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:
“But oh, not the hills of Habersham,
And oh, not the valleys of Hall
Avail: I am fain for to water the plain.
Downward, the voices of Duty call—
Downward, to toil and be mixed with the main,
The dry fields burn, and the mills are to turn,
And a myriad flowers mortally yearn,
And the lordly main from beyond the plain
Calls o’er the hills of Habersham,
Calls through the valleys of Hall.”
—Sidney Lanier (1842–1881)
“Great causes are never tried on their merits; but the cause is reduced to particulars to suit the size of the partizans, and the contention is ever hottest on minor matters.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)