SAMPLE WRITING ASSIGNMENT
Type: Research paper on logical fallacies.
Length: 3 pages minimum, 5 maximum, plus works cited page.
Required references: 2 minimum.
Due Date: Friday 10 October
This assignment is intended to give you an opportunity to apply what we have learned about logical argument and the detection of fallacies in the context of a real-world issue.
BEFORE WE BEGIN: This is a sensitive subject, and I have chosen it partly for that reason. It makes it a rich source of pursuasive but fallacious argument (on both sides), and therefore fertile ground for our purposes. Understand, however, that this assignment is in no way to be construed as supporting any organization or point of view in this debate. PLEASE NOTE – this assignment is in particular NOT intended to pursuade the student to support any particular point of view, nor to state or defend his or her own views. This is a purely academic exercise, and will require of each student a degree of intellectual detachment.
- Look at a minimum of four examples of arguments in the debate over the use of animals for laboratory research; two arguments in favor and two arguments against. Two of these (one for and one against) must be the essays in the Forum article in the February issue of Scientific American. (Clicking on this link will take you to an online version of this issue. Access is free.) For other resources, you are free to search online, or in more traditional places, such as the library. I have a found a Yahoo listing of organizations with web pages devoted to one side or the other of this debate. (Search under "vivisection.")
- SFrom your resources, select a minimum of six passages where you believe fallacious arguments are being employed. (Ideally, about half of these would be fallacious arguments on one side of the debate, and half on the other side of the debate – but this isn't a rigid requirement.) Quote the relevant passages from each of these six arguments, and then identify and describe briefly what fallacy the argument employs. Try to choose passages that don't all represent the same fallacy or fallacies.
- In a one-page essay, state what you believe to be a valid argument, i.e., one that avoids fallacy, in support of some position in the debate over the use of animals for laboratory research. (You are free to borrow from your resources if you feel you have found a valid argument there.) NOTE: This need not be a statement or defense of your own views. It is simply an exercise in constructing valid argument, and no one will suppose that the argument you construct is intended to reflect your own opinion. WARNING: It is not enough to present an argument that you believe to be "reasonable." The argument must be valid in the strict sense that the conclusion follows inescapably from the premises according to the laws of logic.
- This is not a "formal" writing assignment, i.e., it is NOT necessary to adhere to the strict format ordinarily required for writing assignments. In other words, you do not need to prepare a works cited page, although I would like you to note the source of the passages which you quote. (The assignment does have to be typed, of course.) Also, you will find it will go much more quickly if, when you are scanning for online resources, you open a word processor window and paste the passages you wish to quote directly from the Netscape window into the word processor. This can be done by highlighting the text you wish to copy using the mouse, then selecting "copy" in the edit menu of the browser, then clicking on the word processor window and selecting "past" from the edit menu of this window. If you have difficulty, ask a CNS assistant for help, or e-mail me about it.
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