2016-06-10 Writing: facts and opinions

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk
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Homework: read the article on p. 168-169 and answer the 4 questions on p. 169
1 The writer thinks violent video games are harmful to young people. “In my opinion”
2 three
3 First of all, A second reason...is that, A third reason is that
4 maybe the first one, because it includes facts about scientific research
	(but there isn’t a strong emotional component)
  maybe the last one, because the example is extreme and emotional
	(but the author doesn’t make a strong link to video games)

What transitions are used to give examples?
“Thirteen-year-old Noah Wilson, for example, was stabbed…”
“An extreme example of this kind of thinking…”
	(“for example” can go between commas after the subject of the sentence, instead of at the beginning of the sentence)
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Facts and Opinions:
fact = something real that can be tested or proved; if people disagree about a fact, at least one of them is wrong
opinion = something someone believes or feels; if people disagree about an opinion, neither of them is necessarily wrong

p. 171 - which statements are facts? which are opinions?

According to highway accident reports, using a cell phone while driving is dangerous.
Mrs. King said, “I am a good mother.”
- These are facts, because we can check whether accident reports really say this, and we can check whether Mrs. King really said she was a good mother.
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p. 172 - Complete the outline of the paragraph about video games, and identify whether each statement is a fact or opinion.
A	F (we can check if studies show this)
  1	F (we can check if researchers really said this)
  2	F (this is still about the research)
B	O (or unsupported fact - we can check it, 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 fact)
  2	F
  3	F (his mother really said this)
C	In my opinion, 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
conc:	I feel… O
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Be careful: a writer might use words like “opinion” or “research”, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the statement is really an opinion or a fact.

“In my opinion, Boston is the largest city in the United States.”
“According to researchers, the sunrise was beautiful this morning.”
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Homework: Read p. 173 and 174