Use what you learned in the previous lesson to solve real-world problems.

Check what you understood with a short quiz.

Sort questions by the kind of answer they call for: factual, causal, evaluative, or practical. This helps you avoid answering a “should we?” question with only a fact, or a “what happened?” question with only a feeling.

Use what you learned in the previous lesson to solve real-world problems.

Turn an issue question into one or more possible answers stated as claims. You’ll practice seeing that “Should phones be allowed in class?” becomes claims like “Phones should be allowed” and “Phones should be banned.”

Use what you learned in the previous lesson to solve real-world problems.

Check what you understood with a short quiz.

Recognize a claim as something being asserted, not merely asked, commanded, or exclaimed. Check whether the sentence can be accepted, rejected, supported, or challenged.

Use what you learned in the previous lesson to solve real-world problems.

Treat a fact as a claim about how things are, were, or will be—not as something automatically proven. Decide whether a statement is checkable in principle, even if you do not yet know whether it is true.

Use what you learned in the previous lesson to solve real-world problems.

Check what you understood with a short quiz.

Separate pure preferences from opinions that make judgments about what is good, fair, wise, or acceptable. Ask what standard or reason would be needed before the opinion could persuade someone else.

Use what you learned in the previous lesson to solve real-world problems.

Distinguish what someone directly observed from what they added as an interpretation. Practice rewriting “She ignored me” as “She did not respond” plus the possible inference being made.

Use what you learned in the previous lesson to solve real-world problems.

Check what you understood with a short quiz.

Identify an assumption as something being taken for granted rather than directly argued for. Look for missing beliefs about people, causes, rules, or normal expectations that the speaker relies on.

Use what you learned in the previous lesson to solve real-world problems.

Pick out the reason a speaker gives for accepting a claim or taking an action. Use clues like “because,” “since,” and “so,” but rely on the deeper test: the reason answers “Why believe this?”

Use what you learned in the previous lesson to solve real-world problems.

Check what you understood with a short quiz.

Tell whether a sentence is meant to support a claim, add background, or explain how something happened. This keeps you from mistaking extra information for an actual reason in the argument.

Use what you learned in the previous lesson to solve real-world problems.

Check what you understood with a short quiz.

Review this chapter with practice based on your mistakes.