Argument Structure Questions - - Question 5

Mainstream economic theory holds that manufacturers, in deciding what kinds of products to manufacture and what form ...

Valentina July 12, 2020

"Pivot Word"

I see this term being used a lot in the explanations. What exactly does it mean?

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Valentina July 12, 2020

Additionally, why is "E" incorrect? Doesn't it provide supplementary background information to support the conclusion?

Skylar July 12, 2020

@ValentinaCC, happy to help!

The pivot word in reference is "however." Here, the word "however" functions to pivot or shift the angle of the argument. We see that the first sentence is at odds with the second sentence, so we refer to this shift in opinion as a "pivot."

(E) is incorrect because the claim is more relevant than "supplementary background information" would be. Background information is typically not a term used to refer to a premise, and the word "supplementary" suggests that the information is extra and therefore less necessary/relevant than a premise.

Does that make sense? Please let us know if you have any other questions!

Valentina July 12, 2020

Understood, thank you!

JesseN March 31, 2022

So is there a list of these pivot words? For me to understand the argument I must understand what the sentence is saying. Since these sentences are filled with tons of words, it is hard for me to understand the arguments and questions. If there was a list of pivot words as expressed in the answers, where can I get them?

Emil-Kunkin April 16, 2022

You can look in the lesson notes for the first, second, and third LR lessons. You can download these (ideally in chrome) by going to your profile, and clicking the "download the welcome packet" button.