Day 18: Critical Evaluation - Sources

Being able to select acceptable and effective sources is an important skill in academic writing. Since you are using sources to enhance your writing, it is vital that they are evaluated with the same rigor that a teacher will evaluate your use of them. That means checking that they are from reputable origins and contain no problematic flaws. 

It is important to pick sources that not only agree with your argument, but also those that disagree.This demonstrates that you understand the complexity of the issue, since most issues are far from black-and-white. Being able to integrate sources with whom you agree, disagree, and partially agree with is a feature of good academic writing. Next class we will talk more about logical fallacies and how to avoid them. 


Your homework is to read the following articles and take critical notes on them. Are they biased or unbiased? Factual or unfactual? Do their arguments make sense or are there some logical fallacies involved? What is missing that would strengthen their arguments?  Think about what you agree with and disagree with in the articles. You have until Friday.


Article I
Article III
Article IV