Reading and All That Jazz: Tuning Up Your Reading, Thinking, and Study Skills, 2/e

Peter Mather, Glendale Community College
Rita McCarthy, Glendale Community College

Fact and Opinion

Journal

Fact and Opinion

Reading Selection:

Listening: To Tell Fact From Fiction, by Shirley Haley-James and John Warren Stewig


1		Choose a controversial issue that matters to you, and write down a few facts about it. Then write down your opinions about the issue. How can you use facts to support your opinions? What facts would the opposing side bring up to support opinions that differ from yours?

Reading Selection:

Truth is More Than Skin Deep from UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGY 3/e by Charles G. Morris

In Your Own Words


2		Do you think employers should be able to use lie detector tests to screen job applicants? Why or why not?



3		If a prospective employer asked you to take a lie detector test, would you agree to do it?



4		Do you think lie detector tests should be used to determine the guilt or innocence of criminal defendants? Why or why not?

Reading Selection:

Superstitions Can Help Us Cope, by Patricia Wren


5		Do you subscribe to any superstitions? What are they? How do superstitions influence your behavior? What kinds of habits do you have that represent acceptance of common superstitions?

In Your Own Words


6		Do you have any superstitions? Do you avoid letting black cats cross your path? Or avoid walking under ladders? Are there things you do or say to bring yourself good luck?



7		Can you think of any superstitions that belong to particular cultures? For instance, the belief that a four leaf clover brings good luck is associated with Irish culture.

Written Assignment


8		At one time, some people believed that gods lived in the trunks of trees. If you wanted to ask a favor of a god, you would go to a tree and knock politely on the trunk before making your request. Then if your favor was granted, you would return to the tree and knock on the trunk again to thank the god. This old superstition may still exist in a different form. Many people today knock on wood to ensure the continuation of good luck. Write a list of common superstitions and some possible explanations of their origin.

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