In the previous post about
Discussion we looked at the 3 most important parts of a
discussion.
Do you remember what those were? You can go back and read the post about
Discussions, but let's do a quick review,
Review
A
discussion is a detailed conversation on a topic. The
purpose of a discussion is to learn as much as possible about the topic.
3 important parts of a discussion:
Opinion - A
belief about a topic. An
opinion is hard to discuss by itself so we need
reasons and
examples to help explain our opinion.
Reason - The
'why' of it all is important to any opinion.
Reasons will help your partner understand your
opinion.
Example -
Examples are necessary to connect
opinion and
reasons to reality.
Examples also help your partner understand your
opinion.
Opinions in more Detail
An
opinion is what you think of something.
Opinions used for discussions is one that someone can
disagree with.
Examples:
Smoking is unhealthy.
Smoking is relaxing.
Chinese pollution is causing health problems in Japan.
The Walking Dead is the most exciting show on television right now.
Preference
A
preference is an
expression of personal choice; likes and dislikes are expressions of preference.
I like dogs is
not a fact but
an opinion. Although its not useful for a discussion.
(Not a discussion)
A: I like dogs.
B: No, you don't.
Making a
preference into an opinion for discussion adds a
reason why you believe. Use
adjectives like playful, friendly, dangerous, healthy, good, bad etc.
(A discussion)
A: Dogs are friendly.
B: No, they're not.
This starts a
discussion using
examples and
reasons why dogs are friendly or not.
Examples:
Pizza is my favorite food.
I like to read mystery novels.
My hobby is writing.
Fact
A
fact is a statement
accepted by people as being generally
true. "
The Earth goes around the sun" is a
fact.
Facts are used in
discussions to
persuade people to
believe their
opinion.
Examples:
The Indians are the baseball team in Cleveland, Ohio.
Tokyo is the largest city in Japan.
Mario Bros. is an arcade game developed by Nintendo in 1983.
Test Your Understanding:
Read each statement and determine if it's an Opinion (O), Preference (P), or Fact (F).
O P F: I like to sleep.
O P F: Tokyo is the capital of Japan.
O P F: Snakes are good pets.
O P F: I would rather eat bread than rice.
O P F: English is too difficult.
O P F: Chocolate is a food produced from the seed of a cocoa tree.
O P F: Chocolate is delicious.
Put your answers in the comments below or email them to us at chromatic.english@gmail.com.
Happy Learning and Speak Bravely!
