This is not an opinion piece or a persuasive essay. Simply aims to prove or reinforce what you already believe.
This would be confirmation bias, and bias must be avoided in this project.
This project needs to avoid harsh rhetoric or language that is harmful and hurtful in nature. The point is to be
objective and unemotional in your approach.
This essay should be written in a fair, academic, respectful, and analytical manner regardless of any of your
opinions, feelings, or preconceived notions about the topic.
Both sides of your topic must be treated with equal attention, both in terms of the number and quality of
sources and in the depth and breadth of their presentation in your essay. Both sides should be addressed in
the same number of paragraphs in roughly equivalent detail and should be supported by the same number of
quality sources.
You must identify and define rhetorical devices and logical fallacies on both sides of the argument. Be sure you
indicate which specific rhetorical device and fallacy you have found, and there is evidence in your sources of
these course concepts in practice that is cited in your paper.
You will present statements and claims for analyzing both sides of the topic. Only then should you state your
own conclusion as an objective, critical thinker given the information presented.
APA format, 1 in. margins,
Identify weaknesses in critical thinking such as fallacies, rhetorical devices, vague language, and cognitive
biases. Provide specific examples of how these weaknesses appear in arguments you encountered, using
terminology and definitions from the course. Be specific! Present evidence from your sources that show these
fallacies/biases being used.
Evaluate the quality of scientific and anecdotal evidence using the standards of inductive and deductive
reasoning described in the course. Consider the quality of causal relationships, analogies, generalizations,
and/or moral reasoning.