Be sure that your report answers the following questions: 1. WHAT BOOK did you read (give a full bibliographic citation)? (attach after report as an appendix) 2. What HAPPENED in this book? You should be able to describe some particulars such as when did the fire occur, what type of structure was it, how severe was it – basically telling the story of the fire. Also, think about the kinds of destruction that are described - where was there significant damage, and why? (1.5 pages max) 3. Can you CONFIRM that the author is accurate? You will want at least two other sources (only one of which is internet based) that will allow you to opine on whether the author(s) of your book got the big picture, and some specific details, correct. (mixed into the text, not a separate section) 4. How did the built environment influence survival in positive AND NEGATIVE ways? Were there people who owed their survival to elements of the built environment? How so (specific examples)? Were there people who put their faith in elements of the built environment to tragic effect (specific examples)? How did the cultural systems of the day, perhaps as reflected by government agencies or institutions, influence the outcome? Be sure to describe any specific, physical features of the built environment that were directly related to the ability of people to survive the fire, and any specific cultural features that had similar impact. 5. Would a similar structure built today potentially suffer the same fate? Did the fire lead to any changes in either physical or cultural features in buildings built afterwards? Are you safer in buildings now (give specific reasons). 6. Did YOU like this book? Would you recommend it to others? Produce a review of it as an object of entertainment, perhaps using a review of a book in a magazine or newspaper as an example. (0.5 page max) The overall report will be 5-6 pages in length, not counting any cover, table of contents, or appendices. You should use space-and-a half, 12 point font, 1 inch margins all around. Number your pages. Spelling, grammar, presentation will be graded. ANTICIPATED RUBRIC: 0 – The report is turned in later than the assigned due date/time. F (59 and below) – The report is not turned in, is turned in after the due date/time, or is turned in before the due date/time without answering the guiding questions in a way that they can be found. There is little evidence that the writer read the assignment. The report is written in an unprofessional tone and/or with so many errors in English spelling and grammar, and/or in fact, that it cannot be understood. The writer makes no effort to help the reader find things with things such as an accurate table of contents, section headings, etc. D (60-69) – The report is turned in before the due date/time. Of the guiding questions, only 1 is answered clearly and well, in a way that it can be found. The report is mostly written in a professional tone, with many error ...

1. Be sure that your report answers the following questions:
1. WHAT BOOK did you read (give a full bibliographic
citation)? (attach after report as an appendix)
2. What HAPPENED in this book? You should be able to
describe some particulars such as when did the fire occur, what
type of structure was it, how severe was it – basically telling
the story of the fire. Also, think about the kinds of destruction
that are described - where was there significant damage, and
why? (1.5 pages max)
3. Can you CONFIRM that the author is accurate? You will
want at least two other sources (only one of which is internet
based) that will allow you to opine on whether the author(s) of
your book got the big picture, and some specific details, correct.
(mixed into the text, not a separate section)
4. How did the built environment influence survival in positive
AND NEGATIVE ways? Were there people who owed their
survival to elements of the built environment? How so (specific
examples)? Were there people who put their faith in elements of
the built environment to tragic effect (specific examples)? How
did the cultural systems of the day, perhaps as reflected by
government agencies or institutions, influence the outcome? Be
sure to describe any specific, physical features of the built
environment that were directly related to the ability of people to
survive the fire, and any specific cultural features that had
similar impact.
5. Would a similar structure built today potentially suffer the
same fate? Did the fire lead to any changes in either physical or
cultural features in buildings built afterwards? Are you safer in
buildings now (give specific reasons).

2. 6. Did YOU like this book? Would you recommend it to others?
Produce a review of it as an object of entertainment, perhaps
using a review of a book in a magazine or newspaper as an
example. (0.5 page max)
The overall report will be 5-6 pages in length, not counting any
cover, table of contents, or appendices. You should use space-
and-a half, 12 point font, 1 inch margins all around. Number
your pages. Spelling, grammar, presentation will be graded.
ANTICIPATED RUBRIC:
0 – The report is turned in later than the assigned due
date/time.
F (59 and below) – The report is not turned in, is turned in after
the due date/time, or is turned in before the due date/time
without answering the guiding questions in a way that they can
be found. There is little evidence that the writer read the
assignment. The report is written in an unprofessional tone
and/or with so many errors in English spelling and grammar,
and/or in fact, that it cannot be understood. The writer makes no
effort to help the reader find things with things such as an
accurate table of contents, section headings, etc.
D (60-69) – The report is turned in before the due date/time. Of
the guiding questions, only 1 is answered clearly and well, in a
way that it can be found. The report is mostly written in a
professional tone, with many errors in English spelling and
grammar. Some concepts introduced or reviewed in the class are
correctly used, but there are several errors in fact or areas left
incomplete. In spite of these problems, the report can still be

3. generally followed. Some efforts to guide the reader are
provided. The report is shorter than the minimum length or
violates format to expand a shorter work, or the report is much
longer than the maximum length.
C (70-79) – The report is turned in before the due date/time. Of
the guiding questions, only 2 are answered clearly and well, in a
way that they can be found. The report is written in a
professional tone, with few errors in English spelling and
grammar. There are minor errors in fact or areas left
incomplete, but for the most part the concepts introduced or
reviewed in the class are correctly used. The report addresses
the questions asked, but evidences little beyond the minimum
effort required, and the report, while complete, is boring and/or
overlong. It is possible to find things easily via guidance
provided to the reader. CON E 101 Construction and Culture
Spring 2017
B (80-89) – The report is turned in before the due date/time. Of
the guiding questions, all are answered clearly and well, in a
way that they can be found. The report is written in a
professional tone, with rare errors in English spelling and
grammar. There are no errors in fact or areas left incomplete.
The report addresses the questions asked, with some evidence of
effort to understand the subject and convey it to the reader. It is
possible to find things easily via guidance provided to the
reader. Ideas presented in the book are related to corresponding
ideas from the classroom.
A (90 and above) – The report is turned in before the due
date/time. Of the guiding questions, all are answered clearly and
well, in a way that they can be found. The report is written in a
professional tone, with only one or two errors in English
spelling and grammar. There are no errors in fact or areas left
incomplete. The report addresses the questions asked, and goes
beyond by evidencing interest in the subject, additional research

4. into the event, and is interesting and engaging to read. Very
specific concepts from the class are applied to the reading in
new ways, and/or original examples are used to illustrate
concepts from the reading. The report is well organized and
clear.
Common Logical Fallacies
Appeal to authority—An appeal to authority is ordinarily one
good way to buttress a line

5. of thought. The practice becomes fallacious when one of the
following happens: the
authority is not an expert in the field in which one is speaking;
the allusion to authority
masks the fact that experts may be divided down the middle on
the subject; no explicit
reference is made to the authority.
Attack against the person—A common fallacy in which someone
argues against a
position or claim by assailing the proponent of it. The truth or
falsehood of a position
doesn't depend on who does (or doesn't) espouse it. e.g. "You
can't trust Jones' theory of
electromagnetic particles because he's a communist." (The
theory is good or bad because
it comports (or doesn't comport) with certain facts and
evidence, not because the man
propounding it holds a political affiliation.)
Appeal to Pity -- Occurs when an appeal is made to pity or to
one's sympathetic nature.
Example: "Augusto Pinochet is an old, dying man. It is wrong to
make him stand trial for
alleged offenses."

6. Bandwagon Appeal -- This fallacy occurs when an argument
panders to popular passion
or sentiment. When, for instance, a politician exclaims in a
debate that his opponent "is
out of step with the beliefs of everyone in the audience," he/she
is committing the fallacy.
The legitimacy of a statement depends not on its popularity, but
on its truth credentials.
Begging the question -- Circular reasoning in which a claim is
assumed to be true and is
then tucked in the conclusion. e.g. "Government by the people
is ideal because
democracy is the least inadequate form of government."
("Government by the people" is
the working definition of democracy; the first part of the
statement needs to be proven,
not reasserted in the predicate.)
False alternatives -- A fallacy occurring when the number of
alternatives is said to be
fewer/less than the actual number. Common examples of this
fallacy are statements
containing either/or, nothing/but, all-or-nothing elements.
Examples: "Is she a Democrat

7. or a Republican?" (She may be a socialist, a libertarian, a
Leninist, an anarchist, a
feminist or any number of other things, including one who is
strictly apolitical.) "If you
aren't for your country, then you are against it." (One may be
neither "for" nor "against"
but may occupy a position of strict neutrality or be affirmative
sometimes and critical at
others.)
False Cause—The fallacy of reaching a conclusion based solely
on the sequence of

8. events. Implying causation when no good reason is given for
doing so. “The Soviet
Union collapsed after adopting atheism. Therefore, we must
avoid atheism or we also run
the risk of collapse.”
Hasty generalization -- The habit of arriving at a bold
conclusion based on a limited
sample of evidence. This often occurs with statistics. For
instance, someone may ask ten
women and one man what their opinion is of contemporary
male-female relationships and
from this sample draw a sweeping conclusion; hasty
generalization would then be said to
exist.
Invincible ignorance -- the fallacy of insisting on the legitimacy
of one's position in the
face of contradictory facts. Statements like "I really don't care
what the experts say; no
one is going to convince me that I'm wrong"; "nothing you say
is going to change my
mind"; "yeah, okay, whatever!" are examples of this fallacy.
Non sequitur ("it does not follow") -- A statement that does not
logically follow from

9. what preceded it—a conclusion that does not follow from the
premises. “Because Jane
Smith is a brilliant historian she must be a brilliant history
teacher.”
Prejudicial Language value or moral goodness is attached to
believing the author. Loaded
language is emotive terminology that expresses value
judgments. When used in what
appears to be an objective description, the terminology
unfortunately can cause the
listener to adopt those values when in fact no good reason has
been given for doing so.
[News broadcast] In today's top stories, Senator Smith
carelessly cast the deciding vote
today to pass both the budget bill and the trailer bill to fund yet
another excessive

10. watchdog committee over coastal development.—This broadcast
is an editorial posing as
a news report.
Red herring -- An attempt to divert attention away from the crux
of an argument by
introduction of anecdote, irrelevant detail, subsidiary facts,
tangential references, and the
like.
Slippery Slope a series of increasingly unacceptable
consequences is drawn. The form of
a slippery slope fallacy looks like this:
A leads to B.
B leads to C.
C leads to D.
...
Z leads to HELL.

11. We don't want to go to HELL.
So, don't take that first step A.
Straw man -- A fallacy that occurs when someone attacks a less
defensible position than
the one actually being put forth. This occurs very often in
politics, when one seeks to
derive maximum approval for himself/herself or for a cause.
Example: "Opposition to the
North American Free Trade Agreement amounts to nothing but
opposition to free trade."
(Someone can believe in free and open trade and yet still oppose
NAFTA.)
Taken From:
http://www.philosophicalsociety.com/Logical%20Fallacies.htm
http://www.philosophicalsociety.com/Logical%20Fallacies.htm