Analyzing and Evaluating Information Researching Your Texts

Student Objective Analyzing and synthesizing information will help me make connections among multiple texts. 3 – analyze and synthesize information to draw a conclusion about the text 2 – identify sources and information that can be combined to discuss one topic 1 – describe how to analyze and synthesize information

Analyzing Information Break down the information into smaller parts. Identify the main idea or what is most important about the information from each source.

Evaluating Information Ask yourself if the information is reliable, up-to-date, and relevant for your topic. Keep in mind where a reading selection is from. Primary source Secondary source

Primary vs. Secondary Primary Provides direct, firsthand information or original literary material Examples: Interviews Speeches Diaries Letters Poems Short stories Secondary Contain information that has been gathered and interpreted Examples: Textbooks Critical essays

How is a source considered reliable? The best way to evaluate a source is to examine its date, authorship, origin, and connection to your topic. Other questions to consider: Is it up to date? Does the article contain firsthand information or reported facts? Is the content fact or opinion?

The Process Gather your information (passage(s), charts, graphs, pictures, etc.) Analyze and evaluate the information by identifying the most important ideas and how they relate to each other Consider the validity and reliability of the reading selections

Fact vs. Opinion A fact is information that can be proved true through objective evidence. An opinion is a belief, judgment, or conclusion that cannot be objectively proved true. Here are five points to keep in mind when considering fact and opinion: Statements of fact may be found to be untrue. Value words (i.e. best, worse, terrible, lovely, etc.) often represent opinions. The words should and ought to often signal opinions. Much information that sounds factual is really an opinion. (For example, “At the price listed, this home is a great buy.”) Much of what we read is a mixture of fact and opinion. Our job is to arrive at an informed opinion.

Propaganda A technique used to influence your behavior. Advertisers and politicians use it to create a particular belief among people. The things they say can be true or false, and may not always be based on facts.

Bandwagon The basic idea behind the bandwagon approach is just that, "getting on the bandwagon." The propagandist puts forth the idea that everyone is doing this, or everyone supports this person/cause, so should you. The bandwagon approach appeals to the conformist in all of us: No one wants to be left out of what is perceived to be a popular trend. Example: Everyone in Lemmingtown is behind Jim Duffie for Mayor. Shouldn't you be part of this winning team?

Testimonial This is the celebrity endorsement of a philosophy, movement or candidate. In advertising, for example, athletes are often paid millions of dollars to promote sports shoes, equipment and fast food. In political circles, movie stars, television stars, rock stars and athletes lend a great deal of credibility and power to a political cause or candidate. Just a photograph of a movie star at political rally can generate more interest in that issue/candidate or cause thousands, sometimes millions, of people to become supporters.

Transfer Transfer employs the use of symbols, quotes or the images to get you to trust what they are saying. In the use of transfer, the candidate/speaker attempts to persuade us through the indirect use of something we respect or trust, such as a patriotic or religious image, to promote his/her ideas. Example: Hydroxycut gets an actor dressed as a doctor to tell you that their pill causes weight-loss.

Plain Folks Here the candidate or cause is identified with common people from everyday walks of life. The idea is to make the candidate/cause come off as grassroots and all-American. Example: After a morning speech to wealthy Democratic donors, Bill Clinton stops by McDonald's for a burger, fries, and photos with fans.

Name-Calling Name-calling ties a person or cause to a largely perceived negative image. EXAMPLE: In a campaign speech to a logging company, the Congressman referred to his environmentally conscious opponent as a "tree hugger."

Glittering Generalities It is an important-sounding but unspecific claim about some product, candidate, or cause. The important thing to remember is that in this technique the propagandist uses these words in a positive sense. They often include words like: democracy, family values (when used positively), rights, civilization, freedom, even the word "American." Example: An ad by a cigarette manufacturer proclaims to smokers: Don't let them take your rights away! ("Rights" is a powerful word, something that stirs the emotions of many, but few on either side would agree on exactly what the 'rights' of smokers are.)

Fallacies that Ignore the Issue Fallacies that Oversimplify the Issue   Fallacies that Oversimplify the Issue Fallacy What is it? Circular Reasoning A statement repeats itself rather than providing a real supporting reason to back up an argument. False Cause Assumption that because event B follows event A, event B was caused by event A. Personal Attack Ignores the issue under discussion and concentrates instead on the character of the opponent. False Comparison Assumption that two things are more alike than they really are. Straw Man Suggests the opponent favors an obviously unpopular cause – when the opponent doesn’t really support anything of the kind. Either-Or Only two choices are offered to a question when more choices actually exist.

Synthesizing Information Combine different pieces of information or information from several sources to form a conclusion You may have to synthesize textual information with visual information (graphs, charts, maps, etc.)

FSA Connection These benchmarks will test you by using text as well as graphs, charts, and diagrams. You might need to evaluate a piece of information, analyze the meaning of a specific text, or determine details that can support a particular point of view. You will need to make connections among the different pieces of information and then draw conclusions.