Woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of Palea and therefore were believed to have been made only by the Palean people. Recently, however, archa

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Woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of Palea and therefore were believed to have been made only by the Palean people. Recently, however, archaeologists discovered such a "Palean" basket in Lithos, an ancient village across the Brim River from Palea. The Brim River is very deep and broad, and so the ancient Paleans could have crossed it only by boat, and no Palean boats have been found. Thus it follows that the so-called Palean baskets were not uniquely Palean.

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

The given argument conclude that so-called Palean baskets, which have been previously believed to being made only by the Palean people, were not uniquely Palean. Although, the argument sounds logical at first glance, many additional evidences are required to appropriate assess the validity of such argument.

Firstly, author claimed that a "Palean" basket has been discovered in Lithos, outside Palean village, but it is uncertain to which extent this basket is similar to these found in Palean vicinity. Without knowing the exact extent how they similar, we cannot conclude they belong to same class of so-called Palean baskets. It is possible that they just look a bit similar because the people use same kinds of material or using the similar tools to make such baskets. In either case, the logic behind the argument becomes unsound and the argument that Palean baskets were made also made by Lithos people is significant weakened.

Secondly, the author reported the Brim River is very deep and broad so the ancient Paleans need to use boat to cross the river, however, whether Palean basket were only made in the form of boat is unclear. If the Palean baskets can been produced in variety of forms like small basket for food containing, which could be easily transported across the Brim River along with Paleans people, the claim the they were made outside the Palean is also unsecured.

Finally, the argument did not rule out the possibility that the Palean people can immigrate to or exchange goods with Lithos. If either the cases are true, the "Palean" basket found in Lithos might come from Palean and the argument also become invalid. In addition, the evidence that Brim river in the prehistoric period at the time Palean people lived has not changed significantly in comparison with present time - which is deep and broad. During the time, the area may have major geographic movement and Brim River might only been created or broadened after the Palean period. If this is indeed the case, the trade between Lithos and Palean village was possible and the logic underlining argument is unwarranted.

In conclusion, we need to have many additional evidences in order to get a complete understanding of strengths and weaknesses of the article. We need more information about authentic Palean baskets and the one found in Lithos. We also need more evidence about Brim river, whether it have changed over a long period of change. And we really need more information about the trade between Lithos and Palean villages.

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Average: 4 (1 vote)
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Comments

Sentence: The given argument conclude that so-called Palean baskets, which have been previously believed to being made only by the Palean people, were not uniquely Palean.
Description: The fragment argument conclude that is rare
Suggestion: Possible agreement error: Replace conclude with verb, past tense

Sentence: Although, the argument sounds logical at first glance, many additional evidences are required to appropriate assess the validity of such argument.
Description: An adjective is not usually followed by a verb, base: uninflected present, imperative or infinitive
Suggestion: Refer to appropriate and assess

Sentence: Without knowing the exact extent how they similar, we cannot conclude they belong to same class of so-called Palean baskets.
Description: A pronoun, personal, nominative, not 3rd person singular is not usually followed by an adjective
Suggestion: Refer to they and similar

Sentence: If the Palean baskets can been produced in variety of forms like small basket for food containing, which could be easily transported across the Brim River along with Paleans people, the claim the they were made outside the Palean is also unsecured.
Description: A modal auxillary is not usually followed by a verb 'to be', past participle
Suggestion: Refer to can and been

Description: The token the is not usually followed by a pronoun, personal, nominative, not 3rd person singular
Suggestion: Refer to the and they

Argument 1 -- NOT OK. 'this basket is similar to ...'

Argument 2 -- NOT OK. 'whether Palean basket were only made in the form of boat is unclear. '

Argument 3 -- OK

Attribute Value Ideal
Score: ?
Category: ? Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 5 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 17 15
No. of Words: 419 350
No. of Characters: 2057 1500
No. of Different Words: 191 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.524 4.7
Average Word Length: 4.909 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.339 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 158 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 99 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 60 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 30 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 24.647 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 7.356 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.824 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.386 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.611 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.178 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 5 5