Department of Liberal Studies

University of Technology, Jamaica

Academic Writing II Summer Semester 2011-2012  

Critical Thinking Case Study Assignment 1- 20%

TEST 1 - ANSWER KEYS

SECTION A

1. (i). DSP Richards accepts that the issue is not simple and that both sides need to be
considered.
(ii). He questions the evidence before coming to a conclusion

(i) Princess questions the evidence in arriving at a conclusion that there was no shootout.
(ii) She changes her position on demonstrating based on reasoning.
(iii) She provides evidence in support of her position.

2. The killing of Billy was unjust/an act of brutality/an act of unjustifiable murder.

3. Inductive Argument
(i.) Premise: Billy was shot five times in the back.
OR: Billy was running away when he was shot
(ii.) Premise: Eye witnesses dispute the police account of the incident that it was a shootout.
OR : The police planted the gun on Billy’s body
(iii) Conclusion: Billy was not killed in a shootout, he was murdered.

OR

Argument by Analogy

(i) Premise: In the Hill View killing the police claimed it was a shoot out and planted a gun on
the body
(ii) Premise: The Hill View shooting was exposed/proven not to be a shootout.
(iii) Conclusion: Billy like the boy at Hill View did not die in a shootout.

4. Deductive Argument

Major Premise: Justice is done when officers involved in controversial killings are removed from
frontline duty, investigated and the matter decided by the court.

Minor Premise: The policemen involved in the killing of Billy have been removed from frontline
duties, are being investigated for the matter to be decided by the court.

Conclusion: Justice will be done in Billy’s case.

For this question, students will either get full marks if the argument is valid – that is the minor
premise is logically linked to the major premise and the conclusion follows from the variables
stated in the premises. [No mark will be awarded for the deductive argument if it is not
logical or complete]

OR

Major Premise: Cases that involve investigations by INDECOM result in justice being served for
all.

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Minor Premise: Billy’s case will be investigated by INDECOM.

Conclusions: Justice will be served for all.

5. DSP Richard: Referring to Princess as “Miss” to show respect and gain her cooperation.
Referring to Princess as a respected leader of the crowd
Appealing directly to Princess for cooperation to prevent disorder.
Use of emotive words – (“citizens rights, law and order, control, solution, justice”)

OR

Princess: Use of emotive words (“murder”, “brutality”, “Justice”, “dog”, “dead meat”,
“somebody pickney”)
Use of deprecatory tone.
Use of personal experience in mentioning the incident with her baby father.

6. DSP Richard: Referring to the facts of the police unit that is shot up and the firearm found on
the body..
Referring to the policemen being removed from frontline duties
Referring to the intervention of the Independent Commission for Investigation.
Identifying facts of unlawful behavior by citizens such as the burning of tyres and
stoning of the police.
Stating that the police vehicle damaged a shop and injured citizens.

Princess: Referring to the facts that Billy was shot five times in his back.
Stating that no gun was found on the body.

7. Princess would be considered to have little ethos appeal as she does not have first-hand
knowledge of the incident and so depends as hearsay. She also comes across as being very
biased in her argument. She could have increased the ethos appeal of her argument by:
• being less subjective in tone
• being more inclined to be balanced on the issue by accepting the complexity of the
situation
• trying to seem more fair-minded and balanced in tolerating/accommodating opposing
views in her argument.
• presenting more empirical facts rather than subjective opinions

8. This argument should have as its conclusion, “Justice will be done in the investigation”.
Comparisons should be made with other situation(s) in which justice was done. [DO NOT
repeat the argument from the Hillview situation. This question requires that you be
inventive and create a situation or situations that share similarities with Billy’s case].

9. Billy was shot by the police. Billy was shot five times in the back. The police vehicle was
shot up. He was the only child for his mother. The police vehicle crashed into a shop and citizens
were injured etc.

10. Billy was murdered. He was killed like a dog. It was not right to kill Billy etc.

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SECTION B – 4 marks
Examine the image below and in no more than 100 words write a response in which you:
(a) Clearly construct the argument being presented in the image
(b) Comment on the effectiveness of the image in making the argument you constructed in (a)

a. The argument being made is that one should not drive under the influence of alcohol as
driving while can result accidents (which may cause serious injury or even death).

b. The image is effective in making the argument in that it depicts a parking space that is marked
off the road and around a tree. This means that once one drinks and drives it could possibly
lead to one losing control of the vehicle and driving off the road and into a tree or post,
leading to serious injury or death of not only occupants of the care but also pedestrians. The
spot is deliberately marked reserved to make the point that once one drives under the
influence there is a space specifically for you- an accident waiting to happen.

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