In both formal and informal logic, a main contention or conclusion is a thought which is capable of being either true or false and is usually the most controversial proposition being argued for. In reasoning, a main contention is represented by the top of an argument map, with all supporting and objecting premises which bear upon it placed underneath.
In the context of argumentative text, it is the point that the author wants to convince you to believe - the culmination of all their reasoning. The main contention provides an answer to the following types of questions:
- "Why is the author bothering to tell me all this stuff?"
- "What is the main point the author is trying to convince me of?"
- "What is the most important thing the author is arguing for or against?"
Famous quotes containing the words main and/or contention:
“I do not deny that there may be other well-founded causes for the hatred which various classes feel toward politicians, but the main one seems to me that politicians are symbols of the fact that every class must take every other class into account.”
—José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955)
“The making of a picture ought surely to be a rather fascinating adventure. It is not; it is an endless contention of tawdry egos, some of them powerful, almost all of them vociferous, and almost none of them capable of anything much more creative than credit-stealing and self- promotion.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)