Global Perspectives chapter 2

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Chapter 2

GP 

Global Perspectives Chapter 2

analysing and evaluating arguments and evidence

In this LessonUp you'll 

• learn to recognise a popular literary device and understand its effect
• you know how to tell whether an argument is strong or not

Even though the internet is now an established part of the modern world, there remains much debate about its benefits and drawbacks. On the one hand, the internet connects people and organisations, and makes the flow of ideas and information much more efficient than it has been in the past. On the other hand, that ease of communication can be a drawback, as it is more difficult to maintain personal privacy as a result.

What are the advantages mentioned in this text?

Even though the internet is now an established part of the modern world, there remains much debate about its benefits and drawbacks. On the one hand, 1) the internet connects people and organisations, and 2) makes the flow of ideas and information much more efficient than it has been in the past. On the other hand, that ease of communication can be a drawback, as it is more difficult to maintain personal privacy as a result.

What are the disadvantages mentioned in this text?

Even though the internet is now an established part of the modern world, there remains much debate about its benefits and drawbacks. On the one hand, the internet connects people and organisations, and makes the flow of ideas and information much more efficient than it has been in the past. On the other hand, that 1) ease of communication can be a drawback, as it is more difficult to maintain personal privacy as a result.

Do you think the internet's benefits outweigh its drawbacks or not?

Even though the internet is now an established part of the modern world, there remains much debate about its benefits and drawbacks. On the one hand, 1) the internet connects people and organisations, and 2) makes the flow of ideas and information much more efficient than it has been in the past. On the other hand, 1) that ease of communication can be a drawback, as it is more difficult to maintain personal privacy as a result.

Is there a conclusion?

Looking back

1. Decoding: looking for (chains of) meaning

2.Active reading: decoding, asking questions and making judgements

A: The internet is a series of interconnecting computer networks.

B: The internet connects people, therefore it is a good thing.

C: The internet is a bad thing because when we use it we are forced to share information about ourselves with others.

How are these sentences the same and how are they different?

A is purely a descriptive statement

B and C begin with claims

The last two are contrasting.

What is a 'claim'?

What is a 'reason'?

What is an 'assertion'?

What is a 'conclusion'?

What is an 'argument'?

What is an 'argument indicator'?

1. We should invest in nuclear energy.
2. Nuclear energy is the cleanest form of energy.
Which is the 'conclusion'?

1.

2.

Combine the two sentences and insert the word 'therefore'.
1. We should invest in nuclear energy.
2. Nuclear energy is the cleanest form of energy.

Therefore test

The therefore test works by inserting the word therefore immediately to the left of what you think is the conclusion to the argument.

Nuclear energy is the cleanest form of energy, therefore we should invest in nuclear energy.

Make a note of this!

Lou Gehrig, a great Yankees baseball player who was diagnosed with ALS to die 2 years after delivered this most famous sports speech on 4 July 1939 in New York. 

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."

         "I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure I’m lucky."

         "Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure I’m lucky.

When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift - that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies -- that’s something.

When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter -- that’s something.

When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body -- it’s a blessing.

When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed -- that’s the finest I know.

So, I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for."

This speech is filled with

1. rhetoric
2. arguments
3. descriptions
4. other

A strong argument

To decide whether an argument is strong, look for

1. Structure: Its reasons and conclusion will be related in such a way that if the reasons are true, the conclusion will likely be true.
2. Contents: The reasons will make claims that are true, or have a high probability of being true.
3. Context: The argument as a whole fits the circumstances in which it was intended to apply.

A little more on structure: 

In academic work you'll encounter long and complex arguments. If you want to find out whether they're strong or weak or somewhere in between:

• Break them down into smaller arguments and decide if there are lines of arguments, how well they support each other and back up each aspect of the conclusion. Look for possible counter-arguments and how they are challenged.
• Look for a the width of the inferential gap: the more assertions -unstated claims- need to be made to accept the conclusion, the weaker the argument.

Let's look at an example of each

1 structure

2 contents

3 context

1. Focus on structure

Consider argument (I):

If it's hot in Moscow, then it's unbearable in Lewiston.

It's hot in Moscow.

----------------------

Therefore, it's unbearable in Lewiston.

If A, then B.

A

----------------------

Therefore, B.

2. Focus on contents

Form is okay, but....

 Evaluating the Content

Consider argument (II):

If Idaho is larger than California, then it is larger than Alaska.

Idaho is larger than California.

----------------------

Therefore, Idaho is larger than Alaska.

3. Focus on context

It is important to remember that arguments are given in contexts, and if these don't fit together, then you need to evaluate the argument negatively.

Graffiti is art

YES

NO

OTHER

2.04  Evaluating the structure of arguments

strength

weakness

line of argument

counter-argument

inferential gap

assumption

AIM:

you understand and can identify the following key terms in texts 

In pairs:
Give a line of argument which contains an 'inferential gap'.

Go to page 21 from your GP Book

Finish the activities 2.06, 2.07 and 2.08, write your answers in the following slides.

Faulkner	Greenpeace USA
UK fuel bill £1353	3.6 million gallons water used
US will be biggest natural gas producer	earthquakes increased to over 300 p.a.

2.10 --> Complete the grid and draw a corroborated conclusion

Read page 19 --> 26 and type down your answers to activities
2.06
2.07
2.08

Add these important keywords you came across in you GP book -pages 19-26- to this slide and explain them in your own words. Feel free to this with a classmate of yours.
1. line of argument, 2. inferential gap, 3. assumption, 4. intermediate conclusion, 5. main conclusion, 6. primary evidence, 7. secondary evidence, 8. quantitative evidence, 9. qualitative evidence and 10. reliability.

Did you understand all the activities you had to complete? Do you need any help from me as a teacher?