Consider the following example:
Stimulus: Toads cause warts. I touched a toad last week and now I have a wart; therefore, the toad was responsible.
Question Stem: How would you rate the accuracy of the above statement? Support your position with reasons and examples.
The Stimulus
In the first part of the Analysis of Argument topic, the writer tries to persuade you of his conclusion by referring to evidence. Be on the lookout for assumptions and poor logical reasoning used to come to the conclusion.
The Question Stem
Question stems will ask you to explain why an argument is not convincing, and discuss improvements to the argument. For this task, you’ll need to first analyze the argument itself and evaluate its use of evidence. Second, you’ll need to explain how a different approach or more information would make the argument itself better (or possibly worse).
They say: Explain what, if anything, would make the argument more valid and convincing or help you to better evaluate its conclusion.
Translation: Spot weak links in the argument and offer changes that would strengthen them.