2015-08-13 Writing: facts, opinions, transitions

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk
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Homework: p. 172 - complete the outline with information from the paragraph about video games, and then decide whether each reason and detail is a fact or an opinion
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Topic O
A F
1 F
2 F
B O
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
2 F
3 F (She really did say this on a talk show.)
C Children who do not have good home situations or who have emotional problems may not understand that violence is not a good solution. O
1 F (maybe? the massacre really happened in 1999, but is it really an example of this thinking?)
2 Two students shot and killed 12 classmates, a teacher, and themselves at the Colorado high school. F
3 F
Concluding sentence: I feel that violent video games are harmful to young people and should be controlled--or, even better, banned. O

affect, bed, said, red, pet, met
a fact, bad, sad, rad, pat, mat
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Two types of facts:
anecdote - one person’s individual experience (one specific example of something)
	(example: the story about the Columbine shooting)
data/research - information from many people or many examples of something (often with statistics and other objective numbers)
	(example: video games can change the behavior of young people; after playing these games, players have more aggressive thoughts)

Data and research are stronger evidence, because they attempt to get the full big picture, instead of just one example. However, this kind of evidence is also less interesting and less convincing to most readers.
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p. 173 - transition signals in opinion paragraphs
your own opinion: in my opinion, in my view, I believe, I think, I feel
someone else’s fact or opinion: According to [source],...
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I hate this song!
- Me too! (I also hate it.)
= I hate it too.

I don’t hate bananas.
- Me neither. (I also don’t hate them.)
= I don’t hate them either.
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p. 174 - outline example
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Homework: think of a topic that many people disagree about and write your own outline on p. 177