Deck 15: Write Sound and Effective Arguments

Question 1

The Rubric for Evaluating Written Argumentation (REWA) is designed to provide ____________.
(a) a final evaluation of the effectiveness of a piece of writing
(b) detailed feedback on how persuasive writing might be improved
(c) detailed feedback on audience perceptions of the qualities of a piece of writing
(d) a final evaluation of the quality of the critical thinking embodied in a piece of writing

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following questions should a person ask if they hope to be an effective writer?
(a) Is there something I can copy and paste into this?
(b) Who am I writing for?
(c) How can I write this in the shortest amount of time?
(d) How many words does this have to be?

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Effective writers seeking to build a reasonable and credible case are diligently methodical. Which of the following activities is generally not something that contributes to this process?
(a) Develop a clear, arguable, and relevant thesis statement.
(b) Inform themselves about the topic by doing solid research.
(c) Draft a solid, well-organized outline.
(d) Assume that the audience will immediately agree.
(e) Prewrite, write, and rewrite their presentation.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Sound and effective written argumentation requires the consideration of four key elements. Which of these is not one of the four?
(a) author
(b) audience
(c) price
(d) purpose
(e) presentation

Question 5

Why is it useful to map out the arguments pro and con before outlining your case?
(a) to see the weaknesses of the other side.
(b) to confirm that you are more informed than your audience
(c) to get all the reasons for both sides on the table
(d) to conceal that you already have your mind made up

Question 6

Which of the following is not one of the technical aspects of preparing a written presentation?
(a) Assemble evidence to support claims-include interpretations of evidence.
(b) Be fair-minded and balanced in presentation-be sure to give pros and cons.
(c) Insert direct quotes and substantial paraphrasing without referencing the sources.
(d) Cite sources using appropriate style (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).

Question 7

When considering the audience, which of these is a question a writer who wishes to be effective ought to ask?
(a) Do I like my audience?
(b) Which members of my intended audience earn the most money?
(c) How can I expand my work to include different audiences?
(d) What does my audience care about?
(e) What am I trying to accomplish?

Question 8

In the orderly progression of the presentation of your thinking to your audience, which of these is most likely to come last among these steps?
(a) Present important objections to your view and say how you would propose to address them.
(b) Present the pros and cons of each of the main options.
(c) State where you come down on the topic and give your reasons.
(d) Indicate that you are aware that there are potentially some problems and objections to your view.

Question 9

When considering purpose, which of the following generally is not a source of useful clues?
(a) the context
(b) the situation
(c) the circumstances
(d) the authors you like to read

Question 10

Which of these best expresses the relationship between critical thinking and effective writing?
(a) Strong critical thinkers are automatically effective writers.
(b) Strong critical thinkers struggle more than others to be effective writers.
(c) Critical thinking and effective writing are independent but compatible skill sets.
(d) Critical thinking and effective writing are incompatible, independent skill sets.

Question 11

When considering purpose and circumstances, which of these is a question a writer who wishes to be effective ought to ask?
(a) Do I like my audience?
(b) What will they think of me after they read what I'm writing?
(c) How can I expand my work to include different audiences?
(d) What does my audience care about?
(e) What strategies can I use to achieve my communication goals?

Question 12

Applying our critical thinking skills to learn about an author's background, attitudes, and purpose can help us explain the decisions that the author made in constructing the piece. When we are doing this we are identifying the author's ____________.
(a) tools
(b) anonymity
(c) reason
(d) voice
(e) grammar

Question 13

When the time comes to set fingers to keyboard, the actual process of writing an effective essay is commonly described as having three phases. Which of these is not one of the three?
(a) prewriting
(b) writing
(c) rewriting
(d) presenting

Question 14

What do we call all of the pros and cons along with the supporting evidence that the author presents to the audience to establish the truth of a given statement or the wisdom of a given recommendation?
(a) a fruitless endeavor
(b) the rhetorical situation
(c) the existential heuristic
(d) the author's case

Question 15

No presentation can be effective unless it ____________.
(a) is free of grammatical errors
(b) reaches out and grabs the audience's attention
(c) presents its conclusions in a logical and impartial manner
(d) conceals the author's motivation for initiating the communication

Question 16

What do we call the interactive combination of four elements: a specific author is using a specific mode of communication or presentation to engage a specific audience for the specific purpose?
(a) a perfect storm
(b) the rhetorical situation
(c) the existential heuristic
(d) the author's case

Question 17

The Rubric for Evaluating Written Argumentation is a useful tool for assessing your own writing on eight essential dimensions. Which of the following is not one of the eight?
(a) originality
(b) purpose
(c) depth of thought,
(d) thesis
(e) mechanics

Question 18

___________________ communicates meaning, passion, and intensity.
(a) Telepathy
(b) Anonymity
(c) Reason
(d) Voice
(e) Grammar

Question 19

What strategy ought the author to use in order to persuade a reasonable audience?
(a) presenting sound reasons and credible evidence for the author's claim
(b) offering desirable incentives for believing the author
(c) threatening retribution for failing to believe the author
(d) pretending that the author does not care what the audience believes
(e) presenting any reasons that might work, sound, or unsound

Question 20

In the orderly progression of the presentation of your thinking to your audience, which of these is most likely to come last among these steps?
(a) State the question or problem this paper is addressing.
(b) State where you come down on this topic and give your reasons.
(c) State the main possible options as discussed in the relevant literature.
(d) State the pros and cons of each of the main options.

Question 21

What guidance should be followed once a person has selected a topic to write about?

Question 22

Describe a highly developed purpose and focus dimension of a written persuasive presentation.

Question 23

Describe a substandard organization dimension of a written persuasive presentation.

Question 24

Describe a substandard mechanics and presentation dimension of a written persuasive presentation.

Question 25

What are some practical suggestions that would help an author to identify credible source material?

Question 26

When a writer asks "What are my attitudes toward my intended audience-do I like them, respect them, trust them, fear them-and how do I want those attitudes to show through in my writing?" the writer is trying so clarify his or her ____________.

Question 27

When preparing to develop an effective persuasive presentation, identifying the arguments pro and con is important. How can a writer do that?

Question 28

Describe a highly developed voice dimension of a written persuasive presentation.

Question 29

To be effective a presentation needs to reach out and grab the attention of the audience. How does an effective author do that?

Question 30

An effective written presentation addresses a clear and manageable thesis in a way that is appropriate for the intended audience and the mode, purpose, and context of the communication.

Question 31

Understanding that effective writing is mostly hard work, what are the things that an effective writer needs to spend time and energy doing?

Question 32

The rhetorical situation includes author, audience, purpose, and ____________________

Question 33

Explain what is involved when following the advice that to be an effective writer a person should think purpose and circumstances.

Question 34

What practical lessons can we learn from the realization that there is an arc to the quality of writing that can be produced in a single sitting?

Question 35

Describe an under developed thesis dimension of a written persuasive presentation.

Question 36

The ______________________ is the interactive combination of four elements: a specific author using a specific mode of communication or presentation to engage a specific audience for the specific purpose.

Question 37

Strong critical thinking and masterful writing competency will be observed in a sound and effectively written argumentation.

Question 38

Everyone with a college education is expected to be able to write sound and effective ____________

Question 39

When a writer asks the self-regulation question "Will further revision and rewriting improve the strength of the communication?" the writer is thinking about which aspect of the rhetorical situation?

Question 40

To use the Rubric for Evaluating Written Argumentation correctly, avoid assigning a score on each row separately, instead, like the Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric, assign an overall score only.