Extra Credit Opportunities:

Extra Credit assignments will be evaluated on the same basis as regular required assignments. So, a grade may be assigned such as 20 out of 25 points (a "B," for example). However, it will not be averaged into your grade as a "B." Rather, it will be added to the Extra Credit category on your grade sheet as 20 points to the positive. You may do as many extra credit activities as you like until you have accumulated 60 points. 60 points of extra credit will raise your overall average by about 6percentage points.

Sixty point Extra Credit Assignment:

Do not do this one without prior agreement and approval of Dr. Butler

Critical inquiry into assisted suicide and the academy award winning movie, "Million Dollar Baby."

Extra Credit: (15 points) If the contact information is available, contact the reporter who wrote the article you analyzed as biased, or slanted. Share your analysis with them and solicit their response. Do it by phone (take notes) or e-mail. Submit their response with your comment on the response for 15 points.

Extra Credit: (25 points) Erich von Daniken, in his book, Chariots of the Gods, claims that some mysterious lines that are found on the Nazca Desert of Peru, and which stretch for miles, are evidence for the visit of extraterrestrial beings many years ago. Do some research and find a rebuttal to his argument. You paper should include a summary of von Daniken's theory (one to two paragraphs), and a summary of a good rebuttal of his theory (another one or two paragraphs). Explain why the rebuttal has, or has not, successfully rebutted von Daniken (another one or two paragraphs). Finally, indicate what questions you have regarding the theories and evidence presented that would need to be answered in order for you to accept either position. Be sure to identify and cite any sources you find for your paper whether in books, magazines or on the internet.

Extra Credit 25 points: Visit the NOVA website Aliens If you are a believer in past visits to earth from alien spaceships, read the three interviews of the skeptics Carl Sagan, Paul Horowitz and Philip Klass. Summarize their reasons for refusing to accept the claims of those who say aliens have visited earth and abducted some of us. Then, explain why, in spite of the views of these experts, you still believe in alien visits/abductions. What issues/evidence have these experts not satisfactorily dealt with?

OR.... If you are not a believer in alien visits/abductions, read the three interviews of the three believers, John Mack, Budd Hopkins, and John Velez (the graphic artist from the video, whose artwork graces the above mentioned web page). Summarize their responses to the skeptics: Why do they continue to believe, in spite of the criticisms of other experts, such as Sagan, Horowitz, and Klass? What of the believers' points are the most valid and deserve further scientific investigation?

Extra Credit: (25 points)
48 viewers wrote commentary to NOVA after viewing the video "Kidnapped by UFO's?"

Visit the NOVA website UFO Abduction Feedback

Read the first 20 letters. Some letters raved about how good the show was and some said it was biased and unfair. Summarize the important issues raised in the commentary and then make your own claim about the quality of the show. Stipulate at least three reasons why you believe the way you do, based on reference to the critical thinking concepts you have learned from Asking the Right Questions. In other words, if you liked the show, state how it followed certain principles of good critical thinking as developed in ARQ. If you didn't like the show, state how it violated or ignored principles of good critical thinking as developed in ARQ.

Ghoulish Extra Credit!

(20 points, well done)

Critically read the news report "Town decries police inquiry into vampire slaying." (This is a news report, not an opinion piece!)

Imagine yourself as a CRE 101 investigator, sent by your classmates to Romania to investigate these "vampire slayings*," which are really occurring, and for which people are getting in trouble with the police. Your mission is to analyze the news report and the testimonial evidence provided by the police and villagers below, and to report back to the class with your judgment on the truth of the matter regarding this phenomenon. Be creative, but:

EXTRA CREDIT: "Be Like We Tell You"
Read the article "Be Like We Tell YOU" and summarize the argument. Then provide a critique of the reasoning and the values assumptions underlying the reasons. Your critique should address the quality and appropriateness of the evidence offered. Your job is not to disagree with the writer, but to critique her reasoning.
25 points

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

 

Watch TV and get Extra Credit!

Yup, its true! Videotape three different one-minute commercials and analyze them for 25 points.

For each commercial, do the following:

  • Summarize the content of thecommercial in a paragraph.
  • Then, state the commercial's main prescriptive conclusion (more than likely, it will be something like, "Buy this!"), and the reasons the commercial provides for why you should. (Some of the reasons may not be stated, but only implied by the visual presentation).
  • Analyze the type and quality of evidence.
  • Explain how the commercial appeals to emotion and reason (if it does appeal to re ason!)
  • Consider what significant information is omitted that could affect the conclusion (your desire to buy it!).
  • Consider what, if anything is deceptive, false or misleading about the commercial.
  • Write about a page for each commercial.
  • Save the videotape but don't turn it in, unless I request it. It is primarily to allow you to replay as necessary while studying it.

They faked the moon landing!

Yup! And for 15 points Extra Credit, you can ask some suspicious questions.

In 1969, I watched on television, along with most of the rest of the world, American astronaut Neil Armstrong step off a lunar landing module onto the surface of the moon as he exclaimed, "That's one small step for man, one giant step for mankind." I saw the subsequent parades and interviews with the returning heroes. But, was I fooled? According to Bart Winfield Sibrel, the writer, producer, and director of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon (moonmovie.com), I was fooled, along with all of America and the world! No men have ever been on the moon, he claims, and he has the "proof."

Your mission, should you wish to accept it, is to explore his website Moonmovie.com and examine all the claims he makes, and then make a list of critical questions that you would like answers to before you accept his claim. You need to be skeptical, even cynical, in your reading: think about how he might be misleading or wrong in his statements, either intentionally or unintentionally. What significant information is missing that would help you accept his claim that the landing was faked? What alternative explanations (rival causes) might there be for some of the "evidence" he says he's "uncovered?"

Please, do not agree with him. His claims seem to be plausible, and your job is to not fall for a hoaxed hoax.

Your grade will be based on the quality and number of appropriately skeptical questions you pose, and your reasons for posing them. Though I don't recommend it, you could send him a check for $19.95 plus handling charges (Oops! Three years later it now costs $29.95 and Amazon.com handles the business for him!) (Double oops!! Two more years later it now costs $39.00 for the DVD--do you see a trend here*?) to actually purchase and view his video--I'm sure it will be interesting viewing, as well as slick and persuasive. Of course, he could be right....but, then, the moon could be made of green cheese....

P.S. DVD's are much cheaper to reproduce than videotapes. Only about a dollar...

Extra Credit:

Clip or zerox from a newspaper or magazine 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. 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. (15 points)

CRE 101: Write a Letter to the Editor!

(25 points)

(Plus an additional 25 points extra credit possible!)


Read a current newspaper editorial or "letter to the editor." Write a letter to the editor responding to the letter or column which you read. In your response, argue a different point of view, criticizing the original writer's arguments, particularly his/her use of (or lack of) evidence.


The point of this assignment is that if you disagree with someone's position, you should be able to express your reasons for why you hold your view and why the opposite view is weak or flawed.


Your letter to the editor should conform to the requirements of the newspaper as stated on its editorial page. Specifically, it should be short and concise. That means long enough to make your point clear and no longer than necessary to state your case (100-200 words). Long letters to the editor are rarely published, so do not pick something complicated. You should have no more than two or three points, clearly stated. Do not ramble or "pad" your writing.


Don't forget, you are writing a mini essay , or "attempt," and you should go through numerous revisions before you have a publishable product.

  1. Your letter should be typed double-spaced, and include the name and address of the newspaper or magazine to which you are writing (or exact website address).
  2. Include a photocopy of the column or letter to which you are responding, and identify the newspaper and date of publication.
  3. I will write comments and suggest revisions and you will revise again, if necessary, and submit the final draft to me for up to 25 points.
  4. After you have received a grade from me for it, you may submit the letter to the newspaper (not required), and if it is published, bring in a copy of the complete page of the newspaper for 25 points extra credit.

    You may choose to write to any of hundreds of periodicals: traditional newspapers or magazines, whether local, regional, national or international; or web-based newspapers or magazines, of which there are many. If you are planning to submit for publication, realize that the bigger, national presses will be harder to get published in because they receive so much mail. Submitting letters by e-mail is the faster way to get a response, even for paper-based publications.

    If you submit to a web-based publication, it should be an established periodical, and not a discussion board where anyone can get anything posted.

    Have you read all of the above information twice?

    Do you understand all the steps and requirements of the assignment?

     

    (Long experience tells me to add this friendly reminder!)