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IDENTIFYING AND ANALYZING ARGUMENTS
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Laurier Library's presentation on "Identifying and Analyzing Arguments"
This presentation will explain the steps you should take to create strong and effective arguments from
the academic sources you discover through your research
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Let's begin!

IDENTIFYING ARGUMENTS
An argument, in the context of your university career, is a formal way to make a point in academic
writing
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An argument consists of two parts
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Firstly, a claim or statement that summarizes the main idea
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Let's look at an example
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It can help students see that ideas
are meant to be discussed and debated
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In this case, the sentence "Reflective writing can help students become better thinkers" is the claim
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"
Finally, evidence is presented, often in the form of a citation
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This evidence supports the originally presented claim and its expansion
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Utilizing this type of hierarchy structure is an excellent way to ensure that your essay stays on track
and continues to argue what it sets out to argue
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When reading, you will need to identify arguments in order to properly understand the main points
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This is usually the first sentence, but not always
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Firstly, read the paragraph
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Next, ask "What is this paragraph about?"
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This is likely the stated claim of the paragraph
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Reasons and evidence explain why and how the claim is true, and usually consists of quotes or ideas
from other scholars, data, or facts
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Let's take for example the following paragraph:
The story of Disney's "The Lion King" draws direct inspiration from Shakespeare's "Hamlet"
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Likewise, Simba's best friend Nala represents both Ophelia, a love
interest, and Horatio, a best friend
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Click "Continue" when
you have an answer in mind
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More specifically, it is saying that the similarities between the two are too great to be only
coincidences
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This is likely the stated claim
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If there isn't one, identify the important ideas in the paragraph, then look at what they have in
common and summarize that to get the main claim or idea
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Take, for example, the following paragraph
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In addition, despite popular belief, the production of nuclear energy results in a lower
yearly death rate compared to coal energy production
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Follow the three-step process to determine what the stated claim might be
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This paragraph discusses a couple comparisons between nuclear energy and coal-fired energy
production
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To summarize, you might say that "Despite popular belief, nuclear
energy production is actually quite a bit safer as a whole than coal-fired energy production
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You will find that this process works the same way when identifying main arguments or section
arguments
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If not, identify the important ideas, see what they have in common, put them in groups if needed, and
summarize the main idea based on those groups
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Usually you are expected, both for your course readings and for your assignments, to identify and
understand the arguments that the author is making
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In order to begin analyzing an argument, you must first look at the evidence presented to you, then
ask questions based on that evidence
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How do they each support their claims with reasons and evidence? Let's look at an example
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This would allow
medical professionals to concentrate on healing their patients rather than dealing with
insurance procedures and liability concerns
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Universal health care is an impractical system where total costs end up being much higher
compared to privatized care
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Everyone should be given access to health care, but not in a publically-controlled
system
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Although each paragraph discusses the same topic, they both claim very different things
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The upper paragraph argues that universal health care gives everyone the opportunity for regular
checkups, no matter the cost while the bottom argues that such a system forces the healthy to
subsidize benefits for those needing care due to smoking or obesity
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As you read, make sure you understand the claims that the author is trying to make
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Click "Continue" to begin a series of multiple choice questions which will help test the skills you just
learned
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History has shown that formats shift and change
depending on consumer preferences
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With the current shift from physical to digital, consumers have the freedom to
purchase individual tracks instead of whole albums, a move than explains the drop in album
sales and as a result, overall profits
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Obesity should be viewed in the same light
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A tax on such products would discourage mass purchasing and positively impact our
society by curbing obesity rates
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Make sure to
utilize these skills as you continue through your university career
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Thanks for watching and good luck!

Answers to practice questions:
Paragraph 1: c) Digital piracy is not killing the music industry
Paragraph 2: d) To encourage healthy eating, higher taxes should be imposed on soft drinks and
junk food

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