Under every piece of prose there is a skeleton: a claim, the reasons holding it up, the evidence under those, and a warrant nobody wrote down. Tag each sentence and the skeleton assembles itself on the right — then finish the sentence that only counts as a reason if you already believe… and find the plank the whole thing is standing on.
Tag every sentence
The claim test: could a reasonable, informed person disagree? If not, you are looking at a topic wearing a claim’s clothing. The reason test: can you put because in front of it? The evidence test: is an observation being reported — data, testimony, a document, a precedent?
The skeleton
Excavate the warrant
Now test it for contestability
Out of 100 informed readers of this text, how many would sign that principle without argument?