Assignment
Basic Description: In the final Critical Thinking assignment to be completed for this course, you will undertake to analyze (and perhaps answer) a particular question of both personal and current public interest. That is, from among the many different topics now being discussed in the news, you will select one that is of personal or professional interest for you. Having identified the topic, you will then use the five stases to precisely define a question to research and then attempt to answer in a final report of 2000 to 3000 words, written in a standard essay format. This essay is worth 20% of your course grade.
In most cases, on most issues of interest, public opinion will be divided or diverse. Your focus should be on the debate between different sources of information and opinion on this topic. Your first task is to accurately represent the different perspectives on the issue: what different people are saying and why they are saying it. Using the framework of the five stases will help you to isolate the precise points of agreement and conflict in the debate, so that the real problem and question can be stately with focus and clarity.
Your next task is then to try to interpret these different sources and their messages, in order to draw some conclusion about the issue. You may decide in the end that the answer is clear, and that you have ample evidence to demonstrate that it is so; in such a case, you should then clearly state your claim, and also state the reasons why you have drawn this conclusion. However, it may also be the case that, as a result of your analysis of the sources, you do not feel that any source of information on your issue is credible; if so, you should draw your conclusion accordingly.