Interesting Concept

A concept from this semester that I found useful and interesting was about Loaded Questions. The definition of a loaded question is “a question that conceals a dubious claim that should be argued for rather than assumed.” To ask a loaded question is to ask a question almost offensively; to the point where the recipient of the question does not know how to respond. An example of a loaded question would be “Are you going to stop smoking before it kills you?” or “When are you going to start listening to me?” I found this interesting because I believe our society both asks loaded questions and uses them in advertisements frequently. When asking a question, the person feels obligated and pressured into answering the question in order to please the person who is asking it, instead of being genuine and truthful. In conclusion, asking loaded questions may lead us to hear what we want to hear; however, it may be an untruthful statement.

Likes and Dislikes

My favorite part about this class was having the ability to work at my own pace and learn on my own. Although some points were hard to fully comprehend on my own, it was a refreshing experience to learn on my own time and leisure. I would also gain a better understanding of the complex concepts by reading other people’s blogs, which was incredibly helpful. It was also reassuring to know that others in my section did not fully comprehend a topic that I had difficulty with as well. My least favorite part about the class was the textbook. Personally, I felt the textbook did not do a thorough job at explaining a large portion of the concepts, and oftentimes I had to look up the concepts on the internet in order to gain a better understanding. This can be improved by either swapping the textbook with one that does a more efficient job at explanations or to add another textbook that can help in explaining the concepts in various ways.

What I've Learned

Over the course of the semester, I’ve learned much about critical thinking and how to apply these concepts to every day conversations. To be completely honest, I never knew the structure or proper form of an argument, or how to analyze the argument as valid or weak. Through the course of the semester, I learned how to depict an argument and validate the strength of an argument, as well as when and why to reject an argument. I also learned the importance of structured and logically reasoning, which is a vital key to argument and advocacy. Before this class I was unaware of the importance of supporting evidence and valid claims that should be a part of the argumentation process. I also learned about several fallacies and common misconceptions when analyzing arguments. Without this knowledge, I would be inexperienced in argumentation and have to work much harder to prove my point.