Gordon Rule Assignment #1—Topic for your Essay, Choose ONE

Gordon Rule Assignment #1—Topic for your Essay, Choose ONE

Essay Length tips–To answer these topics completely, it takes about 2 ½ pages–6-8 paragraphs. Use the topic questions and the scoring rubric to see if your draft responds fully to all parts of the question. A complete answer is more important than word count.

Topic A: What is the fallacy of Straw Man? How is it different than simply disagreeing with someone else’s point of view?

Use the material in Vaughn’s book to help you give a detailed explanation of what the mistake in a Straw Man is. To demonstrate your understanding and to teach the idea to the rest of the class, provide a relevant real-life example of the logical mistake. (You MAY use an outside source to help you present your example–be sure to summarize or paraphrase, cite, and use announcing verbs.) Choose carefully–consider whether your example does a good job of illustrating a Straw Man. You may want to select an example from contemporary politics or from debate of a major ethical issue. Your discussion of your example should be detailed so that readers can evaluate the fallacy. Argue the case for why your example is an example of Straw Man.

Topic B: Choose one of the five thought experiments assigned from Tittle’s What If… book.

Explain what the hypothetical scenario is in your own words and in detail. Explain what you think are the two or three most important concepts in the experiment. Identify and describe the main questions the thought experiment is asking. Offer your own evaluation of the thought experiment. Do you think the experiment poses important question? Do you think it correctly defines the concepts it discusses? Does the author come to a convincing conclusion? Carefully explain: why or why not?

Use your textbook to help you respond to the topic, and when you quote and

summarize from the course texts, include information about the page reference.

I strongly discourage you from using outside sources, but if you do use an outside

source, be sure to cite your source. If you use a famous quotation or an example

from a website, cite the website’s url and the date accessed.