Self-study
Joan got A's on all her homework assignments, so Support if she had gotten an A on her term paper, she could pass the course even without doing the class presentation. ██████████████ ███ ███ ███ ███ ██ █ ██ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ██ ██ ███████ ████ ███ ████ ████ ██ ██ ███ █████ ████████████ ██ ████ ███ ███████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that Joan will have to do the class presentation to pass the course. He supports this by saying that if she’d gotten an A on her term paper, she could pass the course without doing the presentation, but she didn’t get an A on her term paper.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This is the flaw of mistaking sufficiency for necessity. The author treats “A on term paper” as necessary for “pass without presentation.” But in his premises, “A on term paper” is merely sufficient. So not getting an A on the term paper tells us nothing about whether she can pass the course without doing the presentation.
Maybe there are other ways Joan can pass the course without doing the presentation. For example, maybe if she got a B on the term paper, she’ll still pass without doing the presentation.
3.
The argument's reasoning is questionable ███████ ███ ████████
a
ignores the possibility ████ ████ ████ ██████ ████ ██ █ ██ ███ ████ █████ ██ ██ ███ █████ ████████████ ██ ████ ███ ██████
Like (D), the author doesn't ignore this possibility. In fact, he mistakenly assumes that it’s the only possibility. He assumes that Joan has to either have an A on the paper or do the presentation in order to pass.
b
presupposes without justification ████ ██████ ███ ███████ ██ █ ██ ███ ████ █████ ████████ ███ ████ ███████ ███ ██████ ███████ █████ ███ █████ ████████████
The author assumes without justification that just because Joan didn’t get an A on her term paper, she can’t pass the course without doing the presentation. But maybe there are other ways, like getting a B on the paper, that Joan can still pass without doing the presentation.
c
overlooks the importance ██ █████ █████████████ ██ █ █████████ ███████ ██████ █████
The author isn’t concerned about Joan’s overall course grade. He only discusses whether or not she’ll pass the course.
d
ignores the possibility ████ ██ ████ ███ ██ ██ ███ █████ ████████████ ██ ████ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ███ ███ ███ ██ █ ██ ███ ████ █████
Like (A), the author doesn't ignore this possibility. He claims that if she needs the presentation to pass, then she didn’t get an A on the paper.
e
fails to take ████ ███████ ███ ███████████ ████ ████ ████████ ███ ███ ██ █████ ████ ██████ ███ ██ ███ ████ ███ ██████
Other students’ outcomes are irrelevant. The argument is only addressing Joan.