What are the signals that tell me the difference between

fact and opinion?

Bias and Tone

Hockey may be the fastest sport of all.

Is this fact or opinion? How do you know?

Bias and Tone

Statements with these JUDGMENT words CANNOT be proven.

She wisely ignored the group of girls who were running their mouths.

Bias and Tone

We know this ISN’T a fact because…

These are called EMOTION words.

With a partner, share as many judgment/emotion words as you can.

Bias and Tone

Dover is the capital of Delaware.

Bias and Tone

Seaford is the best high school in Delaware.

Fish are perfect pets for small children to have.

What are we learning?

What are the signals that tell me the difference between

fact and opinion?

Bias and Tone

• _____1. Washington, D.C. is the Capital City of the United States.• _____2. Walt Disney World is a family friendly theme park.• _____ 3. Whales are superior to dolphins.• _____ 4. Whales are mammals.• _____ 5. John Adams was the second president of the USA.• _____ 6. Stephen King is talented.• _____ 7. Abraham Lincoln was the best president we ever had.• _____ 8. Britney Spears sings better than Madonna.• _____ 9. Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time.• _____ 10. Will Smith starred in the movie Men in Black.• _____ 11. There are glaciers in Alaska.• _____ 12. The Frenchman, La Salle, explored the Mississippi.• _____ 13. Every time you wash your car it always ends up raining.• _____ 14. There is no life on Pluto.• _____ 15. Cats are not as friendly as dogs.

Bias and Tone

What are we learning?

What are the signals that tell me the difference between

fact and opinion?

Bias and Tone

The Image of Congress• Congress’s lousy image is not new. In the nineteenth century Mark Twain remarked,

“there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.” Today the public at best sees Congress as slow, chaotic and unresponsive to national needs. At worse Congress is a place of plotting, partisan rivalry and scandal. Part of this image is because Congress is doing what the framers intended—slowing down this process. The press has perpetuated this negative image by finding the misdeeds of a few members easier to report than complicated legislation. As the respected reporter, David Broder said, “Scandals in Congress even of a petty nature are easier to sell to most editors than stories of larger consequences.”

• Curiously most congressmen may not care about the image of their institution; indeed they may even worsen it. There’s an accepted tradition of members running for Congress by running against Congress. By pandering to the public’s negative views of Congress, members can present themselves as lonely fighters against a corrupt legislature. The result is that people dislike Congress but reelect their own congressmen, over and over.

Bias and Tone

Congress’s lousy image is not new

At worse, Congress is a place of plotting, partisan rivalry and scandal.

Today the public at best sees Congress as slow, chaos.

Mark Twain said, “There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.” His remarks were:

The implied main idea of this essay portrays Congress as having a negative image.

Bias and Tone

USE what we have learned:

List a FACT about what you learned today.

List an OPINION WITH A SIGNAL WORD about what you learned today. Support that opinion with three details.

Bias and Tone

Bias and Tone

How does a writer’s tone affect my understanding of

the reading?

You’d better watch your TONE, young lady!

TONE expresses the author’s attitude about a subject.

Bias and Tone

Ask the person to your left to define tone.

Add to or clarify their definition with an example.

Bias and Tone

What is the tone?

Bias and Tone

Love is pink.It smells like roses.It tastes like kisses.It looks like him.It sounds like phone calls.It feels like hugs.Love is cuddling closely all night.

Love is black.It smells like dirt.It tastes like vomit.It looks like death.It sounds like screaming.It feels like cold wind.Love is getting into a car crash.

What helps you identify the TONE?

What are we learning?

What types of clues help us identify the tone?

Bias and Tone

Pick a card….any card..Using the TONE listed on your card, write a short description of going to lunch.

Bias and Tone

Sadness Happiness Courageous

Pride Hate Fear

Anxiety Love Nostalgic

What helps you identify the tone?How does the tone affect the writing?

Tone Tag

Get with a partnerYou must describe the photo with the tone

given

Bias and Tone

Hate

Bias and Tone

Hate

Nostalgia

Bias and Tone

Bias and Tone

Nostalgia

Courageous

Bias and Tone

Bias and Tone

Courageous

Loneliness

Bias and Tone

Bias and Tone

Loneliness

Anxiety

Bias and Tone

Bias and Tone

Anxiety

Sadness

Bias and Tone

Bias and Tone

Sadness

Reflect on what we are learning

How does a writer’s tone affect my understanding of a reading?

Bias and Tone

Or….

How does they way the writer feels show up in the reading?

What questions can I ask to determine if a reading is biased?

Bias and Tone

More than 900 people attend protest.

Bias and Tone

Fewer than 1,000 show up at protest.

How many people came?

What makes these two statements different?

Bias

• using words that might imply a positive or negative judgment

• leaving out or including certain things• Images• Making OPINIONS sound like FACTS• Word choice and TONE

Bias and Tone

Different types of bias

RaceGenderLocationPreference

Bias and Tone

Gender bias against women

• Women as second class• nurturing mothers/caregivers • dutiful daughters • sexual/passionate women • mad/bad women

Bias and Tone

Bias and Tone

Snow White Cinderella Ariel

Women as second classnurturing mothers/caregivers dutiful daughters sexual/passionate women mad/bad women

Women as second classnurturing mothers/caregivers dutiful daughters sexual/passionate women mad/bad women

Women as second classnurturing mothers/caregivers dutiful daughters sexual/passionate women mad/bad women

Pocahantas Mulan Tiana

Women as second classnurturing mothers/caregivers dutiful daughters sexual/passionate women mad/bad women

Women as second classnurturing mothers/caregivers dutiful daughters sexual/passionate women mad/bad women

Women as second classnurturing mothers/caregivers dutiful daughters sexual/passionate women mad/bad womenBias and Tone

Think-Pair-Share

• Do the women in the stories represent obstacles or prizes? How?

• Would this story normally be read as supporting or challenging the oppression of women?

• How would changing the gender of the main character impact the story?

Bias and Tone

What are we learning?

How can I tell if a story is biased?

Bias and Tone

Sam Hughes article

Read the article about Sam Hughes and come up with a list of words that describe him.

Bias and Tone

You’re the boss and you HATE Humphrey!

Choose which vocabulary words your reporter should use

Choose a headline

Explain your choices

Bias and Tone

You’re the boss and you LOVE Humphrey!

Choose which vocabulary words your reporter should use

Choose a headline

Explain your choices

Bias and Tone

Bias and Tone

OTTAWA (UBI) Conservative M.P./warhorse and liquor baron/distillery executive Sam Humphrey denounced/denied today that reports/allegations implicating/involving him in undercover/subversive drug/dope retailing/peddling were true/had any basis in fact.

Bias and Tone

Addressing a (dinner/blowout) for (colleagues hangers-on) at a (swank/exclusive) Ottawa restaurant, Humphrey angrily (denied/calmly refuted) (swarms of rumors/numerous reports) that he and a (gang/group of cronies/acquaintances) had (sneaked/smuggled) into (the nation's capital/Ottawa) (lethal doses/dangerous amounts) of (diluted/adulterated) ambrosia (under cover of dark/at night.)

Bias and Tone

"Such talk is all lies," (snarled/said) Humphrey, (hunched over/seated)with a (tumbler of booze/an after-dinner cocktail.)

Bias and Tone

(Rumour-mongers/sources) around Parliament Hill (suggest/hint) tonight Humphrey's alleged (crime/scrape) is the subject of (Cabinet investigation/talk). Meantime, Bay Street (analysts/mandarins) (note/point to the fact) that Humphrey stock has (plummeted/fallen) (in the last two days/suddenly) (in the face of/as a result of) (a wave of panic/selling.)

Bias and Tone

What questions can I ask to determine if a reading is biased?

Bias and Tone