ENG 213 Maryland Global Campus Week 2 Differentiate Fact from Opinion Discussion All the instructions I have are on the attachmentsEvery week, students wil

ENG 213 Maryland Global Campus Week 2 Differentiate Fact from Opinion Discussion All the instructions I have are on the attachmentsEvery week, students will be required to create a forum topic presenting their thoughts on that period’s readings and discussion. Each answer should be approximately 300 words long. Moreover, each student is required to comment on the topics presented by their classmates before the next period begins. Fact & Opinion
ENGL 213
Prof. K. Horowitz
It is only natural that you, as a writer, would want to express your opinion in your work.
There is, however, a time and a place for this. Argumentative Paragraphs are the ideal
candidate for voicing a point of view, but even then one needs to take great care in how
it is done. You cannot simply state your opinion as fact, as there are others who may not
share your point of view on a particular subject.
We must therefore recognize that there are two fundamental differences between
opinion and fact:


Fact: Knowledge or information based on real occurrences; something
demonstrated to exist or known to have existed.1
Opinion: A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by
positive knowledge or proof. It should be justified and explained, but is not
necessarily the word of law, as others may think differently.2
So long as you are able to justify, or logically explain, your opinion, it is considered valid
and should be respected. By the same token, you should respect the opinions of others,
regardless of whether or not they agree with yours.
Much of what you read in newspapers or magazines is a mix of factual information and
the opinions of the author. Often the opinions are disguised as fact, to make the author’s
argument seem more believable. For example:
Registration and control of firearms in Canada is not supported by the Canadian
public, and will not lead to a decrease in gun-related crime.”
The statement in bold is a fact.
(Notice, though, that even ‘facts’ can be misleading if not explained. What does
‘supported’ mean? The implication is that most people don’t support gun control, but the
actual figures indicate about a 50-50 split.)
The underlined statement is an opinion. There is nothing wrong with mixing opinions and
fact together in an argument, of course … it’s done all the time. What is important is that
the reader be able to distinguish the fact from the opinion, in order to make a sound
judgment about the information they are receiving! It is obviously a conclusion, since we
don’t know what is going to happen.
Bibliography
Willis, Bill. Fact or Opinion? Worsley School. 13 Mar. 2006.