Lesson 1 Updated for 1-21-16: Critical Thinking and Essay Topic: Is College Worth It?

 

Topic for an Argumentative Essay: The Costs and Benefits of College

Writing Assignment:

In a 4-page essay that addresses the major points in "College Calculus" and "America: Abandon Your Reverence for the Bachelor's Degree," develop an argumentative thesis that addresses the question if college is worth the cost for your particular area of study. You must have a minimum of 3 sources for your Works Cited page and use MLA format. You may consult the following:

"3 Reasons College Still Matters" by Andrew Delbanco. 

"Is College Worth It?"

"College Is Still Worth It, Despite the Cost"

Factors to Consider

1. Your major (computer science different than philosophy) 
2. The timing of your major (will you graduate when your field is in demand?)
3. Your college (some colleges have bigger payoffs than others)
4. Your cost and debt, if any
5. Average income in your field of work (don't work at a non-profit to pay off a half million dollar loan)
6. Amount of time you need to complete college
7. Degree of certainty you will like your vocation (cook spends 30 thousand dollars at culinary institute and hates working in a hot kitchen for an angry head chef at a hotel or person hates working in the legal profession) 
8. Opportunities, if any, you're deferring in your college quest (one of my students dropped out to make $250K annually as a train conductor engineer) 
9. How low is the work ceiling in your field if you don't have a Bachelor's?
10. What are your current opportunities? Are you wealthy and without a degree you can manage your rich father's coffee shop chain and drive a Mercedes? Are you of modest means and find that having a Bachelor's puts you in a better position than where you are now? 
11. In my experience, evangelists for Not Going to College are tech or business sales freaks who are the exception in the Principle of Success Without College, not the rule. My brother is a real estate flipper, and he has worked 80 hours a week since he got into the business over 20 years ago. He is addicted to high risk, high stakes, and high adrenalin. His "lifestyle" is for about .0001%  of the human race. 

Dos and Don’ts of Writing an Introduction

Don’t

Use a trite quotation like “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” 

Don’t use any cliché like “All talk and no action” or any other over-familiar phrase that has no freshness. "Since the Dawn of Man . . ."

Begin your introduction by writing, “In this essay it is my objective to . . .”

Don’t use a common dictionary definition of a term you want to define. 

Don’t begin with “In today’s society” or “In society today” or “In today’s modern world” or “The modern world in which we live in” because all are lame. 

Don’t be trite, hackneyed, or boring. If you're boring, your soul is not in it. Here's a cliche I like: "Get in the game or get the hell out." No one is boring because they're dumb; people are boring because they don't care. 

Do’s 

Do establish relevance. Why is your topic compelling, a topic your reader needs to reckon with? 

Do begin with a compelling cultural reference. 

Do begin with an extended definition that helps your reader understanding a term that is central to your essay. 

Do begin with a refutation of a commonly held opinion: “Most United States prison sentences don’t make us safer; they increase crime and feed business interests, not human interests.” 

Do begin with a series of rhetorical questions: “Have you ever wondered by so many Americans are apathetic to the very issues that determine the core of their morality and quality of life?” 

Do begin with a “delicious quote” or paraphrase that captures your reader’s attention: “Economist Paul Krugman said it would be cheaper for insurance companies to fire their underwriters who are paid to deny medical claims and simply not deny medical claims.” 

Thesis checklist from Purdue Owl 

Your thesis is the one sentence in your essay that announces your argument to your reader.

Your thesis is your essay's central argument that can demonstrated with evidence and logic. 

Your thesis is often debatable and allows you to address opposing views. 

Your thesis is more than a general statement about your main idea. It needs to establish a clear position you will support with balanced proofs (logos, pathos, ethos). Use the checklist below to help you create a thesis. 

Thesis Examples

Thesis That Supports Accepting Syrian Refugees

Americans should accept Syrian refugees because the intangible benefits outweigh the tangible risks. 

The tangible risks are a lack of assimilation and financial burden on American tax payer and that some are ISIS recruits. However, to turn our backs on a humanitarian crisis makes us morally ugly and moral ugliness is not a legacy we want to pass down to our children. Moral ugliness is a disease that spreads evil. For two examples, America stood by during the Armenian genocide and stood by when European Jews were sent back to Europe as their ships waited for entry on America's coastline. Refugees from Honduras and El Salvador are being sent back to gang-ruled societies where children are forced to be foot soldiers for gang leaders. 

Morally ugly societies rank low on the Happiness Index.

Another thesis example:

Even though we give lip service to having moral integrity, we find that none of us truly has moral integrity because our self-interest always compromises it evidenced by every day circumstances (cheating on a college test if you knew you could get away with it; finding millions of dollars of stolen money if you knew you would never get caught; finding a wallet, etc.)

The following section is adapted from Writing with a Thesis: A Rhetoric Reader by David Skwire and Sarah Skwire: 

Make sure you avoid the following when creating your thesis:

• A thesis is not a title: Homes and schools (title) vs. Parents ought to participate more in the education of their children (good thesis).
• A thesis is not an announcement of the subject: My subject is the incompetence of the Supreme Court vs. The Supreme Court made a mistake when it ruled in favor of George W. Bush in the 2000 election.
• A thesis is not a statement of absolute fact: Jane Austen is the author of Pride and Prejudice.
• A thesis is not the whole essay: A thesis is your main idea/claim/refutation/problem-solution expressed in a single sentence or a combination of sentences.
• Please note that according to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Seventh Edition, "A thesis statement is a single sentence that formulates both your topic and your point of view" (Gibaldi 42). However, if your paper is more complex and requires a thesis statement, your thesis may require a combination of sentences. 

Quick Checklist for Your Thesis Statement:

_____ The thesis/claim follows the guidelines outlined above

_____ The thesis/claim matches the requirements and goals of the assignment

_____ The thesis/claim is clear and easily recognizable

_____ The thesis/claim seems supportable by good reasoning/data, emotional appeal

Successful Thesis Template Examples

McMahon's argument that we should embrace Syrian refugees is flawed evidenced by ____________, ______________, ______________, and ___________________.

 

McMahon's contention that as a general principle we do not have moral integrity is form of cheap cynicism that collapses under the weight of various fallacies, which include ______________, _____________, ____________, and __________________.

 

The New Jim Crow is a failed/successful analogy to the original Jim Crow because __________________, ________________, _____________________, and __________________.

While Alexander makes a compelling critique of the mass incarceration system, her analogy between Jim Crow and incarceration as "The New Jim Crow" collapses when we consider ______________, ______________, ___________, and ______________.

While through Alexander's own admission the analogy between Jim Crow and mass incarceration as "The New Jim Crow" is not a perfect one, we can make the case that those who would dismiss her analogy entirely are in grave error when we consider these major flaws in their thinking, which include ___________, ___________, _____________, and _______________.

Michelle Alexander has written a brilliant critique of mass incarceration in which she points out its moral bankruptcy in ways that are beyond dispute. However, her book is a failure because she squandered the opportunity to point out the real causes of this moral bankruptcy, which include __________, ___________, __________, and ____________.

The assertion that Alexander's book falls short because it fails to address the deeper problems caused by free market capitalism collapses when we consider ___________, __________, ___________, and ________________.

While Alexander's book is hardly perfect and contains some serious flaws, her overall argument is compelling when we consider ____________, ____________, __________, and _______________.

 

Avoid an Either/Or Thesis 

Going to college is in your best interests because ___________, _____________, ______________, and ________________.

Use stipulation (show conditions or requirements) and nuance (showing subtle distinctions) to inform your thesis and give it appropriate sophistication for a complicated topic:

If you keep your costs down and major in something that utilizes your passions and has strong market value, getting a college degree, while not guaranteeing financial success, is your best play for entering the job market. 

Use concession clause 

While majors in the humanities would probably not be in your best financial interests, marketable majors such as finance, accounting, computer science, and engineering should give you upward economic mobility if you can keep your costs down. 

While the job market is declining while college costs continue to skyrocket, going to college is still your best play for upward economic mobility unless you are a tech or sales whiz. 

Use refutation thesis

The argument of going to college or not is a false argument since there is overwhelming evidence that compels us to conclude that going to college is our best financial play. The real argument is WHAT kind of major do we pursue and at WHAT cost? In other words, the argument should focus on the ratio of financial potential to college costs. 

The question isn't going to college or not; the real question is do I major in a "safe bet" and approach my career like a soulless mercenary or do I choose my major based on my passions and say the hell with making money? 

We should not either major in a "safe bet" or a passion-based guarantee of lifelong poverty; rather, we should seek a balance.  

Study the Templates of Argumentation  

While the author’s arguments for meaning are convincing, she fails to consider . . . 

While the authors' supports make convincing arguments, they must also consider . . . 

These arguments, rather than being convincing, instead prove . . . 

While these authors agree with Writer A on point X, in my opinion . . . 

Although it is often true that . . . 

While I concede that my opponents make a compelling case for point X, their main argument collapses underneath a barrage of . . . 

While I see many good points in my opponent’s essay, I am underwhelmed by his . . . 

While my opponent makes some cogent points regarding A, B, and C, his overall argument fails to convince when we consider X, Y, and Z. 

My opponent makes many provocative and intriguing points. However, his arguments must be dismissed as fallacious when we take into account W, X, Y, and Z. 

While the author’s points first appear glib and fatuous, a closer look at his polemic reveals a convincing argument that . . .

How do we generate ideas for an essay?

We begin by not worrying about being critical. We brainstorm a huge list of ideas and then when the list is complete, we undergo the process of evaluation. 

We can also use the bicycle spokes method in which we begin with a circle and make bicycle spokes all around the wheel. In truth, the spokes branch out more like tree branches. 

Professional Hollywood writers use these methods. 

Sample Topic for an Essay: Parents Who Don’t Immunize Their Children

1. Most parents who don’t immunize their children are educated and upper class.
2. They read on the Internet that immunizations lead to autism or other health problems.
3. They follow some “natural guru” who warns that vaccines aren’t organic and pose health risks.
4. They panic over anecdotal evidence that shows vaccines are dangerous.
5. They confuse correlation with causality.
6. Why are these parents always rich?
7. Are they narcissists?
8. Are they looking for simple answers for complex problems?
9. Would they not stand in line for the Ebola vaccine, if it existed?
10. These parents are endangering others by not getting the vaccine.

Thesis that is a claim of cause and effect: 

Parents who refuse to vaccinate their children tend to be narcissistic people of privilege who believe their sources of information are superior to “the mainstream media”; who are looking for simple explanations that might protect their children from autism; who are confusing correlation with causality; and who are benefiting from the very vaccinations they refuse to give their children.

Thesis that is a claim of argumentation:

Parents who refuse to vaccinate their children should be prosecuted by the law because they are endangering the public and they are relying on pseudo-intellectual science to base their decisions.

To test a thesis, we must always ask: “What might be objections to my claim?”

Prosecuting parents will only give those parents more reason to be paranoid that the government is conspiring against them.

There are less severe ways to get parents to comply with the need to vaccinate their children.

Generating Ideas for Our Essays

How do we prepare our minds so we have “Eureka” (I found it) moments and apply these moments to our writing?

The word eureka comes from the Greek heuristic, a method or process for discovering ideas. The principle posits that one thought triggers another.

Diverse and conflicting opinions in a classroom are a heuristic tool for generating thoughts.

Here’s an example:

One student says, “Fat people should pay a fat tax because they incur more medical costs than non-fat people.”

Another student says, “Wrong. Fat people die at a far younger age. It’s people who live past seventy, non-fat people, who put a bigger drain on medical costs. In fact, smokers and fat people, by dying young, save us money.”

Another heuristic method is breaking down the subject into classical topics:

Definition: What is it? Jealousy is a form of insanity in which a morally bankrupt person assumes his partner is as morally bankrupt as he is.

Comparison: What is it like or unlike? Compared to the risk of us dying from global warming, death from a terrorist attack is relatively miniscule.

Relationship: What caused it, and what will it cause? The chief cause of our shrinking brain and its concomitant reduced attention span is gadget screen time.

Testimony: What is said about it by experts? Social scientists explain that the United States’ mass incarceration of poor people actually increases the crime rate.

Another heuristic method is finding a controversial topic and writing a list of pros and cons.

Consider the topic, “Should I become a vegan?”

Here are some pros:

1. I’ll focus on eating healthier foods.
2. I won’t be eating as many foods potentially contaminated by E.coli  and Salmonella.
3. I won’t be contributing as much to the suffering of sentient creatures.
4. I won’t be contributing as much to greenhouse gasses.
5. I’ll be eating less cholesterol and saturated fats.

Cons

1. It’s debatable that a vegan diet is healthier than a Paleo (heavy meat eating) diet.
2. Relying on soy is bad for the body.
3. My body craves animal protein.
4. Being a vegan will ostracize me from my family and friends.

One. Checklist for Critical Thinking 

My attitude toward critical thinking: 

Does my thinking show imaginative open-mindedness and intellectual curiosity? Or do I exist in a circular, self-feeding, insular brain loop resulting in solipsism? The latter is also called living in the echo chamber. 

Am I willing to honestly examine my assumptions? 

Am I willing to entertain new ideas—both those that I encounter while reading and those that come to mind while writing? 

Am I willing to approach a debatable topic by using dialectical argument, going back and forth between opposing views? 

Am I willing to exert myself—for instance, to do research—to acquire information and to evaluate evidence? 

My skills to develop critical thinking 

Can I summarize an argument accurately? 

Can I evaluate assumptions, evidence, and inferences? 

Can I present my ideas effectively—for instance, by organizing and by writing in a manner appropriate to my imagined audience?

 

Ways to Improve Your Critical Reading  

1. Do a background check of the author to see if he or she has a hidden agenda or any other kind of background information that speaks to the author’s credibility.
2. Check the place of publication to see what kind of agenda, if any, the publishing house has. Know how esteemed the publishing house is among peers of the subject you’re reading about.
3. Learn how to find the thesis. In other words, know what the author’s purpose, explicit or implicit, is.
4. Annotate more than underline. Your memory will be better served, according to research, by annotating than underlining. You can scribble your own code in the margins as long as you can understand your writing when you come back to it later. Annotating is a way of starting a dialogue about the reading and writing process. It is a form of pre-writing. Forms of annotation that I use are “yes,” (great point) “no,” (wrong, illogical, BS) and “?” (confusing). When I find the thesis, I’ll also write that in the margins. Or I’ll write down an essay or book title that the passage reminds me of. Or maybe even an idea for a story or a novel.
5. When faced with a difficult text, you will have to slow down and use the principles of summarizing and paraphrasing. With summary, you concisely identify the main points in one or two sentences. With paraphrase, you re-word the text in your own words.
6. When reading an argument, see if the writer addresses possible objections to his or her argument. Ask yourself, of all the objections, did the writer choose the most compelling ones? The more compelling the objections addressed, the more rigorous and credible the author’s writing.

 To read critically, we have to do the following:

One. Comprehend the author's purpose and meaning, which is expressed in the claim or thesis

Two. Examine the evidence, if any, that is used

Three. Find emotional appeals, if any, that are used

Four. Identify analogies and comparisons and analyze their legitimacy

Five. Look at the topic sentences to see how the author is building his or her claim

Six. Look for the appeals the author uses be they logic (logos), emotions (pathos), or authority (ethos).

Seven. Is the author's argument diminished by logical fallacies?

Eight. Do you recognize any bias in the essay that diminishes the author's argument?

Nine. Do we bring any prejudice that may compromise our ability to evaluate the argument fairly? 

Being a Critical Reader Means Being an Active Reader

To be an active reader we must ask the following when we read a text: 

One. What is the author’s thesis or purpose? 

Two. What arguments is the author responding to? 

Three. Is the issue relevant or significant? If not, why? 

Four. How do I know that what the author says is true or credible? If not, why? 

Five. Is the author’s evidence legitimate? Sufficient? Why or why not? 

Six. Do I have legitimate opposition to the author’s argument? 

Seven. What are some counterarguments to the author’s position? 

Eight. Has the author addressed the most compelling counterarguments? 

Nine. Is the author searching for truth or is the author beholden to an agenda, political, business, lobby, or something else? 

Ten. Is the author’s position compromised by the use of logical fallacies such as either/or, Straw Man, ad hominem, non sequitur, confusing causality with correlation, etc.? 

Eleven. Has the author used effective rhetorical strategies to be persuasive? Rhetorical strategies in the most general sense include ethos (credibility), logos (clear logic), and pathos (appealing to emotion). Another rhetorical strategy is the use of biting satire when one wants to mercilessly attack a target.

Twelve. You should write in the margins of your text (annotate) to address the above questions. Using annotations increases your memory and reading comprehension far beyond passive reading. And research shows annotating while reading is far superior to using a highlighter, which is mostly a useless exercise. 

An annotation can be very brief. Here are some I use: 

? 

Wrong 

Confusing 

Thesis 

Proof 1 

Counterargument 

Good point

Genius 

Lame

BS

Cliché

Condescending 

Full of himself

Contradiction!

 

 

Critical Writing

Applying your critical thinking to academic writing 

You will find that your task as a writer at the higher levels of critical thinking is to argue. 

You will express your argument in 6 ways: 

One. You will define a situation that calls for some response in writing by asking critical questions. For example, is the Confederate flag a symbol of honor and respect for the heritage of white people in the South? Or is the flag a symbol of racial hatred, slavery, and Jim Crow? 

Two. You will demonstrate the timeliness of your argument. In other words, why is your argument relevant? 

Why is it relevant for example to address the decision of many parents to NOT vaccinate their children?

Three. Establish your personal investment in the topic. Why do you care about the topic you’re writing about? 

You may be alarmed to see exponential increases in college costs and this is personal because you have children who will presumably go to college someday. 

Four. Appeal to your readers by anticipating their thoughts, beliefs, and values, especially as they pertain to the topic you are writing about. You may be arguing a vegetarian diet to people who are predisposed to believing that vegetarian eating is a hideous exercise in self-denial and amounts to torture. 

You may have to allay their doubts by making them delicious vegetarian foods or by convincing them that they can make such meals. 

You may be arguing against the NFL to those who defend it on the basis of the relatively high salaries NFL players make. Do you have an answer to that? 

Five. Support your argument with solid reasons and compelling evidence. If you're going to make the claim that the NFL is morally repugnant, can you support that? How?

Six. Anticipate your readers’ reasons for disagreeing with your position and try to change their mind so they “see things your way.” We call this “making the readers drink your Kool-Aid.”  

 

 

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