102 Critical Reading and Bias Professor Ramos Blog

102 Critical Reading and Bias Quick Write Quick Write Write for 3 minutes on this quote. Bias We have talked about some important concepts concerning critical thinking. Ignorance Egocentric Thinking Intellectual Empathy Integrity Hypocrisy We are going to add  Bias  to that list. What is Bias? Bias  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. So what exactly is bias and how does it connect to our class? Critical Reading Chapter 2 was an introduction into critical reading. Critical reading is very important to critical thinking and writing. The two main points are: One should read carefully Making a summary helps one grasp an argument. While these may seem obvious, they are also often ignored by students. Knowledge begins with reading carefully. Students that struggle with critical writing and argument usually have a difficult time because they failed to read carefully. DO NOT ASSUME  you know what they are talking about. You need to put in the time to read, follow, and understand others arguments in order to become a critical thinker and writer. Writing a summary of a reading or an argument helps us to make sure that we understood it correctly. I ask you to summarize in your weekly journals, because I am looking for how you are reading something, if you are reading it correctly and understanding it. It is very easy to miss read something. Chapter 3, Critical Reading: Getting Deeper into Arguments takes us further into critical reading. It is much more in depth and thorough. Persuasion  is to convince someone else to accept or adopt your position, which can be accomplished in a number of ways (80). Argument writing or critical writing focuses more on the logos, or appeal to reason. Logos: appeal to reason Pathos: appeal to emotions Ethos: appeal to credibility or trustworthiness Argument  represents only one form of persuasion, one that relies on the cognitive or intellectual capacity for reason (80). An argument doesn’t require two speakers or writers with opposing positions. They may, but you can write an argument, using appeals to reason with out setting it up as a dispute. Dispute  is a special kind of argument in which two or more people express views that are at odds (81). Reason v Rationalization Reason:  the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic. We can reason through induction and deduction. Deduction  takes beliefs and assumptions and extracts their hidden consequences/conclusions (106). For Example: Premise: Humans are mortal Premise: Socrates is human Conclusion: Socrates is mortal. This statement is a  syllogism. premise + premise = Conclusion Sound Arguments All premises must be true The syllogism must be valid, premises support the conclusion. Then, the argument is said to be  sound. Fallacies  are kinds of invalid arguments. Induction  uses information about observed cases to reach a conclusion about unobserved cases. For Example: If we see the train arrive at six am, several days in a row, we can reason that it will arrive at six am tomorrow. Unlike deduction, induction yields conclusions that go beyond the information contained in the premises used in their support. Rationalize  means to devise a self serving reason. We can come up with reasons and justifications to make ourselves feel better, but that does not mean that we are using reason. This is where the struggle will always be. We can’t be sure we are not rationalizing, but we can seek to think critically, examine our beliefs, scrutinize out assumptions, look for counter evidence, and think if it’s reasonably possible to draw different conclusions (92). We need to have sufficient sample size in order to reason effectively. Definitions Definition by Synonym: pornography is obscenity Definition by Example: a book is seen as obscene Definition by Stipulation: to bargain or agree on a definition Statement of Sufficient and Necessary Conditions: â€Å"Something can be called pornography is and only if it presents sexually stimulating material without offering anything of redeeming social value.† Let’s define what â€Å"Good Writing† is. Assumptions Assumptions can be stated or unstated, explicit or implicit. Implicit assumption  is one that is not stated but, rather, is taken for granted. An  explicit assumption  is one that is stated and given as evidence, also known as a premise. Evidence Evidence: facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid. Different disciplines use different kinds of evidence. We can use a text, field research, or experiments as evidence. Experimentation: science involves the systematic study of claims tested, designed to yield particular observations. Examples: a previous sample used as evidence. Real events drawn from history. Artificial or hypothetical cases cannot be used for evidence but can be used for persuasion. Analogies: a kind of comparison that asserts things that are alike in some ways are alike in others. Authoritative Testimony: citation or quotation of authorities. Statistics: numbers and data used to support claims. Graphs, Tables, Numbers Statistics can be misused and can be seen as misleading. Unreliable statistics, looks impressive but is insubstantial or irrelevant. Nonrational Appeals Satire: witty ridicule Irony: contrasts what is said and what is meant Sarcasm:  the use of irony to mock or convey contempt. Humor: being amusing or comical in writing or speech. Emotional Appeals In arguments we appeal to reason. Sometimes emotional appeals can be used effectively to aid the reason. Appeals to emotions can distract from the facts of the case, but they can also make the audience care about the evidence. Are emotional appeals fallacious? You should focus on the facts and offer reasons, but you may also provoke appropriate emotions in the readers. Be careful. Do not falsify Do not distract attention from the facts Do think ethically about how emotional appeals may affect the audience. Does All Writing Contain Argument? No, but most does. Most writing uses reason to get the reader to agree with what the writer is saying. In college, you should be using reason and evidence to support what you are saying. There should be a clear purpose and reason to your writing, hence it should be an argument. Problem Solution Example â€Å"The Danger of a Single Story† by  Chimamanda Adichie. To quote a  CNN article on the Danger of a Single Story: Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie believes in the power of stories, and warns that hearing only one about a people or nation leads to ignorance. She says the truth is revealed by many tales. She illustrates this with a story about coming to the United States, as a middle-class daughter of a professor and an administrator, and meeting her college roommate. Adichie says that her roommate’s â€Å"default position toward me, as an African, was a kind of patronizing, well-meaning, pity. My roommate had a single story of Africa. A single story of catastrophe.† Adichie also tells how growing up in Nigeria reading only American and English children’s books made her deaf to her authentic voice. As a child, she wrote about such things as blue-eyed white children eating apples, thinking brown skin and mangos had no place in literature. That changed as she discovered African writers, particularly the Nigerian Chinua Achebe. This is a great quote that highlights some of the moves we need to do in our article. It summarizes her topic, problem she is addressing, and solution; including examples she uses. Topic:  Many people do not realize that they are getting only one story. A single story is incomplete and she says dangerous. Problem:  Having a single story about an issue or group of people leads to stereotypes and incomplete information. Solution:  To look for multiple stories of whatever issue or topic you are hearing. She recommends we get our news and stories from multiple perspectives. Reasons and evidence:  She gives examples from her personal life to highlight that she has a personal connection. Background:  She gives background information, citing quotes and examples that place her issue in a historical context. She also uses current examples to place the issue in a contemporary context. Creating Structure Structure is very important to making an argument. It needs to be deliberate and well organized. You cannot come across as being all over the place. An argument needs order in order for the audience to follow along. Here is one possible outline to use to build your paper: Position (thesis) Background Reason with evidence Reason with evidence Reason with evidence Reason with evidence Counterargument with refutation Conclusion with so what question addressing audience Homework Rough Draft (2 pages typed for points)

College Essay Helper

College Essay Helper College Essay Helper Very often a piece of professional college essay helpturns out to be very useful to receive. Many students wish to get college essay help within a short period of time. It happens because students should do a lot of things during their study as well as in their personal lives. To avoid the disappointment with the studying, it is a good idea to take advantage of college essay help We are here 24/7 to assist you and offer professional college essay help. With our help, the process of college essays writing becomes more interesting and easier for students. We deliver written college essays on time and we do not plagiarize. What else? We listen to your concerns and offer free revisions within 24 hours. Our writing services come with many guarantees and you should not worry about anything. College Essay Ideas Once you have finished generating some preliminary ideas for your essay, developing an outline is the next step. Developing an outline will save you time and aggravation by helping you to organize your ideas and create a structure. There are many ways to order details, and here are three common ones: Chronological order: arranges details across time. This method is useful for crafting a narrative, but it can also be used for ordering the details of a process. Spatial order: arranges details as they appear across space; i.e. from front to back, top to bottom, left to right. Progressive order: arrange details from the least to the most important, compelling, interesting, etc. This order is very useful for argumentation-persuasion papers because it helps you lead up to a final main point that will convince your reader. Many students avoid the outlining process because they believe it only involves the very formal outline with roman numerals and letters. For very formal research papers, this outline can be very helpful. There are other, less formal options, however. In a few minutes, youll see some different ways to structure your outline. First, though, you should note the following guidelines for writing an outline: Develop a working thesis. The working thesis is not set in stone, and you can feel free to revise it as you write. Consider your context. Remember the ideas covered in lesson 1. You should always consider your purpose, audience, and role. Be flexible: As you develop your outline, you may notice that you develop new ideas or that some of your original ideas no longer fit. Again, feel free to revise the outline as you move through the process. Return to idea generation, if necessary. If you notice that you are having significant difficulties coming up with an outline, it could signify you have not yet developed enough ideas. College Essay Helper Online In addition, take into account that our professional college essay helpers are always online to assist you with professional college essay writing. While you may not know how to write a good essay, we are knowledgeable and trained in academic writing! Read more: Essay Example on Cause of Crime Deforestation Essay Conformity Essay Professional Editing Service Editorial Essay Topics

Landscape Fragmentation and Wildlife Habitat

Landscape Fragmentation and Wildlife Habitat Landscape or habitat fragmentation is the breaking up of a habitat or vegetation type into smaller, disconnected sections. It is generally a consequence of land use: agricultural activities, road building, and housing development all break up existing habitat. The effects of this fragmentation go beyond a simple reduction of the amount of habitat available. When sections of habitat are no longer connected, a suite of issues can follow. In this discussion of the effects of fragmentation I will refer mostly to forested habitats, as it can be easier to visualize, but this process happens in every type of habitat. The Fragmentation Process While there are many ways landscapes can become fragmented, the process most often follows the same steps. First, a road is built through relatively intact habitat and dissects the landscape. In the United States the road network has been thoroughly developed and we see few remote areas newly dissected by roads anymore. The next step, landscape perforation, is the creation of small openings in the forest when houses and other buildings are being built along the roads. As we experience exurban sprawl, with housing built in rural areas away from the traditional suburban belts, we can observe this landscape perforation. The next step is fragmentation proper, where the open areas merge together, and the originally large expanses of forest get broken up into disconnected pieces. The last stage is called attrition, happens when development further gnaws away at the remaining habitat pieces, making them smaller. The scattered, small woodlots dotting agricultural fields in the Midwest are an example of the pattern that follows the process of landscape attrition. The Effects of Fragmentation It is surprisingly difficult to measure the effects of fragmentation on wildlife, in great part because fragmentation occurs at the same time as habitat loss. The process of breaking up existing habitat into disconnected pieces automatically involves a reduction in the habitat area. Nevertheless, accumulated scientific evidence points to some clear effects, among which: Increased isolation. Much of what we learned from the effects of isolation on habitat fragments comes from our study of island systems. As patches of habitat are no longer connected, and the further apart they become, the lower the biodiversity in these â€Å"island† patches. It is natural for some species to disappear temporarily from habitat patches, but when the patches are far apart from one another, animals and plants cannot easily come back and recolonize. The net result is a lower number of species, and therefore an ecosystem that is missing some of its components.Smaller habitat patches. Many species need a minimum patch size, and fragmented sections of forest are not large enough. Large carnivores notoriously need large amounts of space, and are often the first ones to disappear during the fragmentation process. Black-throated blue warbler territories are much smaller, but they need to be established within forest stands at least several hundred acres in size.  Nega tive edge effects. As habitat gets fragmented into smaller pieces, the amount of edge increases. Edge is where two different land covers, for example a field and a forest, meet. Fragmentation increases the edge-to-area ratio. These edges affect conditions a significant distance into the forest. For example, light penetration into the forest creates drier soil conditions, winds damage trees, and invasive species presence increases. Many bird species that need interior forest habitat will stay away from the edges, where opportunist predators like raccoons abound. Ground nesting songbirds like wood thrush are very sensitive to edges. Positive edge effects. For a whole suite of species, though, edges are good. Fragmentation has increased the density of small predators and generalists like raccoons, raccoons, skunks, and foxes. Whitetail deer enjoy the proximity of forest cover to fields where they can forage. A notorious brood parasite, the brown-headed cowbird, responds positively to edge, as it can then better access forest birds’ nest to lay their own eggs. The host bird will then raise the cowbird’s young. Here, edges are good for the cowbird, but certainly not for the unsuspecting host.

Logistic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Logistic Management - Essay Example Outsourcing companies face the loss of tax benefits due to hiring foreign full-time workers. Federal tax penalties can also be imposed on outsourcing companies so as to boost domestic job creation. Reduction of the damage inflicted to goods in transits plays a vital function in cutting the costs of supplying the said goods. Companies, therefore, bear the responsibility of ensuring the safety of goods they are charged to transport. To achieve this, a company can establish policies that ensure their safety. Such policies include those covering package, insurance and providing appropriate means of transport. A company should ensure that the appropriate packing of the goods is done to secure them firmly to avoid rocking while in transit. Fragile goods sustain damage due to undesired movement during transportation. To secure fragile goods firmly during transportation, the use of products such as bubble wraps is employed. Companies have also use insurance to cover damages that may be incurred in transit; it also covers theft (Bowersox et al., 2012). The BUS 320 unit is a crucial course for decision-making in a company, as it shows the importance of weighing one’s decisions appropriately to come up with logical solutions. This way, after taking the course, the business person in an individual is brought out so that any vital aspects of a business can be factored and all perspectives covered. In this light, there is no room for errors, as all issues are dealt with effectively. In addition, this decision-making course allows for sound policies to be generated and implemented so that the institution that one works for or with ends up getting the best there is. This also applies to decisions that involve high risk business ventures as the higher the risk, the higher the returns. However, as this is not always the case, one can again look at all the aspects of the actions taken. This class provides sound skills and knowledge of the

Birthday Story of Private John G. Burnett Assignment

Birthday Story of Private John G. Burnett - Assignment Example In May 1838, federal army troops under the command of General Winfield Scott began arresting the Cherokee and moving them in the stockade until they could be removed west. In this exodus, he even lost his wife, who succumbed to pneumonia after giving out her only blanket to a child (Byers 8). Party politics in a big way contributed to the removal. The U.S. government formally adopted a removal policy, carried out in the 1830a when President Andrew Jackson, from Tennessee, who was a forceful proponent of Indian removal. President Jackson began aggressively to implement a broad policy of extinguishing Indian land titles and relocating the Indian population. Out of altruism, the troops treated the tribe members so unkindly, and the roundup was very cruel. Families were separated; the elderly and the ill were forced out at gunpoint and herded into forts with minimal facilities and food, something which resulted in many deaths of the Cherokees (Byers

Controversy of Real Name Policy on Facebook Research Paper

Controversy of Real Name Policy on Facebook - Research Paper Example More so, the Real-Name Policy on Facebook is a measure that has been endeavored to ensure that people know for sure whoever it is that they are connecting with, and in so doing, the whole Facebook community then remains safe, through effectively curtailing cyber-bullying (Meganmeierfoundation.org., 2014). In this respect, Real-Name Policy on Facebook requires that several identity measures should be observed. First, individuals should use the real name that they use in real life, when establishing a Facebook account, without adding numbers, unusual capitalization, symbols, punctuations or repeated characters (Facebook.com., 2014). Secondly, individuals establishing a Facebook account should refrain from adding characters from multiple languages, while at the same time refraining from adding any titles such as their profession or religion (Facebook.com., 2014). Finally, the individuals interested in joining Facebook should also ensure to avoid the usage of words, phrases or nicknames that are not part of their real names, while at the same time refraining from using any offensive or suggestive words, titles or phrases as part of their identity on the networking site (Facebook.com., 2014). This way, it will be possible for the Facebook community to remain safe, owing to the fact that p eople will only interact on the basis of knowing each other authentically, thus avoid the incidences of cyber-bullying that has been a characteristic of the social networking (Gà ¶rzig & Frumkin, 2013). Cyber-bullying has been defined as the application of the information technology tools in order to harass or harm others deliberately (Gà ¶rzig & Frumkin, 2013).  

Positive and negative externalities Research Paper - 1

Positive and negative externalities - Research Paper Example It will also highlight solutions to mitigate these externalities. It will finally analyze the different stakeholders involved in the externalities and their role regarding the externality There are negative externalities related to environmental consequences. An example of a negative externality with environmental consequences is pollution. There are different forms of pollution; air, water and noise. Air pollution has public health implications, and causes damage to buildings and crops. Water pollution has the potential to cause harm to humans, plants and animals. Noise pollution on the other hand might cause disruptions, both mentally and psychologically, to people and animals. Public goods are an example of a positive externality. These are goods whose benefits people cannot be excluded from enjoying. Public goods include clean water, public defense, law enforcement, social amenities and so on. These goods are accessible to most people in the society (Tulkens & Chander, 2006). If businesses start accepting payments online for the services and goods they offer, these actions can lead to a negative externality. This means that clients no longer need to buy paper cheques in order to pay, a situation which means that cheque printing firms will lose revenues. This can also result into unemployment especially for employees charge with the role of processing cheques. In the course of the operation of a company, there are byproducts created. These by products make their way into the environment and cause pollution. Air pollution results from the burning of fossil fuels in industries. Water pollution occurs when industrial wastes are deposited into water sources. Noise pollution occurs in situations where the production process emits destructive sounds that get into the atmosphere. Public goods exist for the satisfaction of the needs of the entire society. These goods exist so that everyone in the society can benefit from them. If such goods did not