Self-study
Candidate: The children in our nation need a better education. ██ ████████ █████████ ████ ███ ████████ ██████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ██████████ ██ █████████ ████ █████ ██ ████ ███ ██████ ██████ ████ ████ ███████ ████████████ ██ ██████████ ████████ ██████ ███ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ ██ █████ ██ ██████ █████████ ████ ██████████ ███ █████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ██ █████ ██ ███████████ ███ █████████ ███ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ████
Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
While the nation's children do need a better education, the problem isn’t just the schools' fault. Both candidates agree that the school system needs some changes, but the speaker thinks her opponent is placing too much blame on the schools alone. The speaker argues that education isn’t just the responsibility of schools; other parts of society are equally responsible for educating children.
Identify Argument Part
The stimulus text is a limited concession the candidate makes to her opponent while challenging his position. The candidate agrees that the school system needs some changes, but she disagrees with her opponent because she thinks he’s putting too much blame on the schools for the poor state of education. The stimulus text shows that the candidate agrees with her opponent to some extent, but not entirely.
8.
The statement that the school ██████ █████ ██████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████████ ████████ ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ █████
a
It is the ████ ██████████ ████ ███ ████████ ██ ██████████ ██ █████████ █████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ███████████ █████████
The stimulus text limits the candidate’s main conclusion that her opponent’s position is incorrect. It acknowledges that her opponent’s position is somewhat correct, which undermines the main conclusion rather than supporting it.
b
It is offered ██ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ██ ███ ██████ ████████ ███ █████ ███ ████████ ████████ █ █████████
This incorrectly labels the stimulus text as context. The stimulus text is a concession the candidate makes to her opponent, acknowledging that her opponent’s position is somewhat correct. The stimulus text does not illustrate a problem that needs correcting.
c
It is cited ██ ████████████ ███ ███████████ ██████████ ████ ███ ███ ████ ██ █████ ██████ ██ ████████
The stimulus text does not support this contention. Instead, it limits the candidate’s contention that too much blame is being placed on schools; it does not support it. The final sentence is the premise that supports the conclusion that too much blame is being placed on schools.
d
It is used ██ ████████ ███ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██████ ███ █████████ ███████████ ███ █████████ █████████
The stimulus text expresses the candidate’s belief that schools need reform, but it does not go so far as to discuss how the failings of the school system are partially responsible for society’s problems.
e
It is a ███████ ██████████ ████ ██ ███ ███████████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████ █████████
In the stimulus text, the candidate concedes that her opponent is partially correct: the schools need reform. Thus, the text is a limited concession the candidate makes “in the context of” disagreeing with her opponent’s position.