discussion critical thinking

• Find an editorial opinion from a credible local or national newspaper. Identify the topic of the editorial, the media source, date, and author.

  Note: Be sure that the source you choose is an editorial opinion, not a news story. See this example (Links to an external site.).

• Use standard argument form to present your own argument as you paraphrase (Links to an external site.) the conclusion or main claim and the premises. Be sure to address the following information in your analysis:

  What is the main claim or final conclusion of the editorial? What are the supporting premises for the main claim? What premises are missing?
  What type of argument is this? Deductive? Inductive?
  Is the argument made in the editorial valid? Sound?

• What critiques of the premises or conclusions do you have?

After analyzing the structure of the argument, consider whether you see common ground with your own perspectives and where you see room to make counter claims. For a good example of how you might approach this, see pp. 39-48 of Van Cleave (2016).