*   reviewed our critical-thinking definition of a statement,
    including its ought imperative and rhetorical question forms,

    and some kinds of sentences that are NOT statements in critical thinking;

*   NOW let's get back to ARGUMENTS
    *   an argument is a group of statements that include the following:
        *   one or more of this group of statements are intended as
	    SUPPORT for that argument. These SUPPORTING statements
	    are called PREMISES

        *   one statement is what the argument is intended to convince
            or persuade. This statement is called the CONCLUSION.

*   some examples of arguments (some adapted from
    http://faculty.uncfsu.edu/jyoung/sample_arguments.htm):

    *   "Roger Maris held the single season home run record for 37
        years, so he should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame."

    *   "A number of teenagers who committed violent acts spent many
        hours playing violent video games; therefore, these games must
        be more strictly controlled."

    *   "It was proper for the US to be involved in the Kosovo campaign,
        as the US has a moral obligation to give assistance to people
        subjected to inhumane treatment."

    *   "You should begin a daily program of exercise, because research
        shows 30 minutes of exercise each day reduces risk of heart
        disease."

*   NOTE THAT, within the set of statements making up an argument:
    *   the premise statement(s) and the conclusion statement should
        be RELATED or LINKED in some way.

    *   the premise statement(s) should be presented with the INTENT of
        persuading one to support the conclusion statement

    *   the conclusion statement should be something DERIVED from the premise
        statement(s), and not be a simple observation.

    *   the conclusion statement should NEED (or at least USE) the
        premise statements in order to be argued effectively

*   sometimes key phrases may HELP to identify a premise statement:
    *   since 
        because
        for
	seeing that
	considering that
	given that
	inasmuch as
	as indicated by
	judging from
	on account of
        etc.

*   sometimes key phrases may HELP to identify a conclusion statement:
    *   therefore
        thus
	so
	accordingly
	for this reason
	that is why
	as a result
	this implies
	hence
	consequently
        etc.

*   what ARE some things (collections of statements) that are
    NOT arguments?

    *   reports - convey info, but do not try to persuade

    *   unsupported assertions - a statement without premises, statements
        that don't follow or imply any other statements.

    *   conditional statements - TRICKY!!!
        *   an if-then statement is a conditional statement

    *   illustrations

    *   explanations

    ...we will discuss these NON-argument types FURTHER on Wednesday;

*   more discussion of what is and is not an argument is available at:
    *   http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/arg/arg.php
 
    *   http://faculty.uncfsu.edu/jyoung/argument.htm

*   captioned version of Monty Python's "Argument Clinic" sketch:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=YUIA40uLlKw