Reference no: EM133760569

Critical Reasoning

Course Project:

Project Overview
Over the 8 weeks of the course, you will work on a paper that addresses a current controversial issue. This paper is to be in the form of an argument. You will select a topic, choose an issue related to that topic, thoroughly research both sides of the issue, and then write a paper that supports one side or the other of the issue. Your paper must define the issue, present evidence on both sides of the issue, and then argue that one side is stronger and more persuasive than the other. Your paper must address at least three relevant aspects of the issue. More specific directions for each part of the paper will be found within the specific assignment in the weekly modules.

Assignment:
This week, you will choose one of the following topics for your project.
Step 1: Pick a topic. If you want to propose a different topic, you must have the consent of your instructor.

Step 2: Complete the Week 2 assignment template
Using the Week 2 assignment templateLinks to an external site., think about the important questions you must answer in order to support your claim.

Requirements
• Complete the Week 2 Topic Selection assignment template.

Outcomes•

CO 6: Apply principles of critical reasoning to political, educational, economic, and/or social issues.
• CO 7: Create a fallacy-free argument that incorporates principles of ethical decision-making.

Assignment:
This week, you will submit a thesis statement and an annotated bibliography of at least five sources that you will use in your paper, as well as a brief statement explaining how the source supports your argument.
Your paper should include the following:
• Your selected topic from Week 2
• Part 1: A thesis statement stating your opinion/conclusion on the issue you chose in Week 2, the supporting points you will offer, and at least one relevant opposing view you will address.
• Part 2: An annotated bibliography with an evaluation of at least five (5) sources you intend to use in your final paper to support your claim.
• The annotation will include 1) Full citation in APA format, 2) a brief description of the content of the source, and 3) a brief statement of how the source supports your argument.
o These sources provide evidence to support the idea that your claim should be accepted by the reader.
o Scholarly sources are preferred and should be used where available; due to the nature of some of the topics, authoritative articles in very high-quality substantive journals may also be acceptable.
o A brief statement of how the source supports your argument.

Chosen Topic: Does the burden of student loans cause young adults to have trouble developing self-sufficiency and individualism?
Thesis Statement: The current pattern of young adults remaining with family because they cannot afford independent living due to student loan obligations is having a negative effect on young adults developing self-sufficiency and individualism.

The authors use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They found their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families.
This source strongly supports my thesis that the current pattern of young adults remaining with family because they cannot afford independent living due to student loan obligations is having a negative effect on young adults developing self-sufficiency and individualism.
Writing Requirements
• Length:
o 100-150 words for the Thesis Statement in Part 1;
o In Part 2, in addition to the APA citation, 50-80 words per source are used for a brief description of the source's content, and 50-80 words are used to describe how you will use the source in your essay.

Outcomes
• CO 3: Analyze deductive and inductive reasoning structures.
• CO 4: Evaluate arguments by applying standard tests.
• CO 5: Evaluate the role of cognitive bias and fallacies of relevance in critical reasoning and decision-making.
• CO 7: Create a fallacy-free argument that incorporates principles of ethical decision-making.

Course Project: Argumentative Paper

Assignment
This checklist should be the final step as you prepare to write your argumentative essay. You should have completed your research and thought about what you will write and how you will present it. This checklist will help you to organize your points and make sure you have good support for your argument, as well as an effective response to opposing arguments.

Outcomes
• CO: 4 Evaluate arguments by applying standard tests.
• CO: 5 Evaluate the role of cognitive bias and fallacies of relevance in critical reasoning and decision-making.
• CO: 7 Create a fallacy-free argument that incorporates principles of ethical decision-making.

Assignment
This week, all the hard work you have done in researching your topic and issue will come to fruition in your argumentative paper. Address the requirements below to complete your paper:
1. Follow the directions in the assigned textbook reading on how to write an argumentative essay on the issue you chose in Week 1.
2. Write a 4-6-page argumentative essay on your chosen topic.
3. Be sure your essay contains the following:
o An opening paragraph that states a clear thesis that is focused, plausible, and arguable and that gives direction and purpose to the paper
o A fair-minded, balanced, and objective development of the pros and cons of the issue in a well-organized sequence of ideas, free of mechanical errors
o Credible, reliable, and authoritative evidence in support of the points made
o A minimum of five authoritative sources that support your claim
o A strong conclusion that summarizes your views, reminds the audience of the issue and its importance, and shows in brief that you have successfully defended your thesis
4. Once you feel you have got the final draft, try to put the paper aside, even for a few hours, and then read it again.
5. Consider these questions when you review your paper:
o Did you address at least three aspects of the issue you chose?
o Does each aspect have relevant and authoritative evidence in support of your point?
o Have you included a view that is in opposition to your viewpoint, and have you answered that opposing view, pointing out its flaws in such a way as to refute it?
6. Edit your paper
o Look for wordiness, repetition, vagueness, and ambiguity.
o Check the organization of the paper as a whole; make sure each paragraph maintains focus.
o After you are satisfied that the content of your paper is good, carefully proofread it and correct mechanical errors.

Outcomes
• CO 4: Evaluate arguments by applying standard tests.
• CO 5: Evaluate the role of cognitive bias and fallacies of relevance in critical reasoning and decision-making.
• CO 6: Apply principles of critical reasoning to political, educational, economic, and/or social issues.
• CO 7: Create a fallacy-free argument that incorporates principles of ethical decision-making.

Course Project: Argumentative Paper

Introduction
This checklist should be the final step as you prepare to write your argumentative essay. You should have completed your research and thought about what you will write and how you will present it. This checklist will help you to organize your points and make sure you have good support for your argument, as well as an effective response to opposing arguments.

Instruction

This assignment is worth 30 points. To successfully complete this assignment, you must respond to the seven (7) bold-faced writing prompts.

Questions

1. What question am I answering?
2. What is my conclusion? (For example:  defunding the police is not a good idea)
3. What are my reasons? Very briefly, state your conclusion as "therefore" and your reasons as "because".

EXAMPLE:
BECAUSE defunding the police will not make communities safer 
BECAUSE defunding police will disproportionately affect marginalized communities 
BECAUSE defunding the police will make it difficult to recruit qualified candidates 
THEREFORE, defunding the police is not a good idea 

If you can write out the conclusion and the reasons supporting it, and a few words about why the subject is important, you have the main elements that you need for an opening paragraph that contains a good "road map" thesis statement.

4. Each of your reasons as
1) strongly relevant and supportive
2) relevant, but not strongly supportive
3) needs work

Examine your because/therefore statement. Are the reasons you plan to develop supportive of your conclusion? Suppose one of your reasons is that defunding will cause police officers to be laid off - they will be out of work and may have trouble finding other jobs.

a. Defunding could certainly have such a result, but is it a good reason?  If an institution is fundamentally flawed and considered harmful, then the fact that people won't have jobs in that institution will not be convincing to opponents.

b. Your opponents - people who want to police defunded - aren't going to care if people lost their jobs - your opponents want fewer police.

5. For each of your stated reasons, list the type of evidence you think you will need

a. Supporting reason 1 - type of evidence needed 
b. Supporting reason 2 - type of evidence needed 
c. Supporting reason 3 - type of evidence needed

For each of your reasons, ask yourself if you have recent credible and authoritative evidence to support that argument. What kind of evidence will you need?  Obviously, one type of evidence would be statistics on crime increases in cities that have defunded police. Here is a list of types of evidence:
• Factual evidence 
• Expert opinion 
• Statistical evidence 
• Textual evidence from a sourcFor this part of the checklist, choose just one opposing argument: the one you believe may be the strongest opposing argument. For example, in an argument supporting defunding police, a strong opposing argument would be e document, for example, studies, surveys, research papers 
• Analogical evidence - comparisons to similar situations

6. What is the strongest opposing argument?

For this part of the checklist, choose just one opposing argument: the one you believe may be the strongest opposing argument. For example, in an argument supporting defunding police, a strong opposing argument would be

that when police departments' budgets are cut, violence and civilian injuries increase.

7. How can you best respond to that argument in a way that will convince your audience to agree with your conclusion? Look at the following checklist of possible responses to opposing arguments (Graff & Birkenstein, 2009). Which one(s) will work best for your argument?

a. The claim that _____ rests upon the questionable assumption that _____.
b. X may have been true in the past, but recent research has shown that ________.
c. By focusing on _____, X has overlooked the more significant problem of _____.
d. Although I agree with X up to a point, I cannot accept the overall conclusion that _____.
e. Though I concede that _____, I still insist that _____.
f. Whereas X has provided ample evidence that ____, Y and Z's research on ____ and ____ convinces me that _____ instead.
g. Although I grant that _____, I still maintain that _____.
h. While it is true that ____, it does not necessarily follow that _____.
Graff, G., & Birkenstein, C. (2009). They say/I say: The moves that matter in academic writing (2nd ed.). Norton.