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Argument Indicators, Premise and Conclusion, Quiz with Examples

Directions: Assume that each transitional word or phrase given below appears before a statement in an argumentative passage.

Would any statement following that word or phrase most likely be a premise (i.e., a reason), a conclusion, or a sentence or clause of roughly equal or parallel logical status?

1. “nevertheless”
   

   Answer
   
   
   The conjunctive adverb “nevertheless” usually connects clauses of equal status.
   
   Example: “My elder brother has a smile on his face; nevertheless, in his heart he is very much distressed.[1]
2. “inasmuch as”
   (also “inasmuchas”)
   

   Answer
   
   
   The conjunction connecting two independent clauses “inasmuch as” (also written mostly in older texts and legal documents as “in as much as”) is here a premise indicator, but the word can also indicate an explanation.
   
   Example: “The complaint is sometimes heard that the influence of his [Ben Franklin's] style upon our literature has been detrimental, in as much as it has tended to check the development of certain of the finer literary graces.”[2]
3. “therefore”
   

   Answer
   
   
   The conjunctive adverb “therefore” is a conclusion indicator in argumentative discourse.
   
   Example: The history of the art of our own country is not intelligible if one does not know of contemporary movements abroad. The gaze of the historian therefore must not be fixed upon one country alone, but must embrace Europe, —indeed, the whole world.[3]
4. “since”
   

   Answer
   
   
   The subordinating conjunction “since” is often used to give a reason for a conclusion.
   
   Example: “Since terracottas are small and easily transported, the place of discovery is not necessarily the place of manufacture, and since the moulds are also easily transported, figures could be made at one place and moulds prepared at another.”[4]
5. “because”
   

   Answer
   
   
   The subordinating conjunction “because“ is a premise indicator in arguments. It can also be used to indicate causal explanations.
   
   Example: Children under thirteen to fifteen lack, of course, certain emotions. This lack is practically important because it limits or changes the form of their appreciation of certain aspects of literature.”[5]
6. “for the reason that”
   

   Answer
   
   
   
   
   The phrase “for the reason that ” is a premise indicator which precedes the premise, whereas the phrase “for this reason.” given below in question 14, is a premise indicator which refers back to the previous clause.
   
   Example: “The tone of the violin is not at its best while in the ‘white” [i.e., lacking subtle tonal quality], for the reason that the surfaces of the instrument which strike the air, and in part account for tone, are more or less spongy.”[6]
7. “in light of”
   

   Answer
   
   
   
   
   The phrase “in light of” can function as a premise indicator, as in the following passage from a biology textbook.
   
   Example: The immediate assumption, particularly in light of the fact that the cell is known to be mostly water by mass and volume, is that the cell is simply a bag of fluid.[7]
8. “as a result”
   

   Answer
   
   
   
   
   The phrase “as a result” can frequently function as a conclusion indicator in an argumentative context; otherwise, the phrase can indicate a causal relation in an explanation.
   
   Example: “[R]esearchers have noticed that teachers, by virtue of their role in the children's lives, have more ready entrée to the households that anthropologists do.… As a result, teachers are more likely to view the households as repositories of funds of knowledge capable of providing opportunities for learning than to see them as hindrances to academic progress.[8]
9. “for”
   

   Answer
   
   
   
   
   The coordinating conjunction “for” can function as a reason for a conclusion.
   
   Example: “In a sense, art is a form of propaganda, for it represents an individual's or group's point of view, and this view is often presented as truth or a fact.”[9]
10. “as indicated by”
    

    Answer
    
    
    
    
    The phrase “as indicated by ” is often used as a premise indicator.
    
    Example: “[A]s indicated by the narratives that older men related during my field work …, ancestral ethnic affiliation continues to be maintained even as the original language is replaced by Kichwa.”[10]
11. “although”
    

    Answer
    
    
    
    
    The the subordinating conjunction “although” connects clauses of equal status — the word contrasts the clauses.
    
    Example: “[T]he client must come to know the distinction between fear … and anxiety. Although the inner experiences may seem identical, the objects of fear and anxiety are different; one existing and the other imaginary.”[11]
12. “as shown by”
    

    Answer
    
    
    
    
    The phrase “as shown by” indicates a premise indicator when used in arguments.
    
    Example: These deposits are partly glacial, as shown by the glacial pebbles contained in them.[12]
13. “hence”
    

    Answer
    
    
    
    
    The conjunctive adverb “hence” functions as a conclusion indicator in arguments.
    
    Example: “Ebenezer Howard's (1899) Garden Cities of Tomorrow formulated town planning … so that … both city life and ‘nature’ were incorporated directly into urban design. Hence, artificial environments could … change the moral character of inhabitants.”[13]
14. “for this reason”
    

    Answer
    
    
    
    
    The phrase “for this reason” is a premise indicator. Note that unlike most of the other argument indicators, “for this reason” indicates the preceding clause is the premise. So in the example below the reason referenced by the demonstrative pronoun “this” in the phrase “for this reason” is the first clause: “Since every body is infinitely divisible.”
    
    Notice, as well, that first clause also has the indicator “since,” so, in a sense, we are doubly sure the first clause is a premise.
    
    Example: “Since every body is infinitely divisible, it does not follow for this reason that the world is composed of an infinite number of material particles called atoms.”[14]
15. “accordingly”
    

    Answer
    
    
    
    
    The conjunctive adverb “accordingly” can be one of the most missed conclusion indicators.
    
    Example: “[T]he flow of thought and life makes it impossible for two historians to approach the same period and the same historical material from the same standpoint. Accordingly, every generation has its own history of the past.”[15]
    
    

If you have difficulty with this quiz, you might want to review the notes on premise indicators, conclusion indicators, and equal-status indicators.

Notes