Name That Argument
What is the main issue Bill Murphy Jr. addresses in this article?
School start times, particularly whether middle and high schools begin too early in the morning.
According to our EOC A notes, what is a claim?
A statement made about an issue that asserts a perspective.
What does line of reasoning describe?
The order and relationship of the author's claims and how they work together to develop the overall argument.
Murphy cites the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendation that middle and high schools begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m. What type of evidence is this?
An expert/professional organization recommendation.
If evidence directly connects to the claim it is supposed to support, which characteristic does it demonstrate: credibility or relevance?
Relevance.
What change does Murphy believe schools should make?
Schools should begin later in the morning to better align with adolescents' sleep needs and brain development.
Murphy explains that most American middle and high schools begin earlier than the 8:30 recommendation. Is this primarily a claim or evidence supporting a claim?
Evidence. The percentages about school start times help support the argument that schools commonly start earlier than experts recommend.
Early in the article, Murphy establishes that experts recommend later school starts, but most schools begin earlier than recommended. Why does he place this information near the beginning?
It contextualizes/establishes the problem: expert recommendations and actual school practices do not match.
Murphy reports that about 85% of American public high schools and 80% of middle schools started earlier than the recommended standard. What claim does this evidence support?
The claim that most schools begin earlier than experts recommend, demonstrating a gap between expert guidance and actual practice.
Murphy quotes Matthew Walker, identified as a professor of neuroscience at UC Berkeley. What information provided in the article helps establish Walker's credibility?
His expertise/credentials in neuroscience and his affiliation with UC Berkeley are relevant indicators that he has expertise related to sleep and brain function.
Schools should begin later in the morning to better align with adolescents' sleep needs and brain development.
Any two: Students need more sleep; lack of sleep harms learning/memory; sleep deprivation negatively affects grades/attendance/graduation; it creates health/mental-health concerns; later starts may reduce teen car crashes; adolescent brains do not function optimally very early in the morning.
Paraphrase this major claim from Murphy's argument: insufficient sleep negatively affects teenagers in several important areas of their lives.
Answers should convey that not getting enough sleep can harm teens academically, physically, mentally, and/or in terms of safety without simply repeating the article's wording.
Murphy moves from discussing the general effects of insufficient sleep to discussing effects specifically on teenagers. How does this shift help develop his argument?
The general research establishes that sleep deprivation has meaningful consequences; Murphy then applies/builds on that idea specifically for adolescents, the population affected by school start times.
Murphy cites research suggesting later start times could produce a 65–70% reduction in teen car accidents. What claim is this evidence intended to support?
That later school starts could improve teen safety, particularly by reducing drowsy-driving crashes.
Murphy uses a 2014 study suggesting that later start times could reduce teen car accidents. Identify one reason it is relevant and one question you should ask before deciding how credible/effective it is.
Relevant: It directly connects later school starts with an important student-safety outcome. Credibility question: Who conducted the study? Where was it published? What was the sample size? What methods were used? Is the finding generalizable? How old is the research? Any reasonable source/methodology question earns credit.
Which is the stronger statement of Murphy's overall argument? A. Many American schools start before 8:30 a.m. B. Schools should begin later because early start times conflict with adolescents' sleep needs and can negatively affect their learning, health, and safety. Explain your choice.
B. It identifies Murphy's position and the major reasons supporting it. A is a fact/evidence from the article rather than the overall argument.
Murphy discusses research showing that people may still experience memory and attention problems even after they believe they have “caught up” on sleep. What larger claim does this help Murphy establish?
That sleep deprivation has effects that cannot necessarily be erased simply by sleeping more later, strengthening his claim that insufficient sleep is a significant problem.
Murphy first establishes that schools start earlier than experts recommend and later explains the academic, health, and safety consequences of teen sleep deprivation. Explain the connection between these claims.
The first claim establishes the problem, while the later claim explains why that problem matters. If early school schedules contribute to insufficient sleep, the consequences of sleep deprivation strengthen the case for changing those schedules.
Murphy cites CDC data showing high percentages of students reporting persistent sadness/hopelessness or seriously considering suicide. What connection is Murphy asking readers to make between this evidence and his argument?
He connects the data to the preceding claim that teen sleep deprivation can worsen mental-health concerns, thereby raising the stakes of the school-start-time issue. Students should recognize that the statistics establish the seriousness/prevalence of teen mental-health concerns but do not by themselves prove that early school starts caused them.
Murphy cites CDC data showing that 44% of high schoolers reported persistent sadness or hopelessness. Evaluate the relevance of this evidence to his argument.
Partially relevant/effective. It demonstrates that adolescent mental health is a serious issue and follows Murphy's discussion of sleep deprivation worsening mental-health problems. However, the statistic itself does not establish that insufficient sleep or early school start times caused those feelings, so its relevance to the causal argument is limited.
Using the EOC A1 sentence frame from our notes, state Murphy's overall argument in your own words and include his major supporting claims.
Example: Bill Murphy Jr. argues in “Want to Raise Successful Kids? Neuroscience Says Do This (But Their Schools Probably Won't)” that middle and high schools should begin later because adolescents need sufficient sleep for their developing brains, and sleep deprivation can negatively affect students' academic performance, health, and safety. Answers can vary if they accurately capture the argument and major claims.
Murphy eventually acknowledges transportation, contracts, and child-care concerns associated with changing school start times. What type of claim is this, and what is its purpose in the argument?
It functions as an acknowledgment of an opposing/alternate viewpoint or counterpoint. Murphy recognizes practical objections to later starts before maintaining that changing start times is still worthwhile.
Trace Murphy's line of reasoning using at least four major moves in the order they appear. Explain how the moves build toward his conclusion rather than simply listing them.
Strong answers should explain something similar to: (1) Murphy establishes that experts recommend later starts but most schools start earlier → (2) he explains research showing the negative effects of inadequate sleep → (3) he narrows those consequences specifically to teenagers → (4) he provides evidence of academic, mental-health, and driving/safety consequences → (5) he notes that students actually sleep more when start times are delayed → (6) he acknowledges logistical objections but concludes that later starts are still warranted.
Which evidence more directly supports Murphy's argument for later school start times: A. research about the general consequences of inadequate sleep, or B. evidence that students in districts with delayed start times use much of the additional time to sleep? Defend your answer by connecting the evidence to a specific claim.
B is more directly relevant. It connects the proposed change—delaying school—to the desired outcome—students actually getting more sleep. General sleep research establishes why sleep matters, but B more directly addresses whether changing start times could help solve the problem.
Evaluate the effectiveness of one major piece of evidence Murphy uses. Your response must identify the evidence, explain what claim it supports, and evaluate both its credibility and relevance.
Answers vary. Students must: (1) identify a specific piece of evidence, (2) explain the claim it supports, (3) evaluate credibility using information actually provided or limitations in what is provided, and (4) explain relevance to the claim. Simply saying “It is credible because it comes from an expert” is not enough for full credit.