UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

FACULTY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

ELC 501
EH241 4
WRITING CRITIC

LECTURER NAME: MADAM HASLINA BINTI SHEIKH HASSAN

AHMAD SALIHIN BIN MOHAMAD FHOOZI

2014825602

STEP 1

What is the controversial issue being discussed?

The author is discussing the controversial issue of single parent struggle.

STEP 2

What is the authors position, belief or bias regarding the issue?

The author belief that children have grown up to become emotionally stable and
successful whether they had one or two parents to raise them.

STEP 3

Is the author biased? How is the bias conveyed?

Yes the author is being bias to single parent and not being neutral. The author
conveys his bias by giving a positive support to single parenting and presenting
unfavorable facts about two parents did not give any beneficial instead of single
parent. He also give his personal experience in single parent which telling the
reader about beneficial in single parent.

STEP 4

Are there any assumption made by the author regarding the issue? If so what
are the assumption?
Yes, the author is making some assumptions, one of them is in todays society,
many children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether
they had one or two parents to show them the rocky path life bestows upon all
human beings. Second assumption is, children of single parents can be just as
progressive with emotional, social and behavioral skills as those with two parents.
Third assumption is, the author belief single parents can still gives attention to their
children while they have to work full time in order to support the family.

STEP 5

What types of supports are presented by the author to make his or her case?
The author uses statistical data to support his arguments. There were two statistical
data used by the author, one is in paragraph three, since 1995 the American family
structure for children age fourteen to eighteen consist of 42% living in a first
marriage family, 21% living in a single parent, divorced or separated family, 6%
living in a single parent never married family and 3% living in a single parent
widowed family. In paragraph five, the author give another example of statistical
data that is today, 25% of all American children will spend at least some time of
their growing up years in a step family. Besides, the author also uses personal
opinion to support his arguments as he gives his personal experience but no
research finding or expert testimony. In paragraph four and five, the author gives

his personal experience in growing up with single parent and experience dealing
with a step-parent.
STEP 6

Is the support directly related or relevant to the argument? Is the support

based on relevant expertise?
Yes the support seems directly related to the argument, as the author give his
personal experience in growing up with single parent and experience dealing with
step-parent. He also gives statistical data which support his argument that single
parent give more beneficial than two parents. From his personal experience, he
stated that it is not necessary making a father as a role model; other peoples can
still be a positive male role model for children.

STEP 7

Is the support objective, that is, using facts non-personal, clear evidence? Is
the support subjective, that is, based on the authors limited personal
experiences or influenced by his or her emotions?
The support is subjective as his support is based on his personal experiences and
the authors tone seems to be emotional. He is being emotional as he judges the
single parent using his own experiences being raised by single mother without a
father. Although, his experience may be differ from others in many aspects.
However, the authors also provide some statistical data to support his argument.
The argument would have been strengthened by use of statistics such as the
percentage of children being raised with single parent and two parents.

STEP 8

Is the argument complete- through the presentation of adequate support and

not deliberately leaving out any information that weakens or disproves the
argument? Does the argument address opposing point by providing adequate
support to overcome point that could weaken the case?
The inclusion of statistics of American family structure for children who lives with
single parents and two parents strengthened the arguments. Moreover, the
argument is one sided, as the author only give the beneficial of single parent. In
other words, the author has not brought up opposing points nor refuted them.

STEP 9

Hence, the argument is not complete.

Is the argument valid or logical that is support by relevant and verifiable
evidence?
The argument lacks validity despite being relevant. The claim that he make may be

correct but the author uses his personal experiences as supports. He gives weak
support which his experience in being raised by single mother and experience with
step-parent. There is no expert testimony or research finding to support his
argument strongly. His support basically based on his logical sense and experience
in single parent issues.
STEP10

Is the argument credible? Can you believe or trust the author? Has the author
given precise sources of information, and can these sources be trusted? Is
there enough relevant information from external sources, or is the argument
clouded by personal judgment? Is there refutation of opposing point to
convince those on the opposite side of the issue?
Although there is an attempt at refutation, precise source of information are not
given, as he only gives his personal experience and some mere statistical data
about the higher percentage American children raise by single parent. Most of the
argument is clouded by personal judgment from his personal experience and lead
by his emotions. The sources were unreliable as it is not cited correctly and come
from weak support.

The

article

Single

Parent

Struggle,

by

Chris

Polito

from

www.mesacc.edu/~paoih30491/argument Essay1.pdf viewing the issue the need of both father

and mother in raising children. The author bring up an issue which children have grown up to
become more emotionally stable and successful whether with single parent or having both
father and mother. Throughout the first paragraph, which is the introduction, the author brings
up some questions regarding does the children need both parents to grow up successfully. The
author is discussing the controversial issue of single parent struggle. The author belief children
have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two
parents to raise them. The author is being bias to single parent and not being neutral. The
author conveys his bias by giving a positive support to single parenting and presenting
unfavorable facts about two parents did not give any beneficial instead of single parent. He also
give his personal experience in single parent which telling the reader about beneficial in single
parent. The author is making some assumptions, one of them is in todays society, many
children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or
two parents to show them the rocky path life bestows upon all human beings. Second
assumption is, children of single parents can be just as progressive with emotional, social and
behavioral skills as those with two parents. Third assumption is, the author belief single parents
can still gives attention to their children while they have to work full time in order to support the
family.
The author uses statistical data to support his arguments. There were two statistical data
used by the author, one is in paragraph three, since 1995 the American family structure for
children age fourteen to eighteen consist of 42% living in a first marriage family, 21% living in a
single parent, divorced or separated family, 6% living in a single parent never married family and
3% living in a single parent widowed family. In paragraph five, the author give another example
of statistical data that is today, 25% of all American children will spend at least some time of
their growing up years in a step family. Besides, the author also uses personal opinion to
support his arguments as he gives his personal experience but no research finding or expert
testimony. In paragraph four and five, the author gives his personal experience in growing up
with single parent and experience dealing with a step-parent. The support seems directly related
to the argument, as the author give his personal experience in growing up with single parent
and experience dealing with step-parent. He also gives statistical data which support his
argument that single parent give more beneficial than two parents. From his personal
experience, he stated that it is not necessary making a father as a role model; other peoples
can still be a positive male role model for children. The support is subjective as his support is
based on his personal experiences and the authors tone seems to be emotional. He is being
emotional as he judges the single parent using his own experiences being raised by single

mother without a father. Although, his experience may be differ from others in many aspects.
However, the authors also provide some statistical data to support his argument. The argument
would have been strengthened by use of statistics such as the percentage of children being
raised with single parent and two parents
The inclusion of statistics of American family structure for children who lives with single
parents and two parents strengthened the arguments. Moreover, the argument is one sided, as
the author only give the beneficial of single parent. In other words, the author has not brought
up opposing points nor refuted them. Hence, the argument is not complete. The argument lacks
validity despite being relevant. The claim that he make may be correct but the author uses his
personal experiences as supports. He gives weak support which his experience in being raised
by single mother and experience with step-parent. There is no expert testimony or research
finding to support his argument strongly. His supports basically based on his logical sense and
experience in single parent issues. Although there is an attempt at refutation, precise source of
information are not given, as he only gives his personal experience and some mere statistical
data about the higher percentage American children being raised by single parent. Most of the
argument is clouded by personal judgment from his personal experience and lead by his
emotions. The sources were unreliable as it is not cited correctly and come from weak support.