Should abortion be made illegal?

Outcomes:

Within your Read 82 class instruction you have been learning the critical reading skills of distinguishing facts from opinions, making logical inferences and drawing conclusions, and determining the author’s purpose, tone, point of view, and intended audience. In DLA # 3, you will be building upon these skills in order to identify an author’s argument.

 

Part I: Sample Lesson

Instructions:

Read through the sample lesson below. You will be instructed in the process of how to identify an author’s argument. When you are ready, apply what you have learned about the two-step method to your reading of the longer article, entitled, “TV Can Be a Good Parent” by Ariel Gore.

 

Sample Lesson:

The Process of Identifying an Author’s Argument

The following two-step procedure will assist you in identifying an author’s argument:

1. Identify the issue and the argument

2. Identify the support for the argument

 

Take a moment to read the following paragraph. Then, using this excerpt as a guide, follow the lesson as it defines terms and systematically instructs you in the two-step method.

 

There should be a federal law banning smoking in restaurants and all public places. To begin with, the health risks associated with smoking and breathing secondhand smoke have been documented in the research literature for years. Also, the Journal of Medicine confirms that people with respiratory problems, young children, and older people face additional risks from being around smoke. In addition, a 2004 survey by Public Research, Inc. reveals that more than 80 percent of nonsmokers report that the smell of cigarette smoke in a restaurant interferes with the enjoyment of their meal. Many commented that they resent having their meal needlessly ruined by someone else’s thoughtlessness. Finally, according to etiquette authority Judith Martin (“Miss Manners”), it is simply common courtesy for smokers to refrain from imposing their smoke on those who do not smoke.

 

 

 

 

 

Step One: Identify the Argument

When we use the word “argument” in most situations, we speak about a heated dispute between different parties. In this DLA we are defining “argument” as the author’s position on a controversial issue.

Before we can identify the argument we must first identify the issue. The issue is the controversial, or at least arguable, topic the author is discussing. Every day we read and hear about issues on which people disagree. A few examples of such issues would be:

 

“Should abortion be made illegal?”

 

“How should health care be reformed to meet the needs of the United States’ citizens?”

 

“Is capital punishment a moral and effective deterrence of capital crimes?” (Note: Capital crimes usually involve an act of murder.)

 

The issue in an argument is what the author is trying to convince us to believe or do. To determine the issue, ask, “What controversial topic is the author discussing?”