Formulating Evaluative Statements PDF

Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 FORMULATING EVALUATIVE STAMENTS MODULE 3 Formulating Evaluative Statements We always want to be satisfied whenever we read any material. The craving of our personal, social, intellectual, and / or spiritual aspects is satiated when we read. This hap...

Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 FORMULATING EVALUATIVE STAMENTS MODULE 3 Formulating Evaluative Statements We always want to be satisfied whenever we read any material. The craving of our personal, social, intellectual, and / or spiritual aspects is satiated when we read. This happened when we are focused and discerned through critical thinking. It entails looking closely on the context, content, semantics, language used, syntax, and significance in the reading process. The readers, being conscious on the elements in reading processes should have the natural tendency to evaluate the reading material in general. Evaluation refers to the making of a value judgment. Once you have taken a position in a controversy involves value judgment. To support the position, we must make value judgments as well. In doing this, certain criteria are involved. An evaluative statement can be used to show your opinions, judgments, and points of view in a clear concise manner. An evaluative statement is a way of giving a better explanation to show the strengths and weaknesses of something through writing. It presents a value judgment based on a set of criteria. This value judgement is based on the evidenced gathered. It explains the reason of both strength and weakness as they are. An evaluative statement manifests the objectivity of reaction to a text read and analyzed. Evaluative statements must be fair, factual, and substantial. It must be written carefully because people may believe in them, and we must not be unfair or cruel to authors of texts. Providing well-crafted justification exhibit how critically the argument is treated and researched. Why are evaluative statements so important? The veracity of the information from the material read is put into question if there is the absence of evaluation. It helps us strengthen our critical thinking and assess the overall quality of the text. By evaluating, one is carrying out in-depth research of the different sides of arguments, understanding the perspective of the author based on what you are reading, summarizing it, and rewriting it in the same flow of the authors intention. Through evaluation, one can develop own opinions and skills after gauging and balancing the positives and the negatives of any argument Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 Let us practice evaluating statement. “Every person has something good to add to this world.” 1. Begin with the positives. It is true that human being is good and capable to share goodness. 2. Keep your feedback concise. The statement is an acknowledgement of human beings’ capability to share goodness to others. In times of calamities, modern heroes and heroines manifest the value of sharing goodness to others. 3. When pointing out negatives, focus on the situation, not the person. Our world would be good if all human being willed to share goodness. No more hatred, anger, violence, and death brought by selfishness and conceitedness if good intention of sharing is emancipated. How to form evaluative statements? Evaluative statement is about your judgement of the text’s content and property. This judgement came from your exercise of critical thinking and careful study of the gathered evidence. The evidence substantiates the text. This evidence can lead you to support or not the claim of the writer. From it, you can decide crafting your own stand or opinion in an argument supported by research or valid reasons. The composition can be in two easy ways: 1. Formulating assertions about the content and the properties of a text read. Assertions are declarative sentences that claim something is true about something else. In this step, you must examine which ideas are facts or opinions, make inferences or conclusions, and assess the overall quality of the text. These assertions usually hold evaluative languages such as useful, significant, important, insightful, detailed, up-to- date, comprehensive, practical, etc. 2. Formulating a meaningful counterclaim in response to a claim in the text read. A counterclaim is an opposition you make about the claim of a writer. You must recognize courtesy when you state your counterclaims. You can include modals – may, could, would, etc. Some frequency adverbs can also be used like usually, generally, commonly. Another set of adverbs showing probability can be utilized such as probably, possibly, and presumably. If you are not so smart, you should try to be a teacher., teachers are smart. The statement is very discriminative against those with average intelligence and teachers in general. Lots of professional who are called so smart are honed, trained, instructed, and guided by teachers. Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 ACTIVITY 1 Answer the following questions. Write the letter of the answer on the space before the number. 1. Which of the following presents the clearest evaluative statement? A. Full-time learner attainment is high. B. Learner attainment is consistently high. C. Learner attainment is higher that of the other school. D. Full-time learner attainment is well above national comparators: 60% against a sector average of 54%. 2. Which of the following presents the clearest evaluative statement? A. Learner completion diminished. B. Learner completion has fallen over the last year. C. Seventy percent of our learners failed to complete. D. Learner completion for 2005-2006 was 68% below our target of 70%. 3. Which of the following presents the clearest evaluative statement? A. Every individual is blessed. B. Every individual is thoughtful. C. Thoughtful and generous individuals are highly blessed. D. The individual is highly blessed, thoughtful, and generous. 4. Which of the following presents the clearest evaluative statement? A. People are inclined to technology. B. People are productive in technology. C. The technology is productive because of people. D. People inclined to technology are more productive. 5. Which of the following presents the clearest evaluative statement? A. People seek attention. B. People seek attention to all. C. People usually seek attention. D. People who are not motivated usually seek attention. ACTIVITY 3 Identify whether the given statement is an evaluative statement or not. Write ES if it is evaluative statement and N if not. 1. People can become doctors. 2. No one is poor that he has nothing to share. 3. In posting things on social media, you must think before you click. 4. We save the planet. 5. Obesity is probably caused by the bad food choices being offered by the food industry. Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 POSTTEST Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 MODULE 4 Formulate Assertions About the Content and Properties of a Text Read Assertions are declarative sentences that claim something is true about something else. It is a statement used to declare or express strong belief on a particular topic that is often without evidence. Four Common Types of Assertion 1. Fact. This is a statement that can be proven objectively by direct experience, testimonies of witnesses, verified observations, or the results of research. Because statements of fact can be double-checked for accuracy, there is general agreement about the truth they posit. Example: The Department of Health reported that the Philippines hit 169,213 cases of the coronavirus disease on Tuesday, August 18, 2020. This statement is a fact because it can be directly verified by a reliable source. 2. Convention. A convention is a way in which something is done, similar to traditions or norms. Conventions depend on historical precedent, laws, rules, usage, and customs. Thus, their truthfulness is verified by how commonly held definitions and beliefs are interpreted. Example: A large body of virologic, epidemiologic, veterinary, and ecologic data establishes that the new virus, SARS-CoV-2, evolved directly or indirectly from a β-coronavirus in the sarbecovirus (SARS-like virus) group that naturally infect bats and pangolins in Asia and Southeast Asia. This statement is a convention because it is based on classification made by medical practitioners. 3. Opinion. Opinions are based on facts but are difficult to objectively verify because of the uncertainty of producing satisfactory proofs of soundness. Opinions result from ambiguities; the more ambiguous a statement, the more difficult it is to verify. Thus, they are open to disputes. Example: Some doctors think that the virus is a global problem that will not go away in a week or two. This statement is an opinion because it is based on observation that needs to be proven. 4. Preference. Preferences are based on personal choice; therefore, they are subjective and cannot be objectively proven or logically attacked. Example: I think, putting societies and economies on hold will reduce the spread of the virus. This statement is a preference because it is the writer’s personal point of view. Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 GUIDED PRACTICE Write F if the statement is an assertion of fact, P if opinion, PR if preference and C if convention. Use the space provided to write your answers. _______1. As much as possible I stay home to avoid close contact with others. _______2. You can become infected by coming into close contact (about 6 feet or two arm lengths) with a person who has COVID-19. _______3. Medical frontliners deserve to be given privileges. _______4. CoVid-19 is believed to have zoonotic origins and has close genetic similarity to bat coronaviruses, suggesting it emerged from a batborne virus. _______5. Everyone is at risk of getting COVID-19. Activity 1 Identify and classify the assertions in the article below by highlighting FACTS with yellow, PREFERENCE pink and OPINION green. Example: The country will conduct Phase 3 of clinical trials of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine from October 2020 to March 2021. (Fact) DOST: No COVID-19 vaccine being developed in PH By: Daphne Galvez – Reporter, August 19, 2020 MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will have to rely on other countries for a vaccine against the coronavirus disease 2019 as it cannot develop its own at present. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) admitted on Wednesday that the country neither has neither the research facility nor the resources to develop a vaccine. Currently, we do not have the research facility to undertake the research in developing the vaccine,” DOST Undersecretary Rowena Guevarra said in an online media forum. DOST Council for Health Research and Development Executive Director Jaime Montoya reasoned that the Philippines still has to upgrade and enhance facilities in order to develop a vaccine. Developing a vaccine likewise “requires huge investments and resources.” “We do admit that we still have a lot of things to upgrade and enhance in order to attain this degree of ability to manufacture vaccines,” he said in the same media forum. He added that research and development for vaccine manufacturing require significant scientific talent, planning, infrastructure, and capacity building for “state of the art” laboratory facilities. “I assure the public that the government is already doing a lot of negotiations and discussions and plans in order to achieve some degree of vaccine self-sufficiency,” Montoya said. As for a vaccine for COVID-19, the Department of Health earlier revealed that the Philippines is currently in talks with 16 vaccine manufacturers worldwide, including Russia and China. Among the vaccines the Philippines will try is Sputnik V from Russia. The country will conduct Phase 3 of clinical trials of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine from October 2020 to March 2021. The human testing phase will be funded by the Russian government and will be done simultaneously in Manila and Moscow. Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 POSTTEST Formulate assertions from the article below. Write your paragraph in the space provided after the article. Management strategies to help maintain well-being of older Filipinos Approaches to helping mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older Filipinos involve interventions with emotional, spiritual, social, and physical components to meet their mental and other health needs. For anyone who is experiencing emotional distress, the National Center for Mental Health provides a crisis hotline that is free to the public. Providers in the private sector and nongovernment organizations pitched in as well, offering free telephone and online consultation and counseling services. Through telehealth measures, older individuals with anxiety and depression can benefit from psychotherapeutic treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) (Subramanyam et al., 2018) to correct maladaptive behavior and negative thoughts of distress and hopelessness (Diefenbach and Goethe, 2006). For physical and medical concerns, the public have access to the Department of Health hotline for free telemedicine consultation services for any medical conditions. For the older Filipinos who have anxieties about their physical health, local government units (LGUs) created a Barangay Health Emergency Response Team (BHERT) that serves as a triage unit prior to referral to a hospital or a designated COVID-19 medical center. These triage units are more convenient for older individuals to access given the locations are local within their area of residence. The BHERT can also dispatch a service vehicle to assist elderly patients in need. Cognizant of the challenges that older Filipinos face, LGUs have been tasked to assist them whenever possible. Communities have stepped up to help out as well, including buying basic commodities for the older neighbors. Social groups likewise volunteered to look in on older Filipinos who live alone to assess their needs and to ensure they are managing on their own. The national government also considers older Filipinos as a top priority in its social amelioration program of financial assistance during the pandemic together with programs initiated by other government officials and nongovernment organizations. Family caregivers have been helping to maintain social connections and minimize isolation and loneliness for older Filipinos in many ways. They assist with using digital methods and videoconferencing technologies to connect with friends and families and continue participating in respective organizations and communities through remote measures. For example, Himan Brown Senior program offers classes and social groups to 700 senior citizens (Finn, 2020). Here, older individuals are taught how to best use digital resources to help maintain their social wellbeing. Family caregivers also assist their older loved ones’ access online services for spiritual comfort and support (Armitage and Nellums, 2020). Older Filipinos also now attend holy mass on television, radio, or online because the schedules and frequency have increased several fold. Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 MODULE 5 Formulating Meaningful Counterclaims in Response to Claims Made in a Text Read There are two sides to every argument: (1) the “claim,” and (2) the “counterclaim.” The first is a statement of the party’s point, or argument for something. The second is a rebuttal, or argument opposing the claim. Counterclaims are just opposite of claims. They provide a contrasting perspective to the main argument. Once the parties have made their claims and counterclaims, they introduce the reasoning behind their arguments, and present evidence to support those claims. The claim or counterclaim system is used to make points in everything from essays and scientific papers, to litigation. Read the situation below and analyze the claim and the counterclaim indicated. Marsha is a busy design consultant for a home décor and renovation company. Her job frequently takes her out of the office to visit clients’ homes and offices to formulate a redecoration plan, personally pick out supplies, and to personally check up on the construction or installation. Marsha’s phone is constantly ringing, as she fields phone calls throughout the day, regardless of her location. Marsha desperately wants to separate her stressful job from her personal life, so she tells her employer, Ralph, that she needs a company cell phone. Ralph, thinking only of the additional expense, simply says “No.” Marsha has made her claim – asking for a company cell phone. Ralph has made his counterclaim – responding in the negative. By being able to locate and provide counterclaims to an argument, you show a deep competence and familiarity with the writer’s topic. It shows that you are examining different perspectives and not just passively accepting the writer’s claims. It shows that you have thoroughly considered the topic and are willing to engage different viewpoints from your own, thus remaining objective. It also helps you clarify what your personal position is on the topic. Introducing a counterclaim When you introduce the counterclaim, talk about why people believe it – do not talk about if it is wrong or right. Start off introducing the counterclaim with phrases such as: The opposing view is that…. Critiques argue that… While it may be true that… It is often thought that…. It is easy to think that…. Some people think… Some may say that…. Others may believe… Do not introduce your counterclaim in the introductory paragraph The following questions will help you formulate a counterclaim: What are the major points on which you and the author can disagree? What is the strongest argument? What did they say to defend their position? What are the merits of their view? What are the weaknesses or shortcomings in their argument? Are there any hidden assumptions? Which lines from the text best support the counterclaim you have formulated? Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 GUIDED PRACTICE Identify the claim and the counterclaim in the situation below. Then justify your answer by answering the given questions. Jenny is a senior high school student. She told her parents that she badly needs a laptop with internet connection to attend to her classes and do her class tasks and assignments. But her parents thought that a smart cellphone will do since she can opt to have text-based class. They also want Jenny to use the available books and references at home. 1. What is the major point of disagreement between Jenny and her parents? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. What defenses do each party have? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 3. Who has the strongest argument? ___________________________________________________________________________ Activity 1 Put a checkmark (√) on the space before each number if the statement is a counterclaim. ________1. There are many reasons why smoking is unhealthy. ________2. Many people say that making school uniforms mandatory take away one’s personal freedom. ________3. Some might think that allowing kids to make their own choices will make them responsible citizens in the future. ________4. Schools should block access to certain internet sites particularly offensive and objectionable sites. ________5. Others believe that technology has damaged intimate relations. Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 Activity 2 In a short paragraph, express your counterclaim on this essay. Write it inside the box below. As online learning becomes more common and more and more resources are converted to digital form, some people have suggested that public libraries should be shut down and, in their place, everyone should be given an iPad with an e-reader subscription. Proponents of this idea state that it will save local cities and towns money because libraries are expensive to maintain. They also believe it will encourage more people to read because they won’t have to travel to a library to get a book; they can simply click on what they want to read and read it from wherever they are. They could also access more materials because libraries won’t have to buy physical copies of books; they can simply rent out as many digital copies as they need. However, it would be a serious mistake to replace libraries with tablets. First, digital books and resources are associated with less learning and more problems than print resources. A study done on tablet vs book reading found that people read 20-30% slower on tablets, retain 20% less information, and understand 10% less of what they read compared to people who read the same information in print. Additionally, staring too long at a screen has been shown to cause numerous health problems, including blurred vision, dizziness, dry eyes, headaches, and eye strain, at much higher instances than reading print does. People who use tablets and mobile devices excessively also have a higher incidence of more serious health issues such as fibromyalgia, shoulder and back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and muscle strain. I know that whenever I read from my e-reader for too long, my eyes begin to feel tired and my neck hurts. We should not add to these problems by giving people, especially young people, more reasons to look at screens. Second, it is incredibly narrow-minded to assume that the only service libraries offer is book lending. Libraries have a multitude of benefits, and many are only available if the library has a physical location. Some of these benefits include acting as a quiet study space, giving people a way to converse with their neighbors, holding classes on a variety of topics, providing jobs, answering patron questions, and keeping the community connected. One neighborhood found that, after a local library instituted community events such as play times for toddlers and parents, job fairs for teenagers, and meeting spaces for senior citizens, over a third of residents reported feeling more connected to their community. Similarly, a Pew survey conducted in 2015 found that nearly two- thirds of American adults feel that closing their local library would have a major impact on their community. People see libraries as a way to connect with others and get their questions answered, benefits tablets can’t offer nearly as well or as easily. While replacing libraries with tablets may seem like a simple solution, it would encourage people to spend even more time looking at digital screens, despite the myriad issues surrounding them. It would also end access to many of the benefits of libraries that people have come to rely on. In many areas, libraries are such an important part of the community network that they could never be replaced by a simple object. https://blog.prepscholar.com/argumentative-essay-examples Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 POSTTEST Direction: Draw a smiley on the blank if the statement is true about counterclaims. _______1. A counterclaim is contrast to a claim. _______2. Writing or providing a counterclaim is agreeing to a writer’s claim. _______3. When introducing a counterclaim, you have to persuade the readers to believe it. _______4. Counterclaims help us clarify our own personal position of a topic. _______5. You have to be objective in writing counterclaims. Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 MODULE 6 Determining Textual Evidence to Validate Assertions Made About a Text Read In our daily lives, we occasionally come across conflicts or actively participate in arguments and discussions. Arguments are often perceived as something destructive or just another “mindless indulgence” for some people. But for others, arguing is not necessarily destructive or a waste of time. It can be a valuable exchange of ideas. Arguments are also beneficial when we try to reach a decision, answer some questions, or determine the truth. There are four parts of an argument that form the mnemonic A- C-R-E, which stands for Assertion-Counterclaims-Reasoning-Evidence. In your previous lessons, you already learned how to come up with assertions, counterclaims, and reasoning from texts read. As we already know, assertion is a strong and confident declaration about one’s opinion, beliefs, and feelings. Initially, authors make assertions in the text they write. But the real question here is: How do we make an assertion as something more than just a strong type of claim? And how do we make an assertion valid or believable? Now those questions are the reasons why determining textual evidence will be of great importance. What is a Textual Evidence? Textual evidence is essentially a proof. They are specific examples or statements straight from the text that help support an idea or reasoning. Remember that in everything we claim or assert, we must back it up with strong and adequate evidence from the text to validate them. Here are the following steps in analyzing and citing evidence from the text read: 1. Read the paragraph carefully. 2. Examine each sentence for any stated claims by the author that you may find. Usually, a topic sentence often identifies the main claim or assertion in the paragraph. 3. Locate and cite the reasons and supporting textual evidence. 4. Explain how the evidence supports the assertion or claim. Let us take this passage as an example: “The oppressive ideal of a busy life will destroy us. It insists that a good life – the only life worthy of a capable and intelligent person – is one of continuous activity and application; one must strive relentlessly to fulfill every ambition; every hour of the day and the evening must be filled with intense activity. But instead of being blissfully satisfied with our hectic lives we feel permanently nervous and strained, though we are careful to conceal it as much as possible from others, and from ourselves. More dramatically, we find we are on the verge (or beyond the verge) of collapse. We fall ill or we suddenly snap and do something disastrous: we start finding ourselves in heated arguments; we get enraged easily with people who don’t intend to annoy us; we ignore those who care for our well-being; we take drugs ‘to unwind’ or to keep up our level of intense activity – and then we find we’re addicted and increasingly unable to function. Our cult of busyness demands that we take on more than we can properly cope with; until we have a breakdown and want to lock ourselves away, smash our phones, lie on the floor and weep.” – from the web article, Why We All Need Quiet Days by The School of Life 2020 Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 The paragraph that we have read above is a part of the feature essay that talks about mental health-awareness. After reading the whole text, we can conclude that the writer’s belief is that the ideal of having a constant busy life is destructive. The author made that very clear as his assertive statement on the first sentence. In the succeeding parts, the underlined sentences served as evidence that will support his assertion and why the assertion is true. Evidence must be based on facts, research, and real experiences. There are three ways in citing the textual evidence: first is by means of direct quotations, second is through paraphrasing, and last is to summarize the author’s words to also support your points. Direct quotation is a way of repeating the exact words of an author or speaker taken directly from the text and are placed inside quotation marks. Example: (Using the same passage above) In the last sentence of the paragraph, the author said, “Our cult of busyness demands that we take on more than we can properly cope with; until we have a breakdown and want to lock ourselves away, smash our phones, lie on the floor and weep.” Paraphrasing is done by rewriting the author’s ideas in your own words. You can also change the wording or phrasing but must keep the meaning. Tip: Keep the paraphrase more concise than the original passage. Example: According to the text given, smoking will harm not only your overall appearance but worse, also your vital organs. Summarizing is when we put together the author’s main points into one brief statement. It serves as a broad overview of a passage read. Example: The author gives the following reasons to support his claim that we should not eat at fast-food restaurants such as: (1) the foods are processed, full of calories, fat, salt, and sugar and (3) it will destroy your health. To cite evidence and provide proof to support a claim or an assertion, we can use the following prompts: Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 Activity 1 Read the following texts carefully. Locate the assertion or claim and draw a box around it. Underline all the textual evidence that supports it. 1. “Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago was one of the most popular senators in the Philippines. To many, she was the best president we never had. She had an impressive academic credentials when she was still studying. She was appointed to various government positions. She combatted syndicates and illegal aliens. As a senator, she made several notable laws that she authored/co-authored including the Magna Carta for Women, Cyber Crime Act of 2012, Reproductive Health Act of 2012, Climate Change Act of 2009 and many more. She wrote more than 30 books, which became famous and touched the hearts even of the Filipino youth of today. Santiago has served in all three branches of the Philippine government – judicial, executive, and legislative. She will forever be remembered as The Iron Lady of Asia.” – OJ Maño 2. “COVID-19 has chillingly robbed the rights of a person in death. Our hearts turn heavy at every piece of news of a passing friend, relative, or stranger, whom hospital authorities decide must be buried with the special protocol. In several places in the country, ugly squabbles have broken out, where families have clashed with police and hospital staff over bodies of their loved ones, shouting their refusal of the COVID-19 burial protocol. They snatched the bodies from the morgues and ambulances, even though the hospitals provide the basic religious rites with hospital staff and a few family members. The families instead insisted on proper rites and funerals, ignoring the risk of contamination when the body is washed or dressed.” – Ati Nurbaiti Activity 2 Read and analyze the excerpt below. Find textual evidence that supports the given assertion by using citation prompts and explain how they support the assertion. Write them on the table provided. “My sister Delia was the meanest creature I knew! She once pushed me so hard that I crashed against a flimsy wall and the wall trampled over me. She almost beat me to death in the past just because I accidentally torn the leg of her favorite doll. Nothing I did ever pleased her. She destroyed willfully anything I liked. I did not say anything when she told Berto to kill my monkey because it snickered at her one morning. She did not like my pigeon house because it stank. She found my collection of butterflies, dumped them, and burned them. I wept and Father had to call my sister for an explanation. She looked at me curiously, but she did not say anything, and Father began to gently question her. My father kept on reminding me to put up with her whims to keep her calm and quiet. She had a weak heart, and she must not be surprised. The worst thing she did was when I found that Biryuk, my dog’s eye was bleeding. Poor dog had been stabbed by my sister’s stick. I held myself, my throat swelled, but I felt hate rear and plunge in its cage of ribs.” Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 POSTTEST Direction: Encircle the citing prompts used in the following textual evidence. 1. “Harlem” by Langston Hughes gives me the feeling, or mood, of anger and depression. I know this because from the poem, the author uses these words such as “fester like a sore,” which gives me a feeling of pain. Furthermore, he described deferred dreams as if they “stink like rotten meat” is an unpleasant image. 2. Recently, scholars have identified a growing number of males who are increasingly concerned about their appearance. Based on what I read, the author and scholar Lynne Luciano traced the recent rise in male spending on beauty, fashion, and fitness. 3. On the first page of the novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it said that Mr. Willy Wonka was the greatest inventor and maker of chocolates that there has ever been. And his chocolate factory was the largest and most popular in the whole world. 4. The text described that students frequently overuse direct quotations in taking notes, as a result, failing to keep quote material down to a desirable level. 5. Dogs are better than cats. From the reading, it says that dog owners laugh more than cat owners, which means they experience higher levels of positive emotion than cat owners. Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 MODULE 7 Determining Textual Evidence to Validate Counterclaims Made About a Text Read In this lesson, another essential element of an argument aside from assertion, can be validated and supported with textual evidence. It is none other than the counterclaims. We have learned that a counterclaim is also known as a counter argument, and from the word itself, it basically means the opposing argument: any statement against the main assertion. It is what you imagine the other side would say about your claim. When we are trying to persuade someone to agree with our argument, what we want to do is give facts and other details that will support our position. But to be effective, we need to give some of the opposing side’s arguments too. Let us consider the example below: “Students should not spend more time in school. Children need time to explore on their own, and studies have not shown great increase in learning. On the other hand, some argue that students remember lessons better when they spend more time in school. This makes sense because students would have more exposure to the learning material and formality in their studies.” From the sample excerpt above, the first sentence was started with an assertion of disapproval for students spending more time in school. The sentence that follows is an example of a textual evidence that validates the assertion. But then in the second sentence, the author changed into a different tactic and acknowledged the counterclaim that there are also some people who argue that students remember lessons better when they spend more time in school. To validate the counterclaim, the last sentence served as the textual evidence that will support the counterclaim too. The author agreed briefly that the counterclaim makes sense by giving a piece of evidence. Just like in validating assertions made about a text or coming directly from the text, we should follow some steps in determining and citing the evidence for the counterclaims. 1. Read the paragraph and examine each sentence thoroughly. 2. Locate and cite the textual evidence that supports your counterclaim or the counterclaim that the author had stated using citing prompts or starters. 3. Explain how the textual evidence validates the counterclaim that was made or given. Some of the sentence prompts that denote a counterclaim and their evidence from the text are the following: Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 Activity 1 Read and analyze the following texts. Draw a box around the main claim in the text. Write down your own counterclaim based on the assertion or claim mentioned in the text and the textual evidence that will validate it. EXCERPT A: “People should feel free to eat chocolates on a regular basis. Studies have shown that eating chocolates has positive health effects. For example, it is a food that improves one’s mood. Many people report experiencing a feeling of happiness during and after eating chocolate. Also eating chocolate, especially dark chocolate, has been proven to be good for the heart because it acts as an antioxidant. But as we all know, the downside is that chocolates have a high calorie count in a relatively small serving – about 170 calories per 1- ounce serving of dark chocolate. Over time, eating too much chocolate or other foods with added sugars can lead to weight gain, diabetes, obesity, heart disease and other chronic conditions, says Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.” COUNTERCLAIM: _________________________________________________________ TEXTUAL EVIDENCE: ____________________________________________________ EXCERPT B: “Many Filipinos lack the knowledge about the geographical situation of the country and the threats and impacts of all hazards and risks brought by natural disasters. Some families still live in a geologically unstable location or near bodies of water that are considered as disaster-prone areas. Filipino households surveyed across the country were found out to be unable to invest in disaster preparedness, mostly due to lack of funds and lack of time. But we have The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Plan which was established to help make the communities be disaster resilient, to equip the community with necessary skills to cope with the negative effects. The Philippine Information Agency with the help of AFP, CHED, DepEd, DOH, PAG-ASA and PHIVOLCS are always updated to disseminate information. There are also educational, and communications programs being practiced nationwide.” COUNTERCLAIM: _________________________________________________________ TEXTUAL EVIDENCE: ____________________________________________________ Reading and Writing Skills GRADE 11 Activity 2 Look for any editorial news article or argumentative essay online. From your chosen article, identify the issue that is being addressed. Write down a claim and a counterclaim based on the issue and find at least 2 pieces of evidence each to support your claim and counterclaim. You can summarize main points, paraphrase some words by the author or directly quote. Follow this format: POSTTEST Given below is a sample claim or assertion discussing the topic about the controversy regarding the Dolomite sand in Manila Bay. After reading the given assertion or claim, compose a short paragraph with a minimum of 5 sentences that includes your counterclaim and provide textual evidence that you can get from any essay, article, or a research study to support your counterclaim. Do not forget to cite your sources. ASSERTION: “The Manila Bay Rehabilitation Project which made use of Dolomite for the “white sand beach” was a wrong move done by the government and another waste of financial resources.” YOUR COUNTERCLAIM and TEXTUAL EVIDENCE: ________________________ CRITERIA: Purpose and Focus of the Topic – 30 Clarity of Evidence and Explanation – 25 Organization – 20 Sentence Structure – 15 Citation/Citing Prompts – 10