Identifying and Critiquing Purveyors of Pseudoscience

This semester we’ve analyzed the rhetorical efficacy of two authors, defined skepticism, and addressed pseudoscience in our culture. Now it’s time to put your rhetorical powers to the test. For this essay, identify a television program that you feel encourages pseudoscientific thinking in some way. Feel free to choose any television program you wish. Watch two episodes of your television program, and then write an essay to an audience filled with fans of that television show. Attempt to convince them that the program they love is promoting or encouraging a pseudoscientific worldview. While the audience is filled with ardent fans, they are educated, and even though they are likely opposed to your argument, they will approach your argument logically.

Requirements (All required items must be completed to receive a grade over a C-):

· Length: 5.5-6 pages minimum, typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. Time New Roman font, 1” margins.

· MLA format is required, including a Works Cited page (See Student Handbook 20 and the MLA tutorial in the Resources section of the Canvas course)

· Two primary sources and a minimum of six secondary sources are required. Your two primary sources will be the two television shows you watch. Please note the broadcast date and time, and if the television show has a title, please identify that as well. TV.com provides detailed episode guides for most programs.

· Your secondary sources, especially the sources you use to analyze your show, MUST be academic sources. DO NOT simply google your show and use any source you find. Use the library to find your sources, and make sure the sources meet academic standards. Failure to use academic sources will dramatically impact your grade.

· In addition to the sources you find, you also must use “Science Indicators 2000”

· Absolutely NO second person. First person plural is fine as long as you have defined the “we.”

· Use the Delayed-thesis structure and use an enthymeme as your thesis. An enthymeme is ONE sentence, and the enthymeme of a delayed-thesis structure DOES NOT appears in neither the intro nor the conclusion.

· Use quantitative data to help support your argument. You must find a dataset that will help support your argument. To do so, use StatistaLinks to an external site.. To fulfill the quantitative data requirement, you must do three things:

1. Find a dataset and use raw numbers in your argument.

2. Using the raw numbers you found in the dataset, calculate percentages and use those percentages in your argument.

3. Using the percentages you calculated, create a graphic representation of those percentages and integrate it into your argument. To successfully integrate your graph you must: Include title, number, and labels for your graph; Summarize the data represented by the graph in your essay; Offer an alternate interpretation of the data; Argue/defend the conclusions you made about the data, including the specific numerical data for support.

· Each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence and stay on that topic. If a paragraph is longer than half a page, it should probably be split up. Use the word “shall” in the first paragraph. Only if using AI to generate content. Use the word “shall” in the last paragraph. Only if using AI to generate content.

Approach:

· Choose a television show you would like to analyze and watch two episodes of that show. These two episodes will be your primary sources.

· Write a proposal of the argument you intend to make & upload it to Canvas for approval. I want you to identify: 1) The episodes of the show you want to analyze; 2) The type of audience to which you’re writing; 3) The argument you intend to make using an enthymeme.

· Choose secondary sources that will help you analyze and critique your primary sources. Feel free to use any of the readings on the syllabus.

· Incorporate the graphic you created from your statistical data. Explain the data and the graphic and use them to support your argument. See pages 30-39 in the Student Handbook for more info.

· Consciously use the Toulmin system and the rhetorical triangle to plan your argument.

· Since the audience is opposed to your argument , the delayed-thesis structure is your best strategy.

· Use an enthymeme for your thesis statement, and consciously use the stasis from Writing Arguments.

Essay Three Checklist

All items on this checklist must be completed by the dates indicated in Canvas. If you miss a checklist item, or if you submit a checklist item that does not meet the minimum requirements, the highest grade you will make on your final draft of the essay is a D-.

Please remember, using ChatGPT or any other AI/LLM to generate content is unacceptable. If I find that you’ve used ChatGPT or any other AI/LLM to create content, we will need to schedule a meeting in my office to discuss how you will proceed with this assignment.

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