English Writing
I. Defining Fact
a. “Value free” packets of information; Ex: 5’10”, weighs 119 lbs., “eats chicken on Sunday at 5:00 p.m.,” “contains the chemical compound acetone,” “operates on unleaded gasoline,” etc.
OR
b. Academically Verifiable (i.e., coming from a fixed medium or source, such as a book, journal article, recorded interview).
\ver·i·fy [ver-uh-fahy]
verb (used with object), ver·i·fied, ver·i·fy·ing.
1.to prove the truth of, as by evidence or testimony; confirm; substantiate: Events verified his prediction.
2.to ascertain the truth or correctness of, as by examination, research, or comparison: to verify a spelling .
3.to act as ultimate proof or evidence of; serve to confirm.
4.Law.
a. to prove or confirm (an allegation).
b. to state to be true, especially in legal use, formally or upon oath
c. Subjective Words , on the other hand, are those that mean different things to each person; Ex: respect, honor, worth, short, low, cold, hungry, dark, tired, fast, etc. (More about these when we study the next learning unit on opinion).
i. Subjective words can be made into FACTS, if and only if you can attribute them to someone else, in a cited source. By doing so, you’re not verifying (or proving) the word itself; instead, you’re verifying that the word was used by a particular individual, thereby making the overall statement FACTUAL because you have confirmed that the opinionated (subjective) word is documented as an individual’s statement/belief.
ii. The tool is attribution .
iii. Example: Let’s take the statement:
His mother is relatively short.
Let’s run the sentence through our tests above…
(1) Is the sentence “value free?” NO, because the word short means something different to you than it does to me.
(2) Is the statement “academically” verifiable? NO, you’re not going to find any source of print or recorded data that indicates that she is “short.”
(3) Lastly, can I make the sentence factual, by putting it in quotes, and attributing it to the original speaker? YES!!! If I write in my essay, “His mother is relatively short (According to S. Ramdial, personal communication, July 20, 2011).” Now, I have “verified” that the statement was made, thereby turning a subjective word/phrase, into FACT.
He is 5’10”
Vs.
He is of average height.
Students on the SJSU campus are said to “come from diverse backgrounds” (SJSU Marketing Brochure, 2014).