Self-study
Conclusion Cotrell is, at best, able to write magazine articles of average quality. ███ ████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ████████ ███ ████ ███ █████ ███ ██ ███ ████████ ████████ █████████ ██ ███████ ████ ███ █████████ █████ ████████ ███ ██ █████████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████ ████ ██ ██████ ████ ████████ ████ █████████ ████ ███████████ ████████ █████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that Cotrell can only write average quality magazine articles. She supports this by saying that any superior articles by Cotrell must be plagiarized, because Cotrell can only write average quality articles.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This is the cookie-cutter flaw of circular reasoning, where the author’s conclusion is simply a restatement of a premise. In this case, the author concludes that Cotrell can only write average quality articles based on the premise that his superior articles must be plagiarized because he can only write average quality articles.
10.
The argument is most vulnerable ██ █████████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ████████
a
It simply ignores ███ █████████ ██ █████████ ████████████████
The author actually discusses potential counterevidence: Cotrell’s few superior articles. She dismisses this evidence by saying that the articles must have been plagiarized, but she doesn’t ignore the existence of counterevidence.
b
It generalizes from ████████ ████████████
The author doesn’t generalize from atypical occurrences. Instead, she draws a specific conclusion about Cotrell based on all of Cotrell’s articles— the superior ones and the average ones.
c
It presupposes what ██ █████ ██ ██████████
The author seeks to establish that Cotrell can only write average quality articles. In order to do so, she presupposes that he can only write average quality articles.
d
It relies on ███ ████████ ██ ███████ ██ █ ██████ ██ █████ █████ █████████ ██ ███████████
The author never mentions or relies on the judgement of any experts.
e
It infers limits ██ ███████ ████ █ ███ ████████ ██████ ██ ████████████
The author does infer limits on Cotrell’s writing ability. But she does so based on his average work and the claim that his superior work was plagiarized, not based on “a few isolated lapses in performance.”