Proposition of fact
Description: 	 A two to three  page written paper (typed) 
arguing the validity of a proposition seeking to explain 
the existence/non-existence of a past, present,or future 
condition. Along with paper you will give a brief 3-5 
minute oral presentation explaining the position in your 
paper.
BE SURE TO INCLUDE THE COVER SHEET INCLUDED IN THIS ASSIGNMENT

You may develop any one of three types of factual 
claims.  Your claim may explain an historical 
precedent (past), a causal or correlative relationship 
(present)  or a prediction about a future 
situation (future).  

Some examples:

PAST:
America was first discovered by Celts in the first 
millennium B.C.

Life existed on Mars 3 billion years ago.

The shroud of Turin held the body of Jesus Christ.

The Peoples Republic of China has consistently used 
slave labor in the production of trade goods.

Women have historically been underpaid by 
comparison to men.

Paul Revere did not make a "midnight ride" warning 
that "the British are coming."

Tiger Woods achieved more success at his age than 
any professional golfer in history.

Einstein failed his early math courses
.
Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was aware of the impending 
attack on Pearl Harbor.




PRESENT:
Current stock market performance is being caused by 
investment in technology.


Concealed fire-arms permits are decreasing crime.

The full moon does not make people crazy.

Moderate amounts of red wine increase health and well 
being.

NAFTA  is causing the loss of a significant number of 
American jobs.

United States inaction is hastening  the corruption of 
the Russian democracy.

Incarcerating criminals promotes recidivism among 
ex-inmates.

Phen-fen does not cause heart problems.

Advertising results in over-consumption of scarce 
global resources.

Drug Courts are  reducing crime.

The "green revolution" is decreasing world hunger. 

FUTURE:

Denzel Washington will win the academy award for his 
role in "The Hurricane."

Puerto Rico will be the 51st state.

The likelihood that Elian Gonzales will be returned to 
Cuba is greater than the likelihood that he will remain 
in the U.S.

Spinal cord cell regeneration will be achieved within the 
next ten years.

Orange Coast will shift to a 14 week semester by the 
year 2005.

The next Pope will be of African descent.

Social Security will not provide benefits to current 
contributors under age 25 when they are 65.

The next breakthrough in computer chip technology will 
utilize biochips made of living matter.

The 21st century will see hydrogen replace fossil fuels 
as a transportation fuels.

Rogue nations will be the likliest threat to global 
stability in the next decade.  



Your paper should state a proposition of fact like one of 
the propositions listed above and your 
proposition should be supported by a series of claims, 
grounds and evidence, and warrants and .  Each of 
these parts of your argument  should be labeled.

CLAIM -  	a single statement advanced in support of the 
proposition

GROUNDS- 	a statement made about persons, 
conditions, events or things that presents evidentiary 
support  and provides a reason for a claim. You need to 
pay particular attention to the matter of accuracy  of 
quotes and attribution of sources. (see samples in 
paper below) 

WARRANT:	A general statement that justifies using the 
grounds as a basis for the claim.  The warrant should 
reflect the reasoning process in the grounds. You need 
to label the warrant as to the type of reasoning utilized.
( reasoning  by generalization,  causation, sign, 
analogy,parallel case or authority) Again, pay particular 
attention to the samples in the paper below)


Keep in mind that you are simply writing an argument that 
supports a position with reasons and specific  
evidence.   The difference is that you are labeling the 
parts of your argument as a part of your paper and 
explaining and identifying the reasoning in your paper.    
The labels will seem new to you but keep trying to 
identify them.  Call me or come in and see me for help.

Your paper will start with a brief background 
on the controversy or any necessary background that 
sets up the proposition.  Then state the proposition you 
intend to prove.  Once the proposition is clear, you can 
begin to develop two claims to support your proposition. .




PROPOSITION OF FACT SAMPLE PAPER


Background of controversy:  One of the world's major 
problems is poverty.  Controversy exists about the best 
means of poverty reduction.  One possibility is the use 
of microcredits or microloans.  First utilized by the 
Grameen Bank in Bangla Desh, these extremely small 
loans ($100-$200 - made primarily to women to create 
enterprises of small scale) have a good record of 
success and repayment.   Research leads to the 
following argument:

Proposition of Fact:  Microcredit reduces poverty.

 
Claim 1  Microcredit has reduced poverty in the third 
world.

Grounds 1A  A solid track record exists.  According to 
"Can Microcredit Work in the United States?" by  Nitin 
Bhatt; Gary Painter; Shui-Yan Tang In the Harvard 
Business Review, November/December 1999 "In the 
past few decades, microcredit 
programs have been used throughout the Third World 
to promote grassroots entrepreneurship. The 
programs, which provide small-business loans of as 
little as $50, have helped literally millions of 
low-income people improve their material well-being. 
The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, for example, has 
disbursed a total of more than $1.5 billion to about 2.4 
million borrowers, with a default rate of less than 3%. 
Such figures have helped to convince many that poor 
people aren't necessarily bad credit risks."

Warrant 1A:  Improving material well being is a good 
sign of poverty reduction, and multiple cases establish 
a reliable pattern of reduction.  (sign/generalization) 

Grounds 1B:  It also works in Africa.   Proof is provided 
by The Economist (US), Jan 13, 2001 in the article 
"Africa's women go to work; Africa's need for 
microcredit. (how to lend small sums to poor Africans 
to set up small businesses)" "Microcredit-lending small 
sums to poor people to set up or expand small 
businesses-is an effective way to alleviate poverty. The 
poor cannot usually borrow from commercial banks, 
because they lack collateral. Loan sharks lend without 
security, but often at interest rates of 10-20% a day. 
Hawkers who borrow from sharks to buy a day's stock 
often have to hand over most of their profits. Failure to 
repay can result in broken legs.  Microlenders try to 
satisfy poor people's hunger for credit less brutally."

Warrant 1B:  Microcredit has provided the means for 
poverty reduction.  (causation)

Claim 2  Microcredit is being used in the US to reduce 
poverty.

Grounds 2A  Though results are mixed, initial efforts 
do reflect poverty reduction.  This is evidenced in  "Can 
Microcredit Work in the United States? (small lending 
amounts)(Statistical Data Included) in the Harvard 
Business Review, November/December 1999  Nitin 
Bhatt; Gary Painter; Shui-Yan Tang.  "Microcredit's 
success overseas has caught the attention of U.S. 
policy makers, business leaders, and charitable 
organizations. They see it as a way to reduce 
poverty in disadvantaged communities at home. But so 
far, the results of microcredit programs in the United 
States have been decidedly mixed. On the one hand, 
U.S. microcredit programs have helped many poor but 
ambitious borrowers to improve their lot. The Aspen 
Institute's study of 405 micro-entrepreneurs indicates 
that more than half of the loan recipients escaped 
poverty within five years. On average, their household 
assets grew by nearly $16,000 during that period; the 
group's reliance on public assistance dropped by more 
than 60%."

Warrant 2A Even with "mixed results" more than half in 
the study is a majority demonstrating that poverty is 
reduced in more cases than it is not reduced.  
(generalization)

Grounds 2B  The basic principles are the same and 
seem to transfer the effect of reduced poverty to 
the US.   This can be seen in  Business Week, Feb 28, 
2000, "A Lending Hand. (microloans help erase poverty 
through entrepreneurship)"   " 'Success for microlenders 
is lifting someone out of poverty.' Says Jason J. 
Friedman, vice-president of Iowa's Institute for Social 
and Economic Development: 'Economic development 
is not just about high tech and large projects. It's also 
about beauty salons, alteration shops, and auto repair.' ''

Warrant 2B  The basic principles  remain the same. 
(parallel case)

Conclusion:  While some criticism is apparent, it also 
seems that microcredits and microloans have been 
used in both the third world and the US to reduce 
poverty. 

sources cited

"Africa's Women Go To Work;Africa's need for 
microcredit (how to lend small sums to poor Africans to 
set up businesses)"  The Economist  January 13m 
2001 pg, 78

 "A Lending Hand. (microloans help erase poverty 
through entrepreneurship)"  Business Week, Feb 28, 
2000, pg157

Bhatt, Nitiin, Painter,  Gary, Yang-Tan,Shui  "Can 
Microcredit  Work in the United States?"  Harvard 
Business Review November/December 1999 P. 134

PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING COVER SHEET AS A PART OF YOUR 
ASSIGNMENT:

Cover sheet for proposition of fact paper
This cover sheet should help you turn in a paper that will 
reflect the requirements of this assignment.  If you can 
honestly initial each of these sections you should be 
headed toward a strong argument that then be judged on the 
quality of your evidence.

_______I have reviewed the directions on the assignment 
page for this assignment and have reviewed my paper upon 
completion and edited to meet the requirements.
_______I have compared my paper to the sample on the 
assignment page and believe I have been faithful to format 
and have edited or changed my paper where necessary. 
_______I have included a background of the controversy that 
indicates why this proposition reflects the controversy 
_______I have included a proposition of fact that reflect
existence/non existence or causation.  It is not a proposition of value
or a proposition of 
policy. 
 _______I have provided a minimum of two well developed 
claims that support my proposition.   
_______I have attempted to reflect my proposition  through my claims.
_______ I have provide complete attributions for each use 
of quoted material in grounds.
	  (author, title, source, date. web addesss)
_______The evidence I have used in grounds is no more than 
4 years old. I have attached a rationale statement 
justifying the use of older evidence in specific grounds. 
_______Grounds include direct quotation of evidence from 
the sources provided. 
_______I have provided at least two grounds for each claim.
_______I have not paraphrased or synthesized substantial 
segments of evidence within grounds.
______I have provided warrants that explain the reasoning 
process in my claims.  
______I have labeled the reasoning process in my 
warrants.
______I have not included evidence within my warrant 
statements.
______I have included a conclusion that summarizes my 
argument and includes my claims. 
______I have provided a properly formatted list of sources 
cited.  (author title, source, date, page, electronic 
address) or have formatted from easybib.com.




(the following section is NOT a part of the cover sheet!)

Helpful info on writing good source cites:


We talked about good oral citations in class and the need to avoid
having every citation sound the same:

Here is a general list of citation formats you may want to use to set
up the attribution (author,title,source, date) in you grounds.
 
according to (this one is usually overused)

as demonstrated by_____________in________on________

as delineated in_______________written by_________in_____

is clarified by________________in_________________on_____

as argued by_________________in the article_______found
in_______________on__________

this is confirmed by________in__________on__________

___________contends in__________on__________

___________contests this notion in___________on_______

is disputed by_____________in________________on__________

______________establishes this in____________on_________

it is estimated by______________in___________on________

an explanation is provided by_____________in______on____

_______________________explains this in_________on______


the following is found in_______________by_______on________

It is further supported by______________in________on_______

___________holds________to be true in_____________on_______

The court held in________________that

_________________informs us that________ in_______on______


This effect was noticed by_______________in______________on

______________observed this in___________________on______

______________correctly perceived this in________on_______

is correctly perceived by________________in_______on_____

_____________pleads the case for/against this point of view
in__________on________

proof is provided by____________in____________on_______

_____________offers proof in__________________on_______

_____________points out that ________________in________on___

___________ponders this position in _______________on_____

___________reports in_________________on______

____________reveals in________________on______

____________says in___________________on______

____________supports this position in_____________on____

____________suggests the validity of this position in_______

____________sums up this position in______________on_____

This is talked about by_____________in____________on_____

This view is presented by__________in___________on_______

_____________unearths this point of view in__________on___

_____________warns us that_________________in________on___

____________wrote in____________________on_____