The Unstated Premise

Worksheet Description

This worksheet is designed to strengthen students’ understanding of enthymemes, a rhetorical device used in arguments where a premise is left implied and unstated. The worksheet, titled “Enthymeme,” invites students to engage with statements where the unstated premise must be inferred and articulated. At the top, there’s a line designated for the student’s name, allowing for individual ownership of the work.

The directions are clear and direct, instructing students to write the unstated premise for each given enthymeme. Five different sentences are provided, each representing an enthymeme that requires the student to deduce the missing assumption that makes the conclusion reasonable. This exercise challenges students to use critical thinking to identify and verbalize the implicit arguments that are often taken for granted in everyday speech. Such skills are not only fundamental for logical reasoning but are also valuable for effective communication and argumentation. By completing this worksheet, students will become more adept at recognizing and understanding the underlying assumptions within arguments, an essential skill for both academic and real-world discourse.