Separating Facts From Opinions

Separating Facts From Opinions

     According to Webster's Dictionary a fact is "anything that is done or happens; anything actually existent; any statement strictly true; truth; reality."
Three examples of facts that are concrete and that could be documented include:

1.The house was painted on November 18, 1999.
2.Today is Saturday.
3.My son had a temperature of one hundred and two degrees this morning.

Whereas an opinion is defined as "indicating a belief, view, sentiment, conception."Obvious indicators of opinion are when sentences include words such as:

"Generally, it is thought" , "I believe that", "It is a sad day when."

For example, how the three facts above can be changed to opinions would be to add a belief or view. For example:

 • The house was painted recently on November 18, 1999, so it looks as good as new.
 • Today is Saturday and Mark always sleeps in on Saturdays, so that is why he is late for the game.
 • There was no way for me to go to school because my son had a temperature of one hundred and two degrees this morning.

Exemplification

Exemplification

     Exemplification simply means to illustrate an idea by giving examples.  In this sense, narratives that have an abstract or a coda and descriptions which make a point and have a dominant impression or mood are exemplification paragraphs.  So although no organization and structure for exemplification is right or wrong, I am asking you to follow a specific and precise set of rules which will set this paragraph off from narrative and description and make it distinctly different.  Please follow this structure precisely:

• Make an abstract, general statement which reinforces the main idea of your first essay in Portfolio #1.

• Offer a personal example which illustrates the idea, but make it a different example than the narrative example written for portfolio #1.  Keep the example to one or two sentences.

• Offer an example from a friend or relative which reinforces the idea.  Keep the example to one or two sentences.

• Offer a relevant example from the news, history text or other textbook. Keep the example to one or two sentences.

• Reinforce the main idea with a dramatic, short, 3-8 word statement with a strong verb.

In addition, the paragraph should include a thin and a thick list.  As a matter of fact, one of the examples might be in the form of a thick list.

Generalizing

Generalizing

     Another way to help you interpret what you read and  get deeper meanings from it is to develop skills in Generalizing. When you extend meanings beyond the specific ideas you read about. Generalizing allows youto apply information you’ve learned in a broader, less specific sense.You add up facts and details and draw some general ideas or principles from them

     A Generalizing is a sweeping statement about something based on a number of specific facts.

Identifying the Author’s Purposes

Identifying the Author’s  Purposes

     Author’s purpose is the reason or reasons an author has for writing a selection. If readers enjoyed what they read, one of the author’s purposes may have been to entertain. If students learn while they are reading, one of the author’s purposes may have been to inform. If readers changed the way they thought about a topic or issue, one of the author’s purposes may have been to persuade. Authors may have more than one purpose for writing. Author’s purpose can be stated explicitly or readers may have to infer the intent.

     Reflective readers are able to analyze information more thoughtfully when they know an author’s purpose. Identifying an author’s purpose may give clues to a reader for how to pace their reading. Students need to adjust their reading rate for various selections. Informational articles may require a reader to slow down in order to fully understand ideas described.

Questions that help students explore author’s purpose:

• Based on the title, why do think the author wrote this selection?

• Which words do you think best describe the main reason the author wrote this selection: to provide readers with information? To describe a person, event, or issue? To express their own thoughts and feelings? To persuade readers to think about an issue in a certain way and to take action? Or to entertain the reader?

• Why did the author write the article from a particular point of view?’

• How did the author influence your response to the selection?

• Was the author’s purpose specifically stated?

• Do you think that the author achieved his/her intended purposes? Did the article effectively give information? Entertain readers? Express the author’s thoughts and feelings? Persuade readers to think about an issue and/or take action?

• What examples from the text support your conclusions about author’s purpose?

Understanding the Setting

Understanding the Setting

     Information about where and when a story takes place is called the story's setting. If you know a story's setting,you can figure out other things not directly stated in the story.

Inference

Inference

     Inference is the act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true. The conclusion drawn is also called an idiomatic. The laws of valid inference are studied in the field of logic.

     Alternatively, inference may be defined as the non-logical, but rational means, through observation of patterns of facts, to indirectly see new meanings and contexts for understanding. Of particular use to this application of inference are anomalies and symbols. Inference, in this sense, does not draw conclusions but opens new paths for inquiry. (See second set of Examples.) In this definition of inference, there are two types of inference: inductive inference and deductive inference. Unlike the definition of inference in the first paragraph above, meaning of word meanings are not tested but meaningful relationships are articulated.

Recognizing Different kinds of Paragraphs

Recognizing Different kinds of Paragraphs

     Most long writing have paragraphs that  introduce, develop, connect or make transitions between, and summarize the main idea. Recognizing the function of these kinds of paragraphs will help you understand what you read.