PHL 111 Milestone Two Worksheet for critical essay writing.

Let’s break this down step by step so you can complete your worksheet easily.

This worksheet is asking you to think deeply about an article (or argument) you’ve already chosen for your critical essay. You’re not writing the whole essay yet — just answering questions to help you plan it.

We’ll go section by section.

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Part II: Guiding Questions for Your Argument Section

You need to answer these based on the article you picked. Since I don’t know which article you chose, I’ll show you HOW to answer each question using a fake example. Then you can plug in your own article’s details.

Let’s pretend your article is:
*“Social Media Causes Depression in Teens”* — and it says that teens who use Instagram more than 3 hours a day are twice as likely to feel sad or anxious.

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A. Looking at the article you have chosen, explain how the argument contains or avoids bias.

→ Bias means the author is unfair, one-sided, or ignores other views.

i. Does the argument contain or avoid bias? How?

Example answer:
The argument contains some bias because it only talks about negative effects of social media. It doesn’t mention any good things, like how social media helps teens stay connected with friends or find support groups. Also, it uses scary words like “crisis” and “epidemic,” which make readers feel worried instead of thinking calmly.

ii. Provide specific examples to support your explanation.

Example answer:
On page 2, the author writes: “Instagram is destroying teen mental health.” That’s a strong opinion, not a fact. They also only cite studies from 2018–2020, but ignore newer research from 2023 that shows mixed results. Plus, they don’t interview any happy teens who use social media — only those who feel depressed.

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B. Discuss the credibility of the overall argument and answer the following:

Credibility = Is the argument trustworthy? Are the sources reliable?

i. Were the resources upon which the argument is built credible? Why or why not?

Example answer:
Some resources are credible — like the study from Harvard University mentioned on page 4. But others are not — like a blog post from a random website called “TruthAboutTeens.com” that has no authors or dates. Also, the author quotes a psychologist, but doesn’t say where she works or if she’s done real research on teens.

ii. Does the credibility support or undermine the article’s claims in any important ways? How?

Example answer:
The weak sources undermine the article’s claims. If half the evidence comes from unreliable websites, then we can’t fully trust the conclusion that “social media causes depression.” The strong Harvard study supports part of the claim, but since it’s only one study, it’s not enough to prove everything the author says.

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Now, here’s what YOU need to do:

✔ Pick your actual article.
✔ Read it again carefully.
✔ Answer each question above using REAL quotes, pages, or facts from YOUR article.
✔ Be honest — if the article is biased or uses bad sources, say so! That’s okay — your job is to analyze, not agree.

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Final Answer:
Use the example answers above as a model. Replace the fake article details with information from your own chosen article. Answer each sub-question (i and ii under A and B) clearly and specifically. This will give you great material to write your paragraph later.