
PROOF AND PERSUASION:
The Rhetoric of Scientific Integrity
FALL 2023
© 2023 by Cynthia Shearer
CYNTHIA SHEARER
419-H REED HALL
BOX 297700
TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
PHONE EXT: 817.257.6593
ENGLISH 20803 - WRITING AS ARGUMENT
Section 63:MWF @ 2 p.m. in Reed 221
Cynthia Shearer, Instructor
OFFICE HOURS: 1 - 2 p.m. MW in Reed 419_H
Evidence Test (Take-Home)
Evidence Test (take home)
ENGL 20803 Section 63
Fall 2023
(Upload to D2L)
Terms to include in your analysis if relevant: Dissoi logoi, scientific integrity, layman, evidence, anecdotal, analogous, expert testimonial, eyewitness testimonial, quantitative (determinative), quantitative (stochastic), normal science, anomaly, pattern recognition, pilot study, corroborative study, meta-analysis.
Option 1:
Choose an evidence-based documentary film on the topic you are thinking of choosing as your independent study topic this semester. (Be sure it has examples of each type of evidence in it.) Write a short (2 pages, double-spaced) analysis of the “evidence map” of the article. Analyze what types of evidence are included, what types are omitted, and whether the evidence use is appropriate for “the layman” audience. Also, does the article honor scientific integrity according to Feynman’s definition? Analyze whether the science findings offered as evidence are in any way “out of date” and explain why.
Here are some good sources of documentaries with strong evidence maps:
Kanopy film database via TCU Library
Films on Demand database via TCU Library