Marijuana

Paper #2: Testimonial Critique

Outline Draft
*double spaced + double-sided*

3-5 pages (not including Reference List)

Final Draft Paper Elements

Introduce your topic
Let the reader know what you plan to write about: legal or illegal drug?
Function: What does the drug do?
Explain its function.
Explain its benefits
Explain its side effects
Which population uses it the most?
Cogent Thesis: What is your argument– should this drug be illegal? Legalized?

History of the drug
Has it ever been banned in the U.S.? By any other countries?
What research has been done to test it before it was released to the public?
Check the FDA & DEA website
What is the controversy surrounding it?
Religious conflicts
Racism
Sexism
How is this drug represented in the media?
Are there any stereotypes? Biases?
If the drug is currently illegal, how are people punished if they’re caught with it?
If the drug is currently legal, where do people buy it?

Topic Paragraph #1
Topic
Claim: Scientific evidence (from the U.S.)
Claim: Testimonial (from anywhere on the internet)
Counterargument for testimonial: Use a “competing explanation” (Ruscio chap. 6)
What is the danger/risk in using this testimonial
What is the danger/risk in using this scientific evidence
Your conclusion: How do these pieces of evidence prove your THESIS?

Topic Paragraph #2
Topic
Claim: Scientific evidence (from the U.S.)
Claim: Testimonial (from anywhere on the internet)
Counterargument for testimonial: Use a “competing explanation” (Ruscio chap. 6)
What is the danger/risk in using this testimonial
What is the danger/risk in using this scientific evidence
Your conclusion: How do these pieces of evidence prove your THESIS?

Topic Paragraph #3
Topic
Claim: Scientific evidence (from outside the U.S.)
Claim: Testimonial (from someone you know)
Counterargument for testimonial: Use a “competing explanation” (Ruscio chap. 6)
What is the danger/risk in using this testimonial
What is the danger/risk in using this scientific evidence
Your conclusion: How do these pieces of evidence prove your THESIS?

Concluding Thoughts
Evaluate: how useful/useless is scientific testing as a form of evidence?
Evaluate: how useful/useless is testimonial as a form of evidence?
Do you have any personal biases toward the drug?
What are they?
Where did they come from?
Would you take the drug based on the evidence you provided?
Would you let your loved one (sister/parent/partner/grandparent) take the drug based on the evidence you provided?

APA References (separate page)
I want to give you feedback on this before you turn in the Final Draft
As a reminder, this is where you log the receipts for your claims + websites with statistics
I will show you how to cite personal conversations, so just fill in (1) the name of the person and (2) the date you collected the testimonial
Start with Why.

Do I accept the world around me that already exists, shrinking backward to please others?
Do I lead through example, not by other people’s versions of the truth?
Who is this evidence coming from?
The intention behind this writing exercise is to shift your mindset away from believing every story you hear and exercising healthy skepticism toward all forms of evidence–we know that mental shortcuts will make a fool out of us!

Read “John-Anecdotal Evidence” to get your skeptical brain lit up.

Outline Draft

Now that you have been introduced to the drafting process of puzzling together an argument, you know how to collect bits of evidence and defend your ideas. Completing your outline will only make your final paper drafting process more efficient and time-saving. (Who doesn’t want that?! Seriously…who?)

Your outline draft will just be bullet points of everything highlighted in blue.

Your final draft will be written paragraphs that include all of the elements below.

*Note that each Topic Paragraph has a counterargument within it. This is different than writing one counterargument paragraph at the end of the paper.

Final Draft Paper Elements

Introduce your topic
Let the reader know what you plan to write about: legal or illegal drug?
Function: What does the drug do?
Explain its function.
Explain its benefits
Explain its side effects
Which population uses it the most?
Cogent Thesis: What is your argument– should this drug be illegal? Legalized?

History of the drug
Has it ever been banned in the U.S.? By any other countries?
What research has been done to test it before it was released to the public?
Check the FDA & DEA website
What is the controversy surrounding it?
Religious conflicts
Racism
Sexism
How is this drug represented in the media?
Are there any stereotypes? Biases?
If the drug is currently illegal, how are people punished if they’re caught with it?
If the drug is currently legal, where do people buy it?

Topic Paragraph #1
Topic
Claim: Scientific evidence (from the U.S.)
Claim: Testimonial (from anywhere on the internet)
Counterargument for testimonial: Use a “competing explanation” (Ruscio chap. 6)
What is the danger/risk in using this testimonial
What is the danger/risk in using this scientific evidence
Your conclusion: How do these pieces of evidence prove your THESIS?

Topic Paragraph #2
Topic
Claim: Scientific evidence (from the U.S.)
Claim: Testimonial (from anywhere on the internet)
Counterargument for testimonial: Use a “competing explanation” (Ruscio chap. 6)
What is the danger/risk in using this testimonial
What is the danger/risk in using this scientific evidence
Your conclusion: How do these pieces of evidence prove your THESIS?

Topic Paragraph #3
Topic
Claim: Scientific evidence (from outside the U.S.)
Claim: Testimonial (from someone you know)
Counterargument for testimonial: Use a “competing explanation” (Ruscio chap. 6)
What is the danger/risk in using this testimonial
What is the danger/risk in using this scientific evidence
Your conclusion: How do these pieces of evidence prove your THESIS?

Concluding Thoughts
Evaluate: how useful/useless is scientific testing as a form of evidence?
Evaluate: how useful/useless is testimonial as a form of evidence?
Do you have any personal biases toward the drug?
What are they?
Where did they come from?
Would you take the drug based on the evidence you provided?
Would you let your loved one (sister/parent/partner/grandparent) take the drug based on the evidence you provided?

APA References (separate page)
I want to give you feedback on this before you turn in the Final Draft
As a reminder, this is where you log the receipts for your claims + websites with statistics
I will show you how to cite personal conversations, so just fill in (1) the name of the person and (2) the date you collected the testimonial

Title Page

APA Citation

In-text citations

References citations

Assigned Reading

Anecdotal Evidence

Topic Paragraph Outline Example

Dr. Griffin’s Example

Thesis: The Mirena intrauterine device (IUD) should be illegal because it is one way for the government to control women’s reproductive organs.

Topic: Mirena affects not only physical health, but personal relationships as well.
Scientific evidence claims: Mirena is the only IUD that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is the most prescribed IUD in the U.S. (Tighe, 2018).
Testimonial claims: Yet, many women in the Facebook group “Women with Mirena IUD Side Effects Support Group” have reported worsening of chronic fatigue, insomnia, and divorce. Some women are even suing Mirena for giving them a neurological disorder called pseudotumor cerebri that causes pressure inside the skull to increases for no obvious reason (Mayo Clinic, 2020)
Counterargument: Competing explanation for testimonial: This could be a misdiagnosis of disease, since these symptoms are also common with depression or Major Depressive Disorder.
Danger in using testimonial: Even though the IUD is widely used, the danger of the testimonials make me afraid to enter a relationship.
Danger in using scientific evidence: The danger in using the scientific evidence is the bandwagon fallacy: just because it is the most prescribed device does not mean that I will want to risk ruining a future relationship or spending time dealing with a lawsuit.
Your conclusion: Therefore, Mirena should be banned because women can lose relationships with their partners and lose money on suing big companies, while men are not responsible for preventing birth or fighting legal battles caused by the Mirena side effects. In conclusion, this is another method for the government to control large amounts of women because the consequences are one-sided: men do not suffer the side effects, even though they participate in sexual intercourse, too. Where is the reciprocity?