Download Fact and Opinion, Propaganda, Bias, and Stereotypes

Fact and Opinion,
Propaganda, Bias, and
Stereotypes
Fact & Opinion
Because an author frequently wants to influence
whoever reads their writing, their writing is not always
written based on facts.
Instead, they include their opinions, or other people’s
opinions in their writing to help persuade, entertain, or
inform the reader.
FACT
Can be proven true or false through evidence.
Ways a fact can be proven:
 Books
 Talking to people who have firsthand experience
 Documented research
Facts often contain numbers, dates, or ages. Facts
might include information about a specific person,
place, thing or event that happened in time.
Fact Examples
 Ronald Regan was the 40th president of the United
States.
 The sun is 93 million miles away from Earth.
 A square has four sides.
 The restaurant’s hours are nine to five.
Opinion
No way to prove right or wrong, because it is a person’s belief
or feeling.
Key words that indicate an opinion include:
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Most
Always
Never
Better
None
Perhaps
Ought to
Bad
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Excellent
Terrible
Appears
Wonderful
Horrible
Greatest
Best
Worst
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Think
Feel
Believe
Seem
All
Opinion Examples
 Ronald Reagan was one of the best president the U.S.
has ever had.
 People shouldn’t use cell phones when driving.
 Computers are confusing.
 Blue is the prettiest color.
 The book was great.
*** Check it out
** Heather thinks that the best team in the NBA is the Dallas
Mavericks.
**Dallas has the best team in the NBA.
Some people get confused about these types of statements.
You could ask Heather if she likes the Mavericks, and she could tell
you it’s a fact that she likes them.
You could prove that she likes the Mavericks just by asking her.
In other words, it is a fact that Heather has an opinion about the
Mavericks.
If she said, “Dallas has the best team in the NBA,” that would be an
opinion.
BIAS
Bias – A person who prefers one thing above another
has a bias.
Does the author seem to favor, or like, some things
more than others?
Maybe the author has written about all the animals that
make great pets, but you can tell the author really likes
dogs best.
The author is showing a bias.
PROPAGANDA
Propaganda - A technique used to influence people.
If you feel an author is trying to influence you in a
certain direction by telling you, “Everybody else feels
this way,” or These big movie stars use our product,” or
something along those lines, the author is probably
using propaganda.
STEREOTYPE
Stereotype – Taking a quality of one individual and
applying it to every individual in the group.
Let’s say you have a tall friend who is great at
basketball.
If you decide that all tall people are good basketball
players based on your one friend, you are stereotyping.