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Welcome to

Butler's CRE 101 Homework Page

Sunday, December 14, 2008 11:37 PM

Thinking well, in order to choose well, is the hardest work in the world, but that is our virtue as human beings, what we are made for. Let us not shrink from the duty of our nature, but embrace it with courage and humility.


For maximum usefulness and minimum confusion, please read the following carefully:

  • This assignment calendar is updated frequently. The date and time of the last update will always be posted at the top of the page in red.
  • Sometimes I will add new assignments; sometimes I will delete or cross out assignments; sometimes I will postpone assignments.
  • The exact assignment due next meeting will always be given in class.
  • Next week's assignments may be changed in class. If you are absent, call or e-mail for the assignment!
  • Past weeks' assignments are placed at the bottom of this page.
  • If you are working ahead: Please check with me first. I often change things as the semester proceeds. Many future assignments are best done when scheduled, as they depend on class instruction immediately beforehand.
  • Assignment days in gray are not updated and may not be assigned this semester. Wait until they are in white, yellow, or green before assuming them to be accurate.
  • Articles and items that are hyperlinked with a blue underline are available on the internet. Some assigned articles will only be available as handouts in class. Some will only be available online.

Notice:

The Maricopa Community Colleges District Email (MEMO) Team is planning a hardware upgrade:

Friday, January 2, 2009 beginning at 8:00 pm through Monday, January 5, 2009
(no later than 6:00 am), services provided by the district-wide Memo e-mail system will be unavailable.

Students and professors and other employees of PVCC will not be able to communicate via pvmail.maricopa.edu during that time. Other internet services through pvc.maricopa.edu will be availabe, however. Incoming emails to pvmail.maricopa.edu will be stored for delivery after the system is back up.

College announcements will be placed on student access areas such as my.maricopa.edu and Blackboard as applicable. (I am not planning any such announcements, however.)

Final Exams Week:

"My hope [is] that we have not labored in vain,
and that our experiment will still prove that men can be governed by reason."
--Thomas Jefferson

"We live at a time, philosophically speaking, when a lot of people have just given up on the pursuit of truth. They no longer believe there's something out there that decides what will be truth or falsity." --Ralph McInerny, University of Notre Dame

But Butler hasn't given up on it,
and he's going to grade you on it!

No class: study and show up on time for your scheduled exam:

Section #13561 (TR 10:30-11:45A): Tuesday, December 16, 10:30 A.M.-12:20 A.M.
Section #13562 (MW 10:30-11:45A): Wednesday, December 17, 10:30 A.M.-12:20 A.M.
Section #13563 (TR 9:00-10:15A): Thursday, December 18, 7:30 A.M.-9:20 A.M.

(Vacation starts after your finals are over!)

 

What to review for the final:

You are ready for this.

You can do it.

You will do it.

You've already done it.

The Final Exam

(bring pen and loose leaf paper)

  • 15 % of your final grade
  • Part 1 (65 points): Closed book/no notes: Knowledge of course content (30-50 minutes)
  • Part 2 (100 points): Open Book/Notes: Write two short critical analyses in response to two short argumentative essays to be provided in the exam. (60-70 minutes)

(And don't forget, vacation starts after the exam)

Thank you for all your contributions to discussion this semester!

 

Scholarship Opportunities

Week
#16

Monday 12/8 and Tuesday 12/9
The aim of science, at its "strong sense critical thinking best, is truth--
--the way the world is.
The aim of politics is policy--
--the way the world should be and what to do about it.

The danger of science is claiming we know the Truth before we really do.

The danger of politics, at its "weak sense critical thinking" worst, is wanting "truth" to support policy, rather than policy to support real Truth.

When you mix science and politics carelessly, truth is often a casualty, and politics a failure.

Wednesday 12/10 and Thursday 12/11

"Do not confound the truth with falsehood,
nor conceal the truth knowingly."
-- the Koran, 2:42"


Last Class

Homework due:

It is strongly recommended that you work through the four exercises for chapter 11 on the Asking the Right Questions website to get the hang of how statistics can be misleading.
  • Tone Packet: Read the first two pages on "Tone" and "Language and Thought Vocabulary" then: Flag letters: For each letter, identify the several tones, and for each tone, the words in the letter that reveal that tone.
  • Bring your tone packet.

In Class Activities:

  • Homework analysis
  • group activity

Definition of Satire:
Poking fun at a problem by offering a ridiculous solution or situation that actually further exposes the real problem.

Here is an example of political satire as a response to the perceived BIAS of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in favor of the Palestinians and against the Israelis:

Sarchasm • \SAR-cha-sym\ • noun : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

 

The Latest Fast Food advantage!

(hint:)

A website devoted to satiric news:

the onion

 

 

ID Dilemma: Should you be able to surf the net anonymously?

Homework due:

ALL EXTRA CREDIT DUE
  • Final paper, 20 points: Write a polished essay:
    • 300 words minimum (less than the minimum will result in a deduction of 5 points after it is graded (an 18 A becomes a 13 D).
    • 3 paragraphs minimum
    • First, review all of your homeworks, the textbook, notes, and this web page.
    • Then, explain in detail the three most important concepts/skills you have learned in this course. Why are they so important, and how will you be different as a result of them?
    • Submit the paper by class time via e-mail attachment, either as a .doc or .rtf file ( no .wpd or .wps).

    An example of non-news news: media-stimulated controversy

In Class Activities:

  • Bring your tone packet.
  • group activity
  • Review for final exam

So what have you learned in this course?

They're baaaack! On 11/12/07 a newsconference, moderated by former Arizona governor Fife Symington, was held in Washington D.C. to try to get the government to release all that dang secret information on alien visitors! Watch the 18-minute video discussion with Fife, actress Shirley MacLaine, a movie-maker, and other "experts" on Larry King Live here. Listen to the eye-witness testimony of the governor and former military officers. Enjoy all the background video and film of UFOs and listen carefully for evidence other than personal testimony. Or, get a life...
Boy, are they back! And over Phoenix on 4/21/08, no less!
Read about the latest UFO visit here and here.
We even have video footage taken by one of our CRE students!

 

Extra Credit Opportunities:

  • Must be done by the last day of the next to last week of class (i.e, before the last week of class).
  • You may turn in an extra credit assigment any time prior to the deadline.
  • You may earn up to 60 points extra credit (i.e., 6 percentage points on your class average)
  • The value of an assignment varies according to my estimate of the difficulty and the amount of time necessary to complete it.
  • The assignments are not giveaways. They are scholarly learning experiences which will be evaluated and graded as usual. If an assignment is poorly done, no credit at all will be given.
Click here for another whole web page of Extra Credit Opportunities!
 Must be submitted before the last week of class.

Another Extra Credit Opportunity

  • Analyze a magazine or newspaper ad that presents a combination of verbal and visual information.Clip or photocopy the ad to submit along with your analysis. 10 points for a thorough, accurate analysis.
  1. Outline the argument structure: Conclusion, Reasons, Ambiguous Terms, Assumptions, and
  2. analyze it for quality of evidence: Types of Evidence, Emotional Appeals, Fallacies. (Typed).
  3. Indicate what you believe to be missing (if anything) in order for a consumer to make a good purchasing decision.

    Must be submitted before the last week of class.

Another Extra Credit opportunity:

Goldberg chapter: Bias in the Media chapter analysis (20 points)

In the first few pages, Goldberg "proves" that the trend toward working moms is not good, but that is not his main argument. Once he establishes the importance of the problem of working moms, he uses that issue to show the weaknesses of the media. Here is his main conclusion to work from: Conclusion: Network news has failed to report fully on one of the biggest news stories of our time (the negative consequences to children of mothers working outside the home) for at least 4 reasons. (p.166)

1. Don't analyze his evidence that working moms negatively affect kids. Rather, outline the reasons and evidence Goldberg provides to prove that journalists don't want to report on the problem. Look for assumptions.
2. How well does Goldberg support his argument? How good is the evidence? Are his assumptions acceptable? (Your detailed explanation of this part is what will get you the good grade.)


To help you understand Goldberg's argument, here are three websites that explore the meanings of "liberal" and "conservative:

Must be submitted before the last week of class.

"Hire" a Consultant: 20 Points Extra Credit:

Telephone a marketing research/polling/survey company and ask them how they would design a reliable study to determine if women want to be treated as sex objects. (You can explain that you are a CRE 101 student and did this midterm essay, etc.) Prepare a preliminary list of questions you will ask the agency. Write up the results of your telephone interview and submit your questions/notes. Identify the company and person you spoke with Determine if you think this agency would do a good job (20 points).

Must be submitted before the last week of class

25 points EXTRA CREDIT

  • How the Media Twist the News -analysis In this opinion article, Shelia Gribben Liaugminas argues that the media (newspapers, TV, etc.) "twist," or distort the news that we get in a certain biased direction.
    • Outline her argument for this descriptive claim and other subordinate claims she makes. What are the main claims and what are the evidences she uses to support the claims?
    • Write a formal essay in which you make a judgment about how good her evidence is. Does she support her claims well with the types of evidence she uses? Is the support sufficient?
    • She is described as having been "a television and print news reporter and cohost of an Emmy award-winning magazine show. She is now a freelance journalist in Chicago." Is Liaugminas herself competent to make the judgments she does? Is she fair, or biased? What are her values and background, based on what she says in the article, and does that background aid her or hinder her in rendering a fair judgment?
  • Defend all the claims that you make about this article and its author. Don't just ask questions about missing information--hers is not a research report requiring scientific or court-room evidence, it is an opinion essay written by someone who, because of her background and experience, you could consider to be an expert on her subject. This is not an easy piece to read, but it is a well-written, thoughtful, and scholarly essay.

    Must be submitted before the last week of class

Extra Credit: Find and analyze a recent opinion article that defends the neutrality/fairness of news media (TV, newspaper) reporting. (15 points)

Must be submitted before the last week of class
Coming Soon: an extra credit project to analyze websites on opposities of controversial issues.


10 points
EXTRA CREDIT
for asking some really good questions

Are you madly in love?

Or just nuts?

Read the following (typical) science news article and ask hard questions about the science.

Love and madness not that different?

Before you accept any of this as truth, what skeptical questions do you want answered?
  • What ambiguous terms do you want defined? Why?
  • What assumptions do you want clarified?
  • What cause/effect relationships do you want proved?
  • What statistical procedures do you want reported?
Must be submitted before the last week of class.

SLANTED NEWS: 15 points Extra Credit:
Find a news article, preferably from an online mainstream newspaper, that is slanted/biased instead of journalistically neutral. Explain how the article is slanted/biased and in what direction. Point out the words/techniques the author and/or editor use to create the bias. One page, 200-300 words.
(15 points--but no credit if you blow it and pick an opinion piece, in which bias is OK)

Must be submitted before the last week of class.

Does the News Make us Dumb?
(15 points EXTRA CREDIT)
Read the webzine article "No News is Good News" by Stuart Buck, who reviews a book by C. John Sommerville entitled How the News Makes us Dumb.
  • Briefly summarize the apparent argument of Sommerville (you are not reading Sommerville himself, but someone else's summary of him), and write a response essay on the issue in which you make either a prescriptive or descriptive claim and back it up with three supports (about a paragraph for each support). Your claim can be in agreement or disagreement with Sommerville, or Buck, or it can be a recommendation based on agreement or disagreement with the issue at hand. Your essay is an argument in which you claim something and support it with good reasons. It should be about 5 paragraphs long (1-2 pages, 15 points).
  • To help you understand the reference in the article to Senator McCarthy, I have included a quote from Paul Findley. A fuller account of McCarthy and his devastating effect on American political dissent can be found by doing an internet search. The point in the article you will summarize is that McCarthy had the unwitting help of the press in creating a scandal where none really existed.
Must be submitted before the last week of class

All the experts were wrong!
And it took the scientific establishment over 20 years to acknowledge it with a Nobel prize!

Read the story of Australian physician and 2005 Nobel prize winner Barry Marshall, who overcame the stubborn disbelief of the medical establishment to prove that ulcers were caused by bacteria, not stomach acid, and thus should be treated, not by antacids, but by a course of antibiotics.

For 10 points extra credit, read the short article and in one paragraph explain what blinded the "experts" to the truth.

Must be submitted before the last week of class.

Extra Credit:

Is the Puma Press neutral?

Read the news article about PVCC's Performing Arts Center, "Faculty CPA staff, admin. caught in conflict," in the November 2006 issue of the Puma Press.

Write a one-page critique in which you report on the balance, accuracy, tone, and fairness of the news article. If you think the article subtley prefers one side of the issue over the other, explain how that was done. If you think the article is admirably neutral and balanced, explain how the writer presented information from both sides.(15 points)

Must be submitted before the last week of class

 

    

Homework due:

  • Bring BOTH your "Suspicious Statistics" and "Tone/Slanting" packets this week and next.
  • analysis due (20 points, late papers will not be accepted). Write an essay critical of the research reported and the news article itself, "Sex Abuse Rate is high in state." What are the apparent problems with the research being reported and what are the problems with the newspaper article itself? (This is a front page news article reporting on a research study that reaches some startling conclusions--be clear about who is arguing and who is reporting, and how well each did their job.) Your essay should be about a page in length (250 words, 20 points)

In-Class Activities:

  • Review Sex Abuse Rate article
  • Tone/Bias/Slanting Packet:
    • Flag Letters
    • British Nanny
    • The happiest jetsetter

  • CNET Top 5 differences between MACS and PCs: What are the evidences that Tom Merritt is not neutral in his report?

Did you know there is a specific area in your brain to detect and interpret sarcasm? Is your saracasm detector working?

Definition of Satire:
Poking fun at a problem by offering a ridiculous solution or situation that actually further exposes the real problem.

Here is an example of political satire as a response to the perceived BIAS of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in favor of the Palestinians and against the Israelis:

BAD RESEARCH
Extra Credit opportunity:

Sometime in the next week or two, clip or zerox from a newspaper or magazine, or copy from a website, a current report of a poll or research study. Analyze its statistics and methodology using what you know about how to conduct research and relevant ARQ questions (through chapter 12). If you are lucky, you'll find a really poor one with lots of stuff to go after, but be careful not to criticize it negatively if there really isn't anything clearly wrong. You may only be able to generate a list of questions regarding significant omitted information. (10 points)

Must be submitted before the last week of class.

Homework due :

  • All Extra Credit due this week (by Friday via e-mail)
  • "Where's the bias?" Anlayze as detailed in the handout. Need not be typed.
  • Tone: Read the opinion piece,"You, the taxpayer, failed teen who died in custody" (in packet). In one or two paragraphs, state the author's main conclusion and reasons, and analyze her use of tone. (What tones are employed and how?) 10 points
In-Class Activities (CRE #1852):

  • Tone/Bias packet activity: page 9: "Pro-family reps imperil E.V. drug aid":

    1. Summarize the controversy being reported.
    2. Define all slanted, emotionally loaded terms and how they bias the news report.
    3. Indicate the tones created by the reporting, and how they are created.
    4. State the probable position of the newspaper and reporter on the issue (group work, 10 points)

Is the news fake?

How reliable is the news media?

Another faked news story

A good way to evaluate sources

Sarcasm on YouTube (Oh, My!)
Billy learns about sarcasm

Join the fight:
Say "NO!" to sarcasm on YouTube

Extra Credit:

Is Arizona the "Dumbest State?"

Read the news article. Then explore theseveral pages of the website that reports its methodology and statistical findings. Write a one-page critique of both the newspaper article and the "study." Report on the balance, accuracy, tone, and fairness of the news article, and on the soundness of the study's methodology and conclusions. (15 points)

Must be submitted before the last week of class
Week #16

"A 2003 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 68 percent of children under 2 watch TV or videos daily and 26 percent have a TV in their bedroom. Nonetheless, the pediatrics academy recommends that children of that age not be exposed to TV or videos, saying that learning to talk and play with others is much more important."



Homework due:

  • Bring BOTH "Suspicious Statistics" and "Tone/Slanting" packets.
  • Second part of Sex Abuse Survey assignment (30 points). If you liked getting your midterm essay back with electronic comments from me, submit this one by email before class (no extra credit this time). Otherwise, a hard copy is due in class today.
    • Read two responses to the sex abuse survey: "Shocking Sex Survey" by the newspaper editor, and "Flawed sex survey still managed to tell the truth about sex abuse," by the researcher who did the study.
    • Then write an analysis of them. Indicate how well each opinion article addresses the relevant problems of the research.
    • Conclude with your reasons for believing which of the two opinion articles did a better job than the other in making its case.
    • Do not give your own opinion on the issue at hand (sex abuse and its prevalence) and try not to let your own biases interfere with your judgments as a critical thinker.
    • Your formal essay should be about two pages in length (300-400 words, 30 points).

In-Class Activities:

  • Analysis of Sex Abuse survey responses

An example of good research and reporting on sexual abuse

How to spot bias in the media

10 points extra credit:
Lose weight by sleeping more?

Analyze these two current articles about the connection between sleep and obesity in children, neither of which tells the whole story of the research that was done.

  1. Indicate what important information in the second article is missing from the first and which helps you make a better decision as to the validity and reliability of the study being reported.
  2. Compare them both to the official "abstract" of the full study published in the Journal of Pediatrics. What does the abstract add, if anything, that neither article mentions but which gives you confidence that the study was well done? (In order to view the full study online, you would have to pay $12.00 minimum, or subscribe to the journal.)

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/1105fatkids.html#

http://www.alegent.com/body.cfm?id=4794&action=detail&ref=11777

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/120/5/1020

Oh, and by the way,
that new medical breakthrough you just read about
or heard about on national news?
Homework due:
  • TBA

In-Class Activities:

  • Review "You, the taxpayer..."
  • Tone: "Lighten up" and "WebCams"
Click here for another whole web page of Extra Credit Opportunities!

Must be submitted Friday before the last week of class.

Also, scroll down this page for more Extra Credit activities in the yellow boxes!

"In the ongoing battle over reproductive rights in the United States, right-wing extremists consistently employ one particularly effective tactic: the relentless misuse and manipulation of language."
--Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Who is manipulating language? What does Planned Parenthood say about the term "partial birth abortion?" What does National Right to Life Committee say?

Last Extra Credit Opportunity:

Analyze the websites of these two opposing organizations and cite and explain three manipulative uses/abuses of language for each organization.

Then, after studying both websites and their related pages, provide your opinion about which organization (if either) tends to use slanted/ manipulative/ vague language the most, and which organization (if either) tends to use objective/clear/precise language the most. Support your answer with some additional examples and some statistical analysis based on numbers of pages reviewed/analyzed.

20 points

Don't let your own biases influence you!

Just in case you haven't got it yet on the satire thing:

Extra Credit: (5,000 points)

Can you tell the difference?
Which is a satire and which is the real thing?
What's the point?

#1. http://www.darfurgenocide.org/
#2.How can we raise awareness in Darfur?

Maricopa Scholarships click here!

 

So what have you learned in this course?

Thinking well, in order to choose well, is the hardest work in the world, but that is our virtue, what we are made for. Let us not shrink from the duty of our nature, but embrace it humbly and courageously.



Homework due:

  • Bring BOTH "Suspicious Statistics" and "Tone/Slanting" packets.
  • Final written analysis due: (10 points) Choose one:
    • Read all four articles of pages 14-18 in the "Tone/Slanting" packet.
    • And read all four articles of pages 22-23d in the "Suspicious Statistics " packet.
      • Choose one of the eight articles and in one paragraph summarize the writer's main point; in a second paragraph, critique the writer's reasoning/evidence. 200-300 words.
      • Be prepared to share your summary/critique aloud in class.

In-Class Activities:

  • Pre-exam Grade sheets
  • in-class activity: Tone/Bias packet activity (10 points)
    • Slanting: Saints and Sinners: Read pages 10 and 11 of the Tone/Bias packet. Each writer describes an encounter with the (then) recently deceased Mother Theresa of Calcutta, who became famous for her charitable care for the homeless and dying.
    • Show how each writer uses specific words and details to create a favorable or unfavorable slant, or unique point of view toward Mother Theresa. How does each person's background affect their bias?

 

So, you want to start over? Go ahead:

 Welcome to one of the most important courses you will take for your intellectual development: Critical and Evaluative Reading! Don't let the name fool you! This is not a course in phonics practice or fill in the blank skill drills, but a course in critical thinking. We will be challenged to develop skills of inference, detection of fallacies of thinking in the writings of others, and the ability to argue persuasively our own points of view. It is a reading course because we will read. But it is also a speaking course because we will speak and discuss, a writing course because we will write, a logic course because we will construct precise arguments. Most accurately, it is a thinking course, because we will think-- carefully, analytically and deeply-- about ourselves and the ideas of others. And through that process we will not only develop our intellects, but our self awareness.

 

Week
#1

Monday 8/25 and Tuesday, 8/26

PVCC Student Life Calendar

Grammar is the logic of speech, even as logic is the grammar of reason
--Richard C. Trench

Wednesday 8/27 and Thursday 8/28

"Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted...
but to weigh and consider." --Francis Bacon

Homework due:

So what is critical thinking?

No homework is due the first day of class, dddddddddddddddddddd
but take a look at what's due for next class and get started.---->>

In-Class Activities:

  • Intro to course procedures and requirements.
    • syllabus: course requirements and materials
    • Intro ARQ chapter 1 and study guides.

Homework due:

  1. Send me your e-mail address(and tell me who you are and your class section).
    thomas.butler@pvmail.maricopa.edu
  2. Read course syllabus
  3. Sign and hand in Student Information Sheet
  4. textbook: Asking the Right Questions, (ARQ) read chapter 1


    For extra help with the textbook, visit:
    Asking the Right Questions
    (click on the     "Jump to" pull-down window to go to specific chapters).

In-Class Activities:
  • The Reading Process. Take notes!
  • Slide show: The Reading Process. Take notes!
  • Take notes: How to read an essay.
  • Discuss ARQ 1
    Introduction to ARQ chapter 2
Week
# 2
"If you approach critical thinking as a method for defending your initial beliefs or those you are paid to have, you are engaged in weak-sense critical thinking.
Why is it weak? To use critical-thinking skills in this manner is to be unconcerned with moving toward truth or virtue." --Brown and Keeley, ARQ.

"What is truth?" Pilate asked. (John 18:38)

Monday 9/1:

No school

Tuesday 9/2

(Section # 13561, #13563)

Wednesday 9/3

(Section # 13562)

Thursday 9/4

(Section # 13561, #13563)
LABOR DAY

(campus closed)

Why do we celebrate
Labor Day, anyway?

 

Homework due:

  • Read ARQ, chapters 1 and 2 (It is strongly recommended, but not required, that you complete the ARQ study guides for all the ARQ chapters--they are not to be handed in.)

In-class Activities:

  • Introduction to essay, "Thinking as a Hobby"
  • Take notes: How to read an essay.
  • Discuss ARQ chapters 1 and 2: in class exercise: the difference between "weak-sense" and "strong-sense" critical thinking




    Butler's 3 Levels of Reading Here
    (no sound)

    3 levels of reading audio slide show
    (20 minutes)

    Homework due:

    • Start Reading ARQ chapters 1 and 2 (It is strongly recommended, but not required, that you complete the ARQ study guides for all the ARQ chapters--they are not to be handed in.)

      • In-class Activities:

    • Groups complete study guide Q #3 on TAAH
    • Introduce ARQ 3


    Homework due:

    Please format your homework essays properly. Here is an example.

    In-class Activities:

    • Groups complete study guide Q #3 on TAAH
    • Introduce ARQ Chapter3.
      • Finish "Thinking as a Hobby" Discussion Question
      • ARQ chapters 1 and 2 review: Discuss ARQ chap 2: Analyze "Worker Productivity"
      • Intro Chapter 3 ARQ.



      How to Read an Essay here.
      Week
      # 3

      Monday 9/8 and Tuesday 9/9

      "The number of those who go through the fatigue of judging for themselves is very small indeed!" --Richard Sheridan, 17th Century playwright

      Wednesday 9/10 and Thursday 9/11

      "It is one thing to show a man that he is in error,
      and another to put him in possession of the truth."
      -- John Locke
      Homework due :
      • First, study read ARQ chapter 3, then:

      • Read the whole Declaration of Independence carefully, in preparation for class discussion. As written homework, list the issue, conclusion, and reasons for just the second paragraph. (10 points, typed-- a labeled list, not an essay.) (If you need help understanding Jefferson's antiquated but beautiful English prose, read this paraphrase.)

      • Extra credit critical question (5 points applied to this assignment): Where do "rights" come from? why do you agree or disagree with Jefferson? Does Jefferson rely on natural law precepts to justify the revolt?

      In-Class Activities:
      • Wrap up "Thinking as a Hobby"
      • ARQ 2 and 3 review: What is the virtue of critical thinking?
      • Chapter 3: Analyze an argument

      For extra help with the textbook, visit:
      Asking the Right Questions
      (click on the "Jump to" pull-down window to go to specific chapters).

      A handy resources for life at PVCC:

      http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/counseling/

      5 points Extra Credit:
      Read the statement on truth

      If you believe in a personal God in whose image you are made, what rational arguments and evidence would you provide to attempt to persuade a non-believer into belief?

      If you do not believe in a personal God in whose image you are made, what rational arguments and evidence would you require to change your mind?
      Homework due:
      • ARQ chapter 4 analyze passage #3, page 50, typed:
        • Outline the Issue (prescriptive or descriptive?),
        • Conclusion,
        • Reasons, and
        • explain the ambiguous terms

        In-Class Activities:

        • Review chapter 4, passage 3
        • Group work:
          • Analyze "Government purchases"
          • Analyze Government health insurance
        What is a planet?
        What is no longer a planet?

        For more on ambiguous terms, visit here.

        Here's a site with lots of supplementary material on the Declaration

        How to convert a .wps or .wpd word processing file to a
        universal .rtf (rich text format) file

        for sharing with people whose computers can't open
        .wps or .wpd.

        Watch the 3 minute video.

        How to Read an Essay here.
        a funny cartoon about "best bids"
        Week
        # 4

        Monday 9/15 and Tuesday 9/16

        As Thomas Jefferson said: "A nation that is ignorant and free, is a nation that never was and never will be."

        PVCC Student Life Calendar

        Wednesday 9/17 and Thursday 9/18

        "In the United States the majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their own."--Alexis de Tocqueville
        Homework due:
        (PRIOR to attempting the homework assignment below this box,
        it is recommended you explore all the links below,
        which define and contrast news and opinion articles.)

          Homework due:

          • Clip/photocopy a short opinion piece (which makes it an argument) from a newspaper or magazine. Highlight/underline and label the Conclusion and Reasons, and ambiguous terms. Here's a good source of newspaper opinion pages.
          • Type an outline analysis of the article to include:
            1. A bibliographic citation of the article source with a complete URL to access the article if online.
            2. The Issue (prescriptive or descriptive?)
            3. The conclusion
            4. A list of the reasons given.
            5. The ambiguous terms (if any)
              Explain the problems of ambiguity in the conclusion and/or reasons. (              Remember: an ambiguous term is one that has more than one possible meaning, the choice of which could affect the acceptability of the conclusion. Don't label a word ambiguous just because you don't know its meaning, and don't claim its ambiguous without explaining how it could be interpreted in more than one way, thus affecting the acceptability of the conclusion.)

          • Reminder: Do NOT choose a news* article (see box above), but an opinion article. No credit for analyzing a news report. Do not forget to highlight and label the argument parts in the copy of the article you submit.

          In-Class Activities:

          • Review
          • Introduction to Chapter 5: Assumptions (right click and save to your computer)
          Homework due:
          In-Class Activities:
          • group activity
          • Review/ask questions for Quiz on ARQ 1-4.

           

           

          Please remember that if you are absent, the homework is still due on time unless previous arrangements are made with the teacher. Tests and quizzes cannot be made up unless previous arrangements are made.
          Week
          # 5

          Monday 9/22 and Tuesday 9/23

          "The fiction writer is an observer first,last, and always,but he cannot be an adequate observer unless he is free from uncertaintly about what he sees. Those who have no absolute values cannot let the relative remain merely relative; they are always raising it to the level of the absolute." --Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners

          Wednesday 9/24 and Thursday 9/25

          "Individuality begins in the realization that it is impossible to escape being influenced by other people and by circumstance."
          --Vincent Ruggiero, Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking

          Homework due:


          In-Class Activities:
          • Quiz on class notes and ARQ 1-4
          • Preview de Toqueville's Democracy in America

           

          Homework due:

          • ARQ chapter 6 read and do passages #1 and #2 in the book. Correct your own answers.
          • Analyze passage 3, p. 80, to turn in.: Conclusion, reasons, amibiguous terms, value assumptions, descriptive assumptions.

          In class activities:

          • ARQ 6 passage 3: fire safety
          • ARQ 5 passage: rainforest destruction
          • ARQ 5: passage: disturbed parents

          Extra Credit Opportunity: 10 points

          Find an online article or web site that contains one or more falsehoods represented as truth. In a one-page critique explain what is false, how it is false and deceptive, and why you believe the author is intentionally misrepresenting (motive for lying).

          Be cautious: It is easier to accuse than to prove!

          Extra Credit Opportunities!

          Attend one of the daytime or evening Grammar Workshops, presented by an experienced English professor,
          take notes, pick up handouts, and write a paragraph about it for 15 points extra credit.

          Grammar is the logic of speech, even as logic is the grammar of reason
          --Richard C. Trench

          OR

          Attend one of the Life Long Learning Seminars,
          take notes, pick up handouts, and write a paragraph about it for 15 points extra credit.

          Week
          #6

           

          Monday 9/29 and Tuesday 9/30

          "I know of no country in which there is so little true independence of mind and freedom of discussion as in America." --Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835

          Was de Tocqueville right? Is he right today?

          Wednesday 10/1 and Thursday 10/2

          That Chain E-mail Your Friend Sent to You Is (Likely) Bogus. Seriously.

           

          Homework due:

          In Class:

        • Review of Fire in our Community
        • Classwork: Amazon Rain Forests
          		•

          Homework due:

           

          In Class:

          • Analysis of ARQ 6 passage Housewives' stress

          • Groups create prescriptive arguments:

            • One prescriptive argument plus three reasons
            • avoid the use of ambiguous terms!
            • Possible topics:
              • smoking in restaurants
              • photo radar
              • legal drinking age
              • raising tuition to build more classroom space

           
          Week
          # 7

          Monday 10/6 and Tuesday 10/7

          "A long time ago Aristotle pointed out that every argument finally rests on something that cannot be proved[that is, an assumption], and that it is the mark of an uneducated person not to realize that." --Miller, E.L. and J. Jensen, Questions that Matter

          Wednesday 10/8 and Thursday 10/9

          "Clear thinking is a very rare thing, but even just plain thinking is almost as rare. Most of us most of the time do not think at all. We believe and we feel, but we do not think." --Leonard Woolf, 1936, British author
          Homework due:
          • Go to USA Today online to read the news article on high-tech parents.
          • (Or download a MS word document of it if you can't access the website.)
            • Write a brief essay in which you first summarize (in one paragraph) the issue being reported (Who, what, when, where, why, etc.).
            • Then, in your second paragraph, state the values of the parents and the values of the children and how they are in conflict.
            • Then state in the third paragraph what the descriptive assumptions are that may be underlying the parents' and the childrens' beliefs about this technology in general, and the devices in particular.
            • Finally, in your fourth paragraph, construct a short argument (one paragraph) in which you state your opinion on the issue and two or three reasons for your opinion. Try to avoid using ambiguous terms. Keep in mind the criteria for analysis as well as for writing as specified in the CRE 101 Rubric
            • This assignment, 2- 3 pages (double-spaced, size 12 type, one inch margins) is worth 20 points. (Four to five pages is too long!)

            In-Class Activities:

            • Analysis of Democracy in America
              • Practice finding value and descriptive assumptions (handout)

             

            Homework due:

            • ARQ chapter 7: Fallacies: read the chapter (required), and work through passages 1 and 2 and additional passages on the ARQ website. No passages are due in class.

            In-Class Activities:

            • Analysis of Democracy in America
              • Practice finding value and descriptive assumptions (handout)
            Please remember that if you are absent, the homework is still due on time unless previous arrangements are made with the teacher. Tests and quizzes cannot be made up unless previous arrangements are made.
            Week
            # 8

            Monday 10/13 and Tuesday 10/14
            PVCC Student Life Calendar
            "If a person believes only what he can see with his own eyes, then really he is blind…because in that case he is limiting his horizon in such a fashion that the essential things escape him." --Joseph Ratzinger

            Wednesday 10/15 and Thursday 10/16

            "In our culture repetition rather than research often leads us to believe something must be true. We need to use good critical thinking skills to find the truth."
            -John Bonavitacola

            Homework due:
            In-Class Activities:
            • Review High Tech Parents
            • ARQ chapter 7 passage practicePractice descriptive assumptions (yellow class handout)
            Homework due:
            • Article analysis: Read "Spanish Forbidden." Based on the article, which is not an argument, but a news report, construct a short summary of the controversy (one paragraph--objectively reported)

            • Then, follow with a short 3-reason argument (your opinion)one page maximum! Pay attention to ambiguity and value conflicts, and follow the Part VI guidelines for writing in the CRE 101 Rubric which was explained recently in class. (20 points total assignment)

            Extra Credit10 points)
            Analyze the arguments given by the school and by the students/parents for ambiguous terms and fallacies. One page.

            In-Class Activities:

            • Chapter 7 Fallacies practice: passages
            • Introduce ARQ chapters 8 and 9
            • Analysis of "gay marriage" arguments
            Week
            #9

            Monday 10/20 and Tuesday 10/21

            "There are two ways to slice easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking." --Alfred Korzybski, linguist

            [Wednesday 10/22: Different schedule and assignment]

            Thursday 10/23

            "Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day." --Thomas Jefferson

            Homework due:

            • None! Study for the midterm!

            In-Class Activities:

            Homework due: Thursday 10/23 only

            In-Class Activities:

            • Take the midterm exam, part 1
            • Explanation of midterm take-home, Part 2, (100 points, application of knowledge to critical analysis)

             

            Want to find out whether McCain or Obama is fudging the facts, misleading the electorate, or (gasp!) lying? Visit http://factcheck.org/
            Want to find out which campaign can be fairly accused of being the bigger liar? (Sorry, the race is too close to call)

             
            Week
            #10

            Monday 10/27 and Tuesday 10/28

            He who establishes his argument by noise and command, shows that his reason is weak.--Michel de Montaigne
            French essayist (1533 - 1592)

            Wednesday 10/29 and Thursday 10/30

            I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly. --Michel de Montaigne
            Homework due::
            • Monday due: Questions on Arizona Ballot Proposition presentation
            • Tuesday due: midterm take-home, Part 2 due via e mail attachment

            In-Class Activities:

            • Monday only: In-Class Midterm exam
            • Tuesday only: Intro of Chapter 8, ARQ: How Good is the Evidence and ARQ 7, Fallacies practice
            Homework due:
            • Wednesday only:midterm take-home, Part 2 due via e mail attachment
            • Thursday only: Complete this Critical Thinker Inventory to submit in class. Download this document and fill it in and print it off. (20 points for a thorough, thoughtful, completion of the assignment)

            In-Class Activities:

            • Midterm review
            • Midterm grades
            • Intro of Chapter 8, ARQ: How Good is the Evidence

            We will continue to practice finding assumptions as we m