Opinion Piece Analysis
Assignment Overview & Purpose
Before you can build infallible arguments of your own, it's important to understand the work that goes into one. This assignment provides you with the opportunity to select an opinion article on a topic of your choice, read it critically, dissect it to it's parts, and assess the work with a careful, debaters eye.
Throughout our education, career, and lives, we will have to critically listen to arguments to determine what we should do. Should we agree with the debater, or not? Exposure to these arguments, in combination with critical listening, allows us to make voting decisions, purchases, investments, and other important decisions will not regret later.
Part of determining if we should agree with an argument (and vote for that candidate, buy that product, or spend that money) is knowing the ins and outs of an argument enough to recognize a faulty one.
Learning Objectives
Identify propositions of fact, value, and policy
Analyze units of argument for soundness of reasoning
Label presumption as either natural or artificial
Recognize which terms involved in a controversy are critical enough to be defined
Identify and apply knowledge of norms and rules within a field of argumentation
Critique arguments to determine if the burden of proof has been met
Instructions
1. Pick an opinion article from a reputable news source or magazine (or as reputable as you can find) remember that this is a professional environment and your topic should be appropriate for the audience and respectful of our classroom climate
2. Read the article to familiarize yourself with the author's argument
3. Download the article as a .pdf file
4. Compile 6 sources to deepen you understanding of the topic of the opinion piece you selected these 6 sources must be used and cited in your analysis
1. 3 must be academic/scholarly/peer-reviewed
2. 3 can be popular
5. Re-read the article and find the following components:
1. The proposition the author has advocated for
2. 2 key terms that could help you make sense their argument (these key terms should only come from the proposition)
3. At least 2 rules of engagement the author had to abide by when building their argument
4. At least 1 instance of ethos
5. At least 1 instance of logos
6. Download the Opinion Piece Analysis APA Template.docx
7. In the introduction section of the template, include the following components:
1. The name of the article you picked
2. The author of the article you picked
3. The publisher of the article you picked
4. A summary of the author's argument
5. Information from your 6 sources (found in step 4) as needed
6. APA in-text citations when needed
8. In the proposition section of the template, include the following components:
1. The proposition you found in step 5
2. The type of proposition the author has advocated for (fact, value, or policy)
3. The type of presumption (natural or artificial) the author is working against
4. An explanation of why you selected the presumption that you did
5. Information from your 6 sources (found in step 4) as needed
6. APA in-text citations when needed
9. In the key terms section of the template, include the following components:
1. The 2 key terms you found in step 5
2. Definitions for each key term that make sense in the context of the author's argument these could be your definitions of the terms, or the authors
3. Information from your 6 sources (found in step 4) as needed
4. APA in-text citations when needed
10. In the rules of engagement section of the template, include the following components:
1. The rules of engagement (at least 2) you found in step 5
2. An explanation of why each rule is important to follow while arguing in this field of argumentation
3. Information from your 6 sources (found in step 4) as needed
4. APA in-text citations when needed
11. In the evidence section of the template, include the following components:
1. The instance of ethos you found in step 5
2. The instance of logos you found in step 5
3. Your assessment of whether or not the ethos used by the author is helpful or harmful for their argument
4. Your assessment of whether or not the logos used by the author is helpful or harmful for their argument
5. Information from your 6 sources (found in step 4) as needed 6. APA in-text citations when needed
12. In the conclusion section of the template, include the following components:
1. A detailed assessment on your opinion of the article
2. Your stance on the proposition before and after reading the article
3. An explanation of why your stance changed (if you were convinced) or why it stayed the same (if you were not)
4. Information from your 6 sources (found in step 4) as needed
5. APA in-text citations when needed
13. On the references page of the template, include APA reference citations for all the sources you cited in your work
14. Save your Opinion Piece Analysis ad a PDF file.
15. Submit the PDF file of the article you picked (from step 3) and the PDF file of your Opinion Piece Analysis together by the due date above both documents must be a part of the same submission