This essay focuses on completing the homework assignment .Read the excerpt carefully and write a 4-page reaction paper summarizing the major points, reacting to them with your own opinions and examples.

completing the homework assignment

This homework assignment requires critical thinking and writing.   In BB there is a folder label “Critical Thinking References”.  Open that folder and you will find reference articles describing critical thinking, skepticism, scientific method, propaganda, causation, logical errors and so on.  Download, read and study each of the articles.  These are your references for completing the homework assignment as well as for extra credit submissions.

  Unless you are familiar with these concepts, you will not be able to satisfactorily complete this assignment.

When you open the file for homework assignment 4, you will find an excerpt from Thomas Kida’s book Don’t Believe Everything You Think.  Read the excerpt carefully and write a 4-page reaction paper summarizing the major points, reacting to them with your own opinions and examples.  Upload your paper to Black Board.  This assignment is value at 40 points.

Here are some more examples of the articles in use:

• • • I fell over the chair again.

    (The chair is specific.

  It is known to the audience.)

  • • Can you pass me a chair?

    (This means an unspecific chair, i.e., any chair.)

    • I love the apple pie after the meal.

  (In this example, the audience knows which apple pie is being praise, e.g., the one at last night’s dinner.)

  • I love an apple pie after dinner.

  (The audience understands that the speaker likes to eat an apple pie after dinner (any apple pie will do).)

An article often modifies a noun that is already being modified by an adjective. When this happens, the article goes before the adjective (or adjectives). For example:

• • Please open the small box first.

  (Here, the noun

box

• is being modify by the adjective

small

• . The definite article

the

• sits before the adjective. Remember that the use of

the

• tells us that we are talking about a box already known to the audience.)

 

• • You will get an excellent pizza at Papa Antonio’s.

  (Here, the indefinite article

an

• sits before the adjective

excellent

.)

The words historic, historical, historian, horrific, and even hotel are worthy of special mention because they are often spoken and written with the wrong version of the indefinite article

.

All of these words start with a consonant sound, as soft as it might be. Therefore, their article is “a” not “an.”

• • The attraction of power can be a disease, a horrific disease. (Irish actor Liam Cunningham)
  • We owe an historic debt to American Indians. They have a unique set of concerns that haven’t been address. (American politician Alan Franken)

  (

An historic

• is wrong, but

a unique

is correct.)

Here are two other issues relate to the articles.

Submission words

Firstly, indeed

Secondly, therefore

Thirdly, comparing

Further, this

Lastly, precisely

Finally, again