Hello again composition students!
It is time for our first classroom assignment: the Critical Eye assignment due this Thursday, June the 6th.
This assignment will have you flexing your critical thinking muscles by
analyzing an image, video, or article for the argument being made, how
it is presented, and what the implications of the argument are.
You may analyze anything you wish as long as you can show how it is
being used to argue a point. You need not show your whole video or read
your whole article in class, but an overview would be nice, as well a
link for those who wish to read or view the material at a later date.
You will be asked to present your findings in class, but you may also
post here for extra points. I will post an example, which we will go
over in class, so that you can see how this assignment works. The
assignment should take you around five minutes to present and is worth
25 points towards your final grade. If you post something to this blog
as part of the assignment you will receive and extra five points.
Here is an example of the Critical Eye assignment:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2012/10/30/opinion/granderson-legalize-pot
Consider the source and the audience: This is written in the opinion section of CNN Online. It was written by a liberal sounding man, but he also writes for ESPN, so he seems a little more well-rounded. He seems to be writing to a general audience that will neither take everything he says at face value or be overly critical of his position.
Lay out the argument and the underlying values and assumptions:
He is arguing that cannabis should be legalized, not for increased revenue, but because we know more about the drug than we did when the laws were passed. We now know that cannabis is less harmful that alcohol and tobacco. The author is assuming that the laws are in place to protect the public from dangerous substances.
Uncover the evidence:
The author cites studies showing that the money we are spending is not making a huge difference and comparing cannabis favorably to alcohol.
Evaluate the conclusion:
I think his argument is successful based on his assumptions that the laws are in place to protect the public. It seems that he fails to consider the power that the status quo has in making income for jails, the legal system, and treatment programs that benefit off of having easily profiled, non-violent offenders to run through the system.
Sort out the political implications:
It seems as though liberals are often shy to speak up about drug law reforms due to the political fallout. We see efforts being spearheaded by state and local grassroots movements. The political implications for legalization would be that we would lock up far fewer of our own citizens and would have to rethink our attitudes towards the "war on drugs".
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_23361569/cheating-epidemic
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