Self-study
Maria: Thomas Edison was one of the most productive inventors of his time, perhaps of all time. ███ █████████████ █████████████ ██████ ███ ███████████ ██ ██████ ████████ ███ █████████████ ████████ ███ ██ ███ ████ █ ███ ██████ ██ ██████ ██████████ ██████████ ███ ██ ███ ████ █ ██████ █████████ ██ ████ ███████ █████████████ ██ █████████████ ████████████
██████ ████ ██ ██████████ ███ ████ ████████ █████ ████████ ███ █████ ████ ████ ████ ███ ████████████ ██ ███████████ ██ ████ ███████ █████████████ █████ ███ ████ ████ ████ █████████ █████████ █████████ ████ ███ ██████ █████
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
Frank argues that, while Thomas Edison may have been able to contribute to technological advancement without much formal education, formal education is nowadays required for one to make such contributions. This is because making those kinds of contributions now requires more technical knowledge than it used to.
Identify and Describe Flaw
Frank’s flaw lies in his assumption that one needs formal education in order to acquire extensive technical knowledge. What if the internet could teach you everything you need to know? Sure, maybe an innovator needs more technical knowledge today than in the past, but Frank doesn’t establish that formal education is required to unlock that knowledge.
4.
Frank's reasoning in his response ██ █████ ██ ████ ██████████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ██
a
fails to address ███ ███████████ ████ █████████ █████████ ███ ██ ████████ ███████ ██████ █████████
This points out what's wrong with Frank’s assumption. While innovation may require more technical knowledge than it used to, an innovator doesn’t necessarily need formal education to gain that knowledge. (A) describes a possibility that undermines Frank's assumption.
b
does not consider ███████ █████ ████ ████ ████████████ ██ ██████ █████████ █████ ████████ ███
This is irrelevant. Frank concludes that formal education is now a requirement for innovation, which is something that could be true regardless of whether formal education has improved.
c
relies on using ███ ████ █████████ ███████████ ████ ███ ███ █████ ████ ██
Frank uses the term “crucial” in the same way as Maria since he directly responds to her conclusion. Both individuals refer to the same kinds of contributions.
d
presumes that no █████ ████████ ██ ████████ ████ █████ ████ ████ ██ ██████████ ██ ██████
The argument doesn’t presume this, and it wouldn’t be relevant anyway. Frank’s conclusion is just about what’s required in the modern day, so it doesn’t matter how productive other past inventors were.
e
fails to criticize ██ ████████ ███ ██ ███████ ██████████ █████ ██████
Frank actually does address what Maria says about Edison. He implicitly acknowledges that Edison made contributions without a formal education, but draws a distinction between what was required in his time and what’s required today.