PLANNING AND CREATING YOUR REASONING 131quickly in one or two sentences in the final written form. Alternatively, it could become
a significant issue to develop further. I could perhaps show how, historically, govern-
ment policy on education has developed, first with the provision of free primary educa-
tion, then free secondary education for some years, then a full six years of free secondary
education, and then, in the 1970s and first half of the 1980s, free tertiary education.
Such a discussion might help me, later, to show the truth of claim 6—'In our complex
technological society, one requires university study in order to be well educated'.
At this stage in the written format, I would probably remind my readers of the
conclusion and introduce the 'economic benefit' reason, explicitly indicating that the
assumptions behind it (that the government should not simply fund all democratic
benefits for its citizens but should only pay for those that are economically signifi-
cant) come from a different philosophical position. While the two reasons overlap to
some degree, I need to make it clear that they are, essentially, quite distinct. This part
of the written report would be complex and lengthy. Looking at the structure, I see
that claims 2, 3, and 6 tend to be more closely related than claims 4 and 5- Hence,
although logically all of these five premises are dependent on one another, I would
break up my analysis into two sections and deal with each subgroup in turn. Knowing
that the second subgroup (claims 4 and 5) is the crucial framing or value-judging part
of the argument, I would be particularly detailed in arguing these premises through,
drawing on claims 10 and 11 to make out my case for claim 5. The final part of the
written work would simply restate the key reasons and the conclusion.
Here is the narrative sequence in plan form to emphasise the difference between
these two planning tools:
Introduction- Give main conclusion (1) and key reasons: economic benefit (2—6) and
democratic right (7-9)
Main body: Background - Give background on history of education in Australia with respect who paid
and why. - Provide context (the current situation that leads to this argument).
Main body 2: develop 'democratic right' reason - Write 1 paragraph on 8; 4-5 paragraphs on 7; 4-5 paragraphs on 9.
Main body 3: Develop 'economic benefit' reason - Distinguish this reason from previous one; signal two related aspects (2 para-
graphs). - Write 2-3 paragraphs on 2 and 3; 2-3 paragraphs on 6 (relate back to second
section). - Write 4-5 paragraphs on 5; including discussion of 10 and 11; 2-3 para-
graphs on 4.
Conclusion. - Sum up the two reasons and restate 1.