Focused InquiryDr. Marx

Many teachers encourage students to “stick to the facts” in their writing. They might insist that “opinions” have no place in academic work.

There are two issues to deal with: How do you distinguish fact from opinion?

(Careful, this can be trickier than it sounds!) Do all opinions fall into this same “bad” category?

Let’s take a quiz (together – don’t panic)!

Green is the nicest color.

Green is Dr. Marx’s favorite color.

Pulp Fiction is a great film.

Ted will be the first person to finish the test.

It is wrong to tell lies, even in order to prevent people from harming others.

It is wrong to punch elderly people in the face for the fun of it.

FDR’s New Deal programs ended the Great Depression.

There is no largest prime number.

Rhoads Hall is a tall building.

This was made by Picasso.

The Focused Inquiry curriculum has some specific “learning outcomes.” This includes skills in the area of Critical Thinking. You’ll be able to: consider multiple perspectives reconsider assumptions evaluate evidence formulate an argument

All of these call for you to separate fact from opinion AND to separate personal opinion from opinion based on reason.

As long as you’re mindful of that difference, you’ll be encouraged to express and defend your opinions.