Commuication and Media

Sometimes we spend a lot of time debating claims of fact in the public sphere. Shortly after President Trump was inaugurated, there was heated debate over the size of his inauguration crowd. (If you Google “Trump inauguration crowd size, you will get a very large number of results, many of the news articles). I am going to link for you a clip from the first press conference of Trump’s presidency. The man speaking is named Sean Spicer. He was the White House Press Secretary at the time. He puts forward many claims of fact. Some of them can be supported with evidence, and some of them can be refuted with evidence. Watch the video linked below: https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/01/21/sean-spicer-entire-defends-inauguration-crowd-size-sot.cnn You will post 3 things: 1. Identify and list 3 claims of fact that Sean Spicer makes (they do not have to be true–they have to claim that Spicer puts forward, and they should be potentially empirically testable claims). Examples: He makes claims about crowd size, various equipment used, a National Parks policy, public transit, and more! Identify 3 claims of fact that he makes. 2. Pick 1 of those 3 claims that you listed above, and do a bit of googling. Find evidence to support or refute the claim. This doesn’t have to be terribly serious–we usually do this in class and it takes about 15-20 minutes. I would expect you to spend the same amount of time. Again, there are a lot of Google results available to you here. Explain in 4-5 sentences whether the evidence you found supported or refuted the claim, briefly explain your evidence. Tell us briefly what strategies you used to figure it out (what did you google, what sources did you read?) Link your source(s). 3. Comment on a classmate’s post. Discuss similar and different findings, the research strategies you used, etc.

1. Topic: Excessive use of paper and indiscriminate cutting of trees You will explain how your topic meets certain criteria listed below 2. A thesis for the informative speech (it must be a claim of fact) You will explain how you know that your thesis meets the criteria for a claim of fact and how it will help create a foundation for your persuasive speech (without taking a stand in the informative speech) 3. A possible thesis for the persuasive speech. (It must be a claim of value or a claim of policy. This may be revised and get more specific as you conduct research). You will identify whether you think your persuasive speech thesis will be a claim of value or a claim of policy Number each part of your submission post clearly with 1, 2, and 3: 1. Your proposed topic Your topic should be clearly identified in the first sentence of part 1 of your post. That means you need to tell me what problem you think needs to be solved. Then explain in 5-6 sentences how you answered the questions posed in Step 1 above. Most importantly, make certain that you include: the problem to be solved (that’s your topic!), who disagrees about your topic, and what makes this problem urgent (something that needs to be solved right away)? What or who will be harmed if we do not solve this problem? 2. An informative speech thesis (a claim of fact) related to the topic you selected in step 1 Your informative thesis should be one, clear, declarative sentence. Your informative thesis should be the first sentence of part 2 in your submission post. Explain in 1-2 sentences how you think you will think this will provide background/context and set you up for your persuasive speech (though you will not be taking a stand on the controversial issue in your informative speech). Explain in 1-2 sentences how you know your claim is potentially empirically testable, i.e., a claim of fact and not a claim of value or policy 3. A persuasive speech thesis (a claim of value or a claim of the policy) that will build on your informative speech Your persuasive thesis should be one, declarative sentence. Your persuasive thesis should be the first sentence of part 3 in your submission post. It can be slightly more general and subject to revision than your informative thesis. But you need to have an idea of where you are headed since the two speeches are related. Identify whether this proposed thesis is intended to be a claim of value or a claim of policy

1. Topic: Excessive use of paper and indiscriminate cutting of trees You will explain how your topic meets certain criteria listed below 2. A thesis for the informative speech (it must be a claim of fact) You will explain how you know that your thesis meets the criteria for a claim of fact and how it will help create a foundation for your persuasive speech (without taking a stand in the informative speech) 3. A possible thesis for the persuasive speech. (It must be a claim of value or a claim of policy. This may be revised and get more specific as you conduct research). You will identify whether you think your persuasive speech thesis will be a claim of value or a claim of policy Number each part of your submission post clearly with 1, 2, and 3: 1. Your proposed topic Your topic should be clearly identified in the first sentence of part 1 of your post. That means you need to tell me what problem you think needs to be solved. Then explain in 5-6 sentences how you answered the questions posed in Step 1 above. Most importantly, make certain that you include: the problem to be solved (that’s your topic!), who disagrees about your topic, and what makes this problem urgent (something that needs to be solved right away)? What or who will be harmed if we do not solve this problem? 2. An informative speech thesis (a claim of fact) related to the topic you selected in step 1 Your informative thesis should be one, clear, declarative sentence. Your informative thesis should be the first sentence of part 2 in your submission post. Explain in 1-2 sentences how you think you will think this will provide background/context and set you up for your persuasive speech (though you will not be taking a stand on the controversial issue in your informative speech). Explain in 1-2 sentences how you know your claim is potentially empirically testable, i.e., a claim of fact and not a claim of value or policy 3. A persuasive speech thesis (a claim of value or a claim of the policy) that will build on your informative speech Your persuasive thesis should be one, declarative sentence. Your persuasive thesis should be the first sentence of part 3 in your submission post. It can be slightly more general and subject to revision than your informative thesis. But you need to have an idea of where you are headed since the two speeches are related. Identify whether this proposed thesis is intended to be a claim of value or a claim of policy

Sometimes we spend a lot of time debating claims of fact in the public sphere. Shortly after President Trump was inaugurated, there was heated debate over the size of his inauguration crowd. (If you Google “Trump inauguration crowd size, you will get a very large number of results, many of the news articles). I am going to link for you a clip from the first press conference of Trump’s presidency. The man speaking is named Sean Spicer. He was the White House Press Secretary at the time. He puts forward many claims of fact. Some of them can be supported with evidence, and some of them can be refuted with evidence. Watch the video linked below: https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/01/21/sean-spicer-entire-defends-inauguration-crowd-size-sot.cnn You will post 3 things: 1. Identify and list 3 claims of fact that Sean Spicer makes (they do not have to be true–they have to claim that Spicer puts forward, and they should be potentially empirically testable claims). Examples: He makes claims about crowd size, various equipment used, a National Parks policy, public transit, and more! Identify 3 claims of fact that he makes. 2. Pick 1 of those 3 claims that you listed above, and do a bit of googling. Find evidence to support or refute the claim. This doesn’t have to be terribly serious–we usually do this in class and it takes about 15-20 minutes. I would expect you to spend the same amount of time. Again, there are a lot of Google results available to you here. Explain in 4-5 sentences whether the evidence you found supported or refuted the claim, briefly explain your evidence. Tell us briefly what strategies you used to figure it out (what did you google, what sources did you read?) Link your source(s). 3. Comment on a classmate’s post. Discuss similar and different findings, the research strategies you used, etc.

1. Topic: Excessive use of paper and indiscriminate cutting of trees You will explain how your topic meets certain criteria listed below 2. A thesis for the informative speech (it must be a claim of fact) You will explain how you know that your thesis meets the criteria for a claim of fact and how it will help create a foundation for your persuasive speech (without taking a stand in the informative speech) 3. A possible thesis for the persuasive speech. (It must be a claim of value or a claim of policy. This may be revised and get more specific as you conduct research). You will identify whether you think your persuasive speech thesis will be a claim of value or a claim of policy Number each part of your submission post clearly with 1, 2, and 3: 1. Your proposed topic Your topic should be clearly identified in the first sentence of part 1 of your post. That means you need to tell me what problem you think needs to be solved. Then explain in 5-6 sentences how you answered the questions posed in Step 1 above. Most importantly, make certain that you include: the problem to be solved (that’s your topic!), who disagrees about your topic, and what makes this problem urgent (something that needs to be solved right away)? What or who will be harmed if we do not solve this problem? 2. An informative speech thesis (a claim of fact) related to the topic you selected in step 1 Your informative thesis should be one, clear, declarative sentence. Your informative thesis should be the first sentence of part 2 in your submission post. Explain in 1-2 sentences how you think you will think this will provide background/context and set you up for your persuasive speech (though you will not be taking a stand on the controversial issue in your informative speech). Explain in 1-2 sentences how you know your claim is potentially empirically testable, i.e., a claim of fact and not a claim of value or policy 3. A persuasive speech thesis (a claim of value or a claim of the policy) that will build on your informative speech Your persuasive thesis should be one, declarative sentence. Your persuasive thesis should be the first sentence of part 3 in your submission post. It can be slightly more general and subject to revision than your informative thesis. But you need to have an idea of where you are headed since the two speeches are related. Identify whether this proposed thesis is intended to be a claim of value or a claim of policy

Sometimes we spend a lot of time debating claims of fact in the public sphere. Shortly after President Trump was inaugurated, there was heated debate over the size of his inauguration crowd. (If you Google “Trump inauguration crowd size, you will get a very large number of results, many of the news articles). I am going to link for you a clip from the first press conference of Trump’s presidency. The man speaking is named Sean Spicer. He was the White House Press Secretary at the time. He puts forward many claims of fact. Some of them can be supported with evidence, and some of them can be refuted with evidence. Watch the video linked below: https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/01/21/sean-spicer-entire-defends-inauguration-crowd-size-sot.cnn You will post 3 things: 1. Identify and list 3 claims of fact that Sean Spicer makes (they do not have to be true–they have to claim that Spicer puts forward, and they should be potentially empirically testable claims). Examples: He makes claims about crowd size, various equipment used, a National Parks policy, public transit, and more! Identify 3 claims of fact that he makes. 2. Pick 1 of those 3 claims that you listed above, and do a bit of googling. Find evidence to support or refute the claim. This doesn’t have to be terribly serious–we usually do this in class and it takes about 15-20 minutes. I would expect you to spend the same amount of time. Again, there are a lot of Google results available to you here. Explain in 4-5 sentences whether the evidence you found supported or refuted the claim, briefly explain your evidence. Tell us briefly what strategies you used to figure it out (what did you google, what sources did you read?) Link your source(s). 3. Comment on a classmate’s post. Discuss similar and different findings, the research strategies you used, etc.