Formal Writing Assignment #1 Philosophy: Critical Thinking and Reasoning/Fall 20

Formal Writing Assignment #1
Philosophy: Critical Thinking and Reasoning/Fall 2023
Length: 2-3 pages, MLA format (Use MLA template and Easy Bib for Works Cited entries, both available on Blackboard)
Formal Paper: This assignment will require that you submit a first draft as well as a final draft.
Treat the first draft as if it were a final draft. Format the paper properly and check spelling and grammar.
Assessment: 5% First Draft/15% Final Grade (There is a rubric attached to the assignment that you should read. It provides the categories on which you will be graded.)
First Draft Due: September 18. (Late papers are penalized one letter grade for each day late.)
Submit your draft as an attachment on Blackboard. I will review your paper with the object of helping you make your final draft better. You will be provided with comments on your strengths as well as weaknesses.
Final Draft Due: TBA(Late papers are penalized one letter grade for each day late.)
Genre: “Write to Learn”. This assignment asks you to explain several essential critical thinking strategies from chapter 5 in Vaughn: Enumerative induction; opinion polls; analogical induction. No thesis statement is required.
The Situation: You receive a message from one of your close friends in this class.
The message reads:
I missed the last philosophy class. It’s a long story. But anyway, I just scanned Chapter 5 on Inductive Arguments and Statistics and am totally lost. You’re the smart one. What is this stuff about enumerative induction and samples and target groups? What’s confidence level? What about opinion polls? Aren’t they pretty reliable? And analogical induction…what gives with that? So I guess this stuff is important when we evaluate an argument, right? Do me a favor? Tell me what they are, and what we have to consider if we come across them in an argument, okay? Thanks for your help!
You have graciously agreed to help your friend out.
Your Tasks:
1. Review the material in Chapter 5. You want to get a brief definition or explanation of the term from Vaughn (not a dictionary) followed by an