Being able to compose an effective argument requires an understanding of how effective argument works. Analyzing an argument offers one means to assess that understanding, and practice in argument analysis also allows for the development of skills applicable to the many arguments, explicit and tacit, to which people are subjected daily. Accordingly, I require the students in my speech classes to take a written exam in which they read and analyze an argument.
For the exam, students will be given a short piece to read and will be asked to respond to a series of questions about it. Selections and questions vary from term to term, but such concepts as topic, purpose, audience, logos, ethos, pathos, figurative language, and fallacies tend to appear every time.
Ideally, each question will be responded to in a brief paragraph, some three to five sentences. Effective responses will offer a clear and coherent answer to the question (one which makes clear what question is being answered), provide evidence from the text of the argument to support the answer, and explain how the evidence actually serves to support the answer. The pattern is much the same as students will be expected to deploy in their manuscript and extemporaneous speeches.