated. There is no reason to vaccinate people if they will still require to be tested for covid.

In the Toulmin Introduction of other relevant arguments are classified under the grounds of an argument. Its main purpose is to make more arguments that help the claim; it acts as facts. The main reason why the government is vaccinating people is to regulate the spread and effect of the virus. The vaccine should ease people's lives by allowing easy and safe travel, but this is not the case. Despite vaccine measure, the government still require covid 19 results. This means that the vaccine is not reliable. If the vaccine is fully functional, the government will issue vaccinated citizens with vaccine passports to allow them to travel without a results certificate.

Overall evaluation of argument:

The main question to answer in this step is how well the evidence supports the claims. If the evidence is not strong, the claim will be less convincing and not persuasive. The evidence in the argument is very strong from the structuring and application. The evidence in the little is directly related to the argument making it more effective in supporting the claim (Hayibor2013). There is also an example given of how much a person may spend when taking a covid 19 test from another country. In Nicaragua, a single test cost one hundred and fifty dollars.

In case one travels with the family, for example, four members, it will cost them six hundred dollars. This is evident that the test is very expensive considering that a person is often traveling for business meeting or appointments. In the Toulmin method, this stage is in the warranted part (Fox, Modgil2016). This stage mainly links the ground to the claim.

Conclusion

Every work of literature ends with a conclusion where the author sums up the whole work. In analyzing the argument, a conclusion is giving the results whether the argument is valid or not; this can be achieved by weighing the results from other steps. In this case, the argument is persuasive; its evidence convinces that the argument is valid from the structure used and the format. The argument is made up of a conclusion and premises, the two major parts of an argument.

Facts and evidence also support the argument. When the author gives an example in the evidence, it shows that he has experienced the situation or someone else has gone through its challenges. The argument doesn't indicate whether, after vaccination, if a person can still be carrying the covid 19 viruses; this is another part of the argument that is essential to making the final claim.

In conclusion, every critical reader should have skills in evaluating an argument. Our life is faced with numerous arguments that we need to solve to assess their effectiveness and determine their value. Readers who want to be good at analyzing arguments need to understand how an argument is made and structured. The basis of analyzing an argument is understanding its claims and the evidence supporting its effectiveness. Lastly, analyzing an argument, one has to follow several steps.

References

entry. (2021, ). testing is required for U.S. Travel. 

Fox, J., & Modgil, S. (2007). From arguments to decisions: Extending the Toulmin view. In D. Hitchcock & B. Verheij (Eds.), Arguing on the Toulmin Model (pp. 273-287). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4938-5_18

Hayibor, S. (2013). Review of the book Just business: Arguments in business ethics, by M. E. Sandbu. Journal of Business Ethics Education, 10, 379-387.  https://doi.org/10.5840/jbee20131021

Hitchcock, D., & Verheij, B. (Eds.) (2007). Arguing on the Toulmin Model: New essays in argument analysis and evaluation. Springer.

Guzman, L. A. (2021, May 31). Vaccine ‘passports’ for college and travel [Letter to the editor]. The New York Times, 22. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/31/opinion/letters/death-planning.html

U.S. Department of State website. (2021, May 28). COVID-19 travel guidance for U.S. citizens. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/covid-19-information1.html#:~:text=The%20Centers%20of%20Disease%20Control,within%20the%20last%2090%20days.