Analyzing argument and claims in informational texts: identifying the author's central claim and supporting claims, distinguishing reasons from evidence, and evaluating whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence relevant and sufficient, including spotting unsupported assertions and fallacious reasoning, on a LEAP English I or II argumentative passage.

What this skill is asking

An argument is a claim supported by reasons and evidence, and LEAP English I and II ask you not only to identify the parts of an argument but to evaluate it. This is a step up from summarizing: Louisiana standard RI.9-10.8 asks you to delineate and evaluate an author's argument, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence relevant and sufficient, and to identify false statements and fallacious reasoning. You will see multiple-choice items that ask for the central claim or the weakness in the reasoning, and evidence-based items that pair the claim with its strongest support. This page covers identifying the claim, telling reasons apart from evidence, and judging the quality of an argument, including common fallacies. The transferable skill is reading an argument critically, asking not just "what is the author claiming" but "is the claim actually supported."

The parts of an argument

You cannot evaluate an argument until you can take it apart.

Distinguishing reasons from evidence is a frequent test point. "Public transit reduces traffic" is a reason; "after the new line opened, downtown congestion fell 18 percent" is evidence for that reason. The strongest answer to an "identify the evidence" question is a concrete fact, statistic, or example, not a restatement of the claim and not an emotional appeal. This connects to central idea (the claim is often the central idea of an argumentative text) and to text evidence (the support is the evidence you can point to).

Evaluating the reasoning

LEAP asks you to judge, not just to identify.

This evaluative habit is exactly what the Research Simulation Task rewards, because writing across sources means weighing how well each source supports its point and choosing the strongest evidence. It also connects to comparing paired texts, where two authors may argue opposite claims and you must judge whose support is stronger. Reading an argument critically, claim, reasons, evidence, and the gaps between them, is the core skill of the informational module's higher-value items.

Working an argument item

Try this

Q1. What is the difference between a reason and evidence in an argument? [Recall]

• Cue. A reason is why a claim should be accepted ("it would cut traffic"); evidence is the specific support for that reason ("congestion fell 18 percent after the line opened"). LEAP often asks you to identify the strongest evidence, which is concrete.

Q2. An author writes: "This policy must work, because the alternative is unthinkable." What is the weakness, and how would you describe it? [Short explanation]

• Cue. The reasoning is fallacious: calling the alternative "unthinkable" is an appeal to emotion, not evidence that the policy works. It asserts a conclusion without relevant support, which is exactly the kind of flaw RI.9-10.8 asks you to identify.