This is an essay about "Facts vs. Opinions" with citations. Graded: A

1. Fact Versus Opinion
Merriam-Webster Online defines facts as statements that are provable, and opinions as,
among others, personal beliefs or claims that cannot be substantiated (Fact, n.d.; Opinion, n.d.).
For instance, to say that “outdoor air pollution” is cause, in part, by burning fossil fuels (e.g.,
coal and oil) and by using gasoline would be true because the statement could be verified (
research review). Moreover, educators usually use “true” or “false” statements to create
questions for standardized quizzes (Taveep, Triampo, & Nokkaew, 2016; Wilson, Wiebe, &
Hwa, 2006). In contrast, to say that burning fossil fuel or driving a gasoline powered vehicle
does not negatively affect “air-quality” would be an opinion based on someone’s belief (Opinion,
n.d.). In addition, the following “fact vs. opinion” sample paragraphs add further clarity to this
discussion.
(a) Instead of paper towels in public facilities, most companies have hand-driers, which
run by distributing hot or cold-air; however, they are not effective. Being a kindergarten
administrator, I always encourage teachers to ensure that students properly wash and dry their
hand. Therefore, I believe that companies should remove them from all public buildings.
(b) Instead of paper towels in public facilities, most companies have hand-driers (HDs),
which run by distributing hot or cold-air; however, they are not effective. Dasher and Davis
(2018) and Smith and Coleman (2014) discovered that most companies design HDs to run

2. five-seconds or less (using hot or cold air). Although the process is suitable for most sanitary
purposes, the allotted time is not enough to dry wet hands. Being a kindergarten administrator, I
always encourage teachers to ensure that students properly wash and dry their hand. Therefore,
based on research findings, companies should remove HDs from all public buildings. Unlike,
paragraph “a” which cannot be verified, paragraph “b” is supported by research.
____________________________________________________________
Nicely done. Your discussion on fact versus opinion is very good, and your content is
strong. ​Content: 126/126
Writing 54/54 - good organization.
Dr Wilson
References
Fact [Def. 2a]. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster Online. In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 8,
2018, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fact
Opinion [Def. 1a]. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster Online. In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 8,
2018, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opinion
Thaneerananon, T, Triampo, W., & Nokkaew, A. (2016). Development of a

3. test to evaluate students’ analytical thinking based on fact versus opinion differentiation.
International Journal of Instruction​, ​9 ​(2), pp., 123-138.
https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.12973/iji.2016.929a
Wilson, T., Wiebe, J. and Hwa, R. (2006). Recognizing strong and weak opinion clauses.
Computational Intelligence​, ​22​, pp., 73-99. Retrieved from
http://ccc.inaoep.mx/~villasen/bib/strong%20and%20weak%20opinions%20-%20j.1467-
8640.2006.00275.pdf