Writing week one
Identifying fact and opinion
Introduction to critical thinking
In this second term, we are going to focus on the art of critical thinking. You probably hear teachers talk about it a lot, but what does it actually mean? Lots of people (including your lecturers) have different views on what critical thinking is and what they're looking for from students, so be prepared to be flexible! However, there are three things that will always help you to be critical in your writing:
- Formulate an argument
- Demonstrate wider reading
- Choose your words carefully
Last term we looked at formulating a stance and a thesis statement in week four, and in weeks eight, nine and ten we practised demonstrating wider reading by using our own language to report what other people say, and to comment on what they've said.
We'll continue to refine these skills in the second term, but our first few writing classes are going to look closely at language use, including word choice and structures, that help us develop our own voice and opinions.
Our first lesson looks at telling the difference between a fact and opinion. This is something that's easy at first but hard to master because many people, and especially academics, are good at using language subtly to present opinions as facts.
Task one - discussion
Some texts we read are factual, and intended to convey information, such as a course textbook, while others will be more opinion based, such as a blog. Some are opinions presented as facts, such as Fox News.
- What are the main differences between a fact and an opinion?
- In week 10 of last term's writing classes, we introduced the idea of hedging your language (e.g. Koreans eat spicy food compared to Koreans tend to eat spicy food). Are hedged assertions closer to a fact or an opinion?
Task two - supporting claims with evidence
In week six last term we looked at several claims and identified which ones would need supporting evidence. Read through them again, and decide what evidence we would need in order for these statements to be called facts. For example would statistical information be relevant, or opinions of experts? Are there any which are just common knowledge? The first one is done for you.
- It takes two hours to get from London to York by train. A train timetable would convince me that this was a fact.
- Facebook has over one billion users worldwide.
- Social media use has a detrimental effect on student performance.
- Smartphones are complex devices that take many different raw materials to manufacture.
- Demand for smartphone components has contributed to armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Women are paid less than men.
- The most widely spoken language in China is Mandarin.
Without supporting evidence, the reader is unable to tell if these are facts or opinions. However, distinguishing fact from opinion is often not a black and white case because it depends on how likely people are to disagree with what's been said. The earth is round and species evolve through natural selection are facts that are supported by quite a lot of scientific and observational evidence, but there are still people who disagree with them.
Task three - critical reading of opinion articles
We're going to look at an article which recently appeared in The Guardian, and talks about racial identity. The issue of race in society is very controversial, which means there are a lot of people with lots of opinions. This is good for us because it means we get a lot of practice with critical reading!
- Read through the article below, which has been adapted and condensed. Which parts of the text are fact, and which are mainly opinion? Where has the author hedged her language?
White people assume niceness is the answer to racial inequality. It's not.
I am white. As an academic, consultant and writer on white racial identity and race relations, I speak daily with other white people about the meaning of race in our lives. These conversations are critical because, by virtually every measure, racial inequality persists, and institutions continue to be overwhelmingly controlled by white people. While most of us see ourselves as “not racist”, we continue to reproduce racist outcomes and live segregated lives.
In the racial equity workshops I lead for American companies, I give participants one minute, uninterrupted, to answer the question: “How has your life been shaped by your race?” This is rarely a difficult question for people of color, but most white participants are unable to answer. I watch as they flail, some giving up altogether and waiting out the time, unable to sustain 60 seconds of this kind of reflection. This inability is not benign, and it certainly is not innocent. Suggesting that whiteness has no meaning creates an alienating – even hostile – climate for people of color working and living in predominantly white environments, and it does so in several ways.
If I cannot tell you what it means to be white, I cannot understand what it means not to be white. I will be unable to bear witness to, much less affirm, an alternate racial experience. I will lack the critical thinking and skills to navigate racial tensions in constructive ways. This creates a culture in which white people assume that niceness is the answer to racial inequality and people of color are required to maintain white comfort in order to survive.
An inability to grapple with racial dynamics with any nuance or complexity is ubiquitous in younger white people who have been raised according to an ideology of colorblindness. I have been working with large tech companies whose average employees are under 30 years old. White employees are typically dumbfounded when their colleagues of color testify powerfully in these sessions to the daily slights and indignities they endure and the isolation they feel in overwhelmingly white workplaces. This pain is especially acute for African Americans, who tend to be the least represented.
Task four - reporting opinion
This article was taken from the Opinion section of the Guardian, so we already know what kind of language to expect before we start reading. However, if we referred to diAngelo's article in our own writing, what would be the best reporting verb?
- diAngelo points out that many white people don't understand racism.
- diAngelo argues that many white people don't understand racism.
- diAngelo illustrates that many white people don't understand racism.
Task five - introducing your view
We have seen how hedging can make statements more agreeable. Compare:
- Koreans eat spicy food.
- Koreans tend to eat spicy food.
- Koreans tend to eat spicier food than Hungarians.
Which of the following would be better for introducing the writer's opinion:
- Undoubtedly, white people can't appreciate Jimi Hendrix.
- Arguably, white people can't appreciate Jimi Hendrix.
- It could be argued that white people can't appreciate Jimi Hendrix.
- There is no doubt that white people can't appreciate Jimi Hendrix.
- Few would dispute the fact that white people can't appreciate Jimi Hendrix.
- It is a truth universally acknowledged that white people can't appreciate Jimi Hendrix.
Review of reporting verbs
We looked at some examples of reporting verbs in Week 8 last term, alongside Unit 30 of Academic Vocabulary in Use: Reporting what others say.
Task six - convey your opinion
Choose from one of the topics below that we looked at in week 6, and write a short paragraph on Google Classroom (approximately 100 words ) which conveys your view on the topic. Remember to refer to supporting evidence where possible, choosing your reporting verb carefully, and using appropriate hedging language.
- Should LGBT education be part of school curriculum?
- Should we be learning English?
- Should terminally ill people have the right to choose to die?
- Should America make guns illegal?
- Should we invest in driverless cars?
- Should higher education be free?