Assessment Task: Critical Analysis
Outcomes:
Assess, explain and engage in debates about what national governments can and should do;
Confidently write about, present and discuss nominated social policy interventions.
There are very few, if any issues in our society that are not controversial in some way. On this basis it is important that you are able to identify and engage with the arguments put forward within a given debate, whether it is about climate change, family breakdown or the supposed deviance of young people. Your task in this first assignment is to identify the component parts of an author's argument - the claims they make, the evidence they use to support their claims and the assumptions that they rely on in advocating a particular position.
Identifying the key parts of an argument is the first step in being able to understand an author's position on a controversial issue or topic. The next step is to evaluate the credibility of the arguments put forward by the author. To do this you will have to identify both the strengths and weaknesses of the argument. In this regard, your crucial analysis should address a number of key questions about the author's/s' contributions to the debate:
1. What claims do the author(s) they make?
2. What evidence is used to support these claims?
3. Does the evidence provided by the author match the claims they make?
4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence the author provides in support of their key claims?
5. What assumptions does the author(s) rely on in advocating a particular position?
6. Are these assumptions reasonable?
Assessment Criteria:
Accurately represented the attitudes and opinions of the author;
Identified both the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence and assumption presented by the author and from this assessed the overall credibility of the argument;
Demonstrated good writing, expression and grammar;
Organised the content of your answer.
Word Length: 1500 words.
Attachment:- Assignment.rar