# Testing the Grounds: the STAR Questions

* Because grounds are the basis for the audience possibly moving over to join the writer in accepting the claim, the quality, quantity, and relevance of the grounds are crucial.
* One way to figure out how, or if, a claim has adequate grounds is to ask what writing professor Richard Fulkerson called **the STAR questions**. STAR is a shorthand mnemonic device that helps you remember four sets of ideas: **Sufficiency, Typicality, Accuracy, and Relevance**.

Ask these questions:

| Questions about **Sufficiency (S)**                                                                                                                                                                              | Questions about **Typicality (T)**                                                                                                                                    | Questions about **Accuracy (A)**                                                                                                  | Questions About **Relevance (R)**                                                  |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| How much evidence is offered for this claim? Is this the kind of claim that might require a lot of grounding? How carefully is the claim stated; does it match the quantity of grounds offered or go far beyond? | Is this the type of grounds that typically connect to such claims? Is this the wrong kind of grounds for this purpose? Is this a non-representative, extreme example? | Are these the best, most direct grounds? Are these grounds as current as they need to be? Do these grounds appear to have errors? | Do the grounds actually support this particular claim or only one sort of like it? |