Sunday, November 25, 2012

Critical Thinking 2


Factory Farming. Butter-yellow, fluffy and; trusting hens
" Factory Farming "should not be legal. There are other more natural ways to produce needed
food supply.

What are the Issue and the Conclusion ?

About the Cover :

" Factory farming " should not be legal. "  The author's conclusion.
This is the author's answer to the question:
Should factory farming be legalized ??

The author supports this belief with another:
There are other more natural ways to produce needed food supply. (The supporting belief)
The supporting belief is not a conclusion because it is used to prove something else.

To believe one statement (a conclusion) because you think it is well supported by other beliefs
is to make an inference. When people engage in this process, they are reasoning; the conclusion is the outcome of this reasoning.

Issue:

An issue is a question or controversy responsible for the conversation or discussion. It is the
stimulus for what is being said.

" Descriptive "   issues are those that raise questions about the accuracy of descriptions of the
past, present, or future. The answers are commonly found in textbooks, magazines, Internet, and
television.

How much will universities cost in 2012 ??
Who made the decision to increase tax ??

" Prescriptive "   issues are those that raise questions about what we should do or what is right
or wrong, good or bad, desirable or undesirable, good or bad.

Should the government bailout The Big Three automakers in subprime mortgage crisis 2008 ??
Should we outlaw SUV or face increasing rates of asthma ??

Conclusions:

A conclusion is the message that the speaker or the writer wishes you to accept. Conclusions are inferred; they are derived from the reasoning. Conclusions are ideas that require other
ideas to support them. Thus, whenever someone claims something is true or ought to be done and provides no statements to support her claims, that claim is not the conclusion because on one has offered any basis for belief.

Understanding the nature of a conclusion is an essential step toward critical reading listening.

Clues to Discover : How to Find Conclusions

1. Ask what the issue is.
    The title, the opening paragraph... Sometimes, skinning several page may be necessary.

2. Look for indicator words.
    consequently,  suggest that
    hence,             therefore
    points,             to the conclusion that
    ...                    ...

3. Look in likely location.
    At the beginning or the end of the article.

4. Remember what the conclusion is not.
    Example, Statistics, Definitions, Background Information, Evidence.


 
Home Schooling.

Home schooling is a valid concept if the parent makes teaching a full time job, and has the insight, knowledge, and patience to do so. However, the truth of the matter is that few parents who home school their child are capable of doing so.

Parents may choose to pull their student out of public schools for the wrong reasons. Sometimes, when children are a discipline problem, the parents will pull them out of school rather than tolerating the rules associated with punishment. Such a motivation dose not speak well for a probable results of home schooling that follows. In addition, when there are no adult to monitor what is going on at home, it is likely that if there is a case abuse in the home that it will go unnoticed. Society needs to know whether these children are getting the education and treatment they deserve.

Response:
The second sentence of the passage is the conclusion. There are listed reasons in the second
paragraph that suggest why some parents' motivation to home school their children would lend
to an ineffective home schooling experience.

Issue : Should all parents be allowed to home school their children ??
Conclusion : No, most parents are not capable of home schooling.

Before you can evaluate the author's argument, you must clearly identify the issue and conclusion.

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