Some teachers claim that students

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong: the only2% picked this

   takes for granted that the only purpose of school is to convey a fixed body

   Does this author need to assume that the only purpose of school is to convey a fixed body of info? Would it hurt the argument if an additional purpose of school was to build social skills? Of course not. The author didn't commit himself to this extreme idea that school as one and only one purpose: conveying a fixed body of information. (fun!)

   2%
2. B

   Not Assumed Contradicted12% picked this

   takes for granted that students who are indifferent to the grades they receive are genuinely interested

   Is the author assuming anything about students who are indifferent to grades? We know that students who lack all interest in the curricular material are unaffected by the incentive of grades. So it's fair to say that those students are indifferent to grades, although others may also be indifferent to grades. Does the author need to assume that these students who lack all interest in the material (and are indifferent to grades) are genuinely interested in the curricular material? No, that was a self-contradiction. The author is arguing that grades serve no purpose because you have one crew that loves the material and so doesn't need any incentive from grades, and another crew who is genuinely disinterested in the material and unaffected by the incentive of grades.

   12%
3. C

   Out of Scope Objection13% picked this

   fails to consider that the incentive of grades may serve some

   Can we hurt the argument by saying, "Hey author — grades may serve some useful nonacademic purpose"? Nope, because the conclusion is specifically constrained to whether or not grades serve an essential academic purpose.

   13%
4. D

   Irrelevant Objection2% picked this

   ignores the possibility that students who lack interest in the curricular material would be quite interested in it if allowed to

   This answer seems to be trying to solve the problem of the students who lack interest in curricular material, which is not our concern. In order for us to like an answer, it should help us argue that "grades may in fact serve an essential academic purpose". But this answer has nothing to do with grades.

   2%
5. E

   Correct71% picked this

   fails to consider that some students may be neither fascinated by nor completely indifferent to

   Why this is right

   This points out the illegal False Choice that was being made. We can argue that "grades may in fact serve some essential purpose" by saying that there's a huge group of students the author has failed to consider. We can say, "Sure, grades serve no purpose for the super-interested students who would be into the periodic table even if there's weren't a grade motivating them. And sure, grades serve no purpose for the super-apathetic who aren't willing to try at school for any reason. But grades serve an essential purpose in motivating all the students in between those two poles. They have mild interest in curricular material, but grades give them the extra incentive they need to learn the material."

   Skill tested: Flaw · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   71%