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Today’s Agenda
 Go over midterm.
 Explain next week’s work.
 Review last week’s reading.
 Watch clip from Supersize Me.
 Discuss evidence.
 Work on group project.
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Let’s go over your midterm.
 Make sure that your points are calculated correctly.
 Part 1 (20 points)
 Part 2 (15 points)
 Part 3 (20 points)
 Part 4 (10 points)
 Extra Credit (3 points)
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Let’s go over next week’s
work.
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Let’s go over “Hounding
the Innocent.”
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Questions
1. What is the author’s main claim?
2. What are 2-3 reasons/evidence that Herbert uses to
support his claim?
3. Identify 1-2 assumptions that the author makes.
Remember to identify assumptions the AUTHOR
makes, not assumptions about the reader’s knowledge
of the subject.
4. What is one counter-argument that Herbert fails to
consider?
5. Do you think the author has left something out
intentionally? Why?
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Read the following biography on Robert Herbert
before answering questions 5 & 6.
 Bob Herbert joined The New York Times as an OpEd columnist in 1993. His twice a week column
comments on politics, urban affairs and social
trends.
 Prior to joining The Times, Mr. Herbert was a
national correspondent for NBC from 1991 to 1993,
reporting regularly on "The Today Show" and "NBC
Nightly News." He had worked as a reporter and
editor at The Daily News from 1976 until 1985, when
he became a columnist and member of its editorial
board.
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In 1990, Mr. Herbert was a founding panelist of
"Sunday Edition," a weekly discussion program on
WCBS-TV in New York, and the host of Hotline, a
weekly issues program on New York public television.
He began his career as a reporter with The StarLedger in Newark, N.J., in 1970. He became its night
city editor in 1973.
Mr. Herbert has won numerous awards, including
the Meyer Berger Award for coverage of New York City
and the American Society of Newspaper Editors award
for distinguished newspaper writing. He was chairman
of the Pulitzer Prize jury for spot news reporting in
1993.
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Born in Brooklyn on March 7, 1945, Mr. Herbert
received a B.S. degree in journalism from the State
University of New York (Empire State College) in
1988. He has taught journalism at Brooklyn College
and the Columbia University Graduate School of
Journalism. He lives in Manhattan on the Upper
West Side.
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Questions
6. Read the background information above. Does the
author have the right background to speak with
authority on this subject?
7. Do you trust this author? Why or why not?
8. Do you think the author is trying to manipulate your
emotions? How?
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What are the parts of an
argument?
CLAIM
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
REASONS
WHY DO YOU THINK SO?
EVIDENCE
HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU’RE RIGHT?
WARRANT
WHAT ARE YOU ASSUMING?
REFUTATION
IT MAY BE ARGUED THAT ____. I’M STILL RIGHT
BECAUSE ______.
How do we know whether a
claim is true?
 Establishing the absolute truth or falsity of most claims
is extremely difficult.
 Instead, it is more useful to ask whether they are
dependable.
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How do we know if we can
count on the claim?
 The greater the quality and quantity of evidence
supporting the claim, the more we can depend on it.
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When we encounter a claim,
we can ask these questions:
 What is your proof ?
 Where’s the evidence?
 Are you sure it’s true?
 How do you know that’s true?
 Why do you believe that?
 Can you prove it?
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What do you do if there’s
conflicting evidence?
 We need to make judgments based on the
preponderance of evidence.
 The more supporting evidence there is, the more we
can accept the claim.
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What do we mean by
evidence?
 It is the explicit information shared by the
communicator that is used to back up or justify the
dependability of a claim.
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Relevancy
 What kind of connection writer make between
the evidence and the claim?
 Does the evidence really support the claim?
 The writer needs to explain the significance of the
evidence to the claim.
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Adequacy
 Is the evidence reliable? Consistent? Valid? Not too
biased?
 Is the evidence authoritative? Who has written or
published it?
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Is it relevant & adequate?
In a random survey last month of 470 members of the
Sierra Club, 98 percent of those interviewed
opposed drilling for oil in the Alaskan wilderness.
Clearly then, the American people oppose such
drilling.
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Write headings on your chart.
Type of Evidence
Example
Limitations of
Evidence
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Number Groups
 Each group will receive an article, or maybe two, about
a type of evidence an writer uses to support his or her
claim.
 Read the article.
 As a group, find an example and a limitation for that
type of evidence.
 If you have more than one article, you can assign
different group members to different articles.
 If you have a long article, split it up.
 Be sure you are able to explain what you have because
you will have to explain it to a different group.
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Color Groups
 Switch groups and sit according to you color.
 Take turns sharing what you have.
 By the time everyone is done, your handout should be
complete.
 Keep your handout for next week.
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Let’s put our desks back.
 One side of the room will get one article. The other
side will get another article.
 You are going to get an article about giving in-state
tuition to undocumented students.
 Both articles do not support giving in-state tuition to
undocumented students.
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Analyze the article for its
use of evidence.
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When you are finished…
 Find a person from the other side of the room and
discuss your findings by going over your handout.
 Make sure each person has a chance to speak.
 When you are both finished, decide which article is
more convincing and why.
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