Assignment: Synthesizing and Writing

When looking for information about a particular issue, how often do you try to resist biases toward your own point of view? This assignment asks you to engage in this aspect of critical thinking.

Write at three to four page paper in which you address the following:

1. Restate your topic from Assignment 1, give your position on the topic, and explain why you chose that topic. Identify two opposing views on the topic, and then present the view that you'll try to defend in the assignment. Be prepared to support your opinion with academic sources.

2. Identify three reasons to support your position. In separate paragraphs, go through each reason and describe why it supports the position you took in the first section.

3. Go back to your Believing Game answers from Assignment 1. Describe why you thought those responses were true. What led you to ‘believe' things in that way? Was it an expectation (straw man) or did you truly examine what they were saying?

4. Identify at least two biases you experienced in your examination of the topic. How did the biases support or contradict the position you took? Did the biases create a barrier to your thinking?

5. Since we all have biases or opinions, how did your own background shape the way you felt about the topic you presented in the first section?

6. Now that you have used the Believing Game, has your thinking about the topic changed? If so, why? If not, why not?

The paper should follow guidelines for clear and organized writing:

• Include an introductory paragraph and concluding paragraph.
• Address main ideas in body paragraphs with a topic sentence and supporting sentences.
• Adhere to standard rules of English grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and spelling.
• Follows APA citation rules. (Note: Since Procon was used as a resource in Assignment 1, it is fine to cite again here)

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA Style format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

Note: This assignment will be automatically run through SafeAssign plagiarism detection software in order to check for originality, and a report will be sent to your instructor.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Identify the informal fallacies, assumptions, and biases involved in manipulative appeals and abuses of language.
• Create written work utilizing the concepts of critical thinking.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in critical thinking skills and informal logic.