2019-06-18 Writing: facts and opinions

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - Notes from all classes
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Homework: p. 170 (all) - noun and adjective forms of words
part A
1 violent
2 harmful
3 aggressive
4 angry
5 sensitive
6 entertaining
7 imaginative
8 emotional
part B
1 violence
2 harm
3 entertainment
4 aggression
5 emotional
6 imagination
7 entertaining
8 sensitivity
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Facts vs. Opinions
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fact: real, objective things which we can check or test
	“People who play violent video games are more violent than people who don’t.”
	(If two people disagree about a fact, at least one of them is wrong.)
opinion: subjective feelings which we can’t check
	“Violent video games are disgusting.”
	(If two people disagree about an opinion, neither one is wrong.)

Statements about facts can be unsupported, unproven, or completely false, without becoming opinions.
	“It’s colder in New York than in Boston.” - I don’t know if this is true, but it’s not an opinion.
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p. 171 - Which statements are facts? Which are opinions?
- All the statements on the left are facts, all the ones on the right are opinions, except the one about “dangerous”. (It doesn’t become an opinion just because I don’t know what accident reports say.)
(“dangerous” is vague, and some might argue it’s always an opinion without more details)

Mrs. King said, “I am a good mother.” - fact, because she really said this
		      I am a good mother. - opinion, because this isn’t an objective fact
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p. 172 - Complete the outline of the video game paragraph. Then decide if each statement is a fact or opinion.
A	F
  1	F
  2	F
B	O (or unsupported fact - we could check this, but the writer didn’t check)
  1 I believe that these games make it entertaining to shoot and kill, and the line between imaginary violence and real violence becomes very thin or disappears entirely for children. O (or unsupported F)
  2	F
  3	F
C In my opnion, children who do not...solution. O
  1	F
  2 Two students shot and killed 12 classmates, a teacher, and themselves at a Colorado high school. F
  3	F
I feel...banned. O
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true fact: It is 20 degrees in Boston right now.
“false fact”: It is 30 degrees in Boston right now.
unverified fact: It is 30 degrees in Miami right now.
conjecture/guess: It is probably about 30 degrees in Miami right now.
opinion: It’s too cold to go swimming right now.
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Be careful: people can be incorrect (or lying) about whether something is a fact or opinion.
“In my view, the sun rises in the east.” - “in my view” doesn’t make this an opinion. It’s a fact.
“Researchers agree, this morning’s sunrise was gorgeous.” - this is an opinion, not a fact
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p. 173 - Transitions for facts and opinions

Opinions:
In my opinion, [sentence]
In my view,...
From my perspective,...
I believe / I think / I feel
In my mind,...

Sources for facts (or opinions):

According to [source], [sentence].
	According to the 2010 Census, there were 617,680 people living in the city of Boston.
	According to research,...
Based on [source], [sentence].

(Sources can also give opinions: “According to critics, that was the best movie of 2018.”)
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You can use facts to support opinions.
What sorts of facts could support, “It’s too cold to go swimming today.”?
- The temperature (of the air and/or the water)
- How that temperature affects the body. (Health effects of being cold.)
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Homework: list some potential facts that could support these opinions
	- Homework should be banned.
	- It’s bad to study English.
	- All people should be vegetarians.