Critical Analysis Forms

CRT/205 Version 9

Associate Level Material

Critical Analysis Forms
Fill out one form for each source.
Source 1 Title and Citation: The "Necessary Evil" Argument Does Not Justify Abortion

Forsythe, Clarke D. "The 'Necessary Evil' Argument Does Not Justify Abortion." Abortion.
Ed. Mary E. Williams. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt.
from "Abortion Is Not a 'Necessary Evil,'." Christianity Today (24 May 1999). Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 25 July 2015.
The primary subject is about abortion and how many
Americans support it even though it is against their
morals.

Identify the principal issue

presented by the source.

Identify any examples of bias

presented by the author. If none
exist, explain how you determined
this.

I think the author was bias. In a way the author was

negative toward abortion.

Identify any areas that are vague

or ambiguous. Explain your
reasoning.

I think that this article was very informative and did not
see any vagueness or ambiguousness.

Do you find the source credible?

Explain your reasoning.

I think this article is credible because it goes along with

what I believe and it gives plenty of information and
studies on the topic.

Identify and name any rhetorical

devices used by the author.
Explain your reasoning.

I believe the author used rhetorical devices in this

article. Dysphemism was used in this article because
the author toned down the positive effects of abortion.

Identify and name any fallacies

used by the author. Explain your
reasoning.

Guilt tripping is used because the author was trying to

get others to disagree with abortion by saying it was
murder.

State one argument made by the

author.

The author is arguing that abortion should not be kept

legal because it is not mandatory.

Identify the premises and

conclusion of the argument.

The conclusion of this article is that abortion can be

very fatal and immoral.

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CRT/205 Version 9

Is the authors argument valid or

invalid, sound or unsound, strong
or weak? Explain how you
determined this.

The authors argument is valid, sound, and strong. I

believe this because the author has strong points made
in the article. He also has back up information and
compares abortion to murder.

10

Does the author use moral

reasoning? Explain how you
determined this.

Yes, the author used moral reasoning. It would be

immoral to agree with abortion.

Source 2 Title and Citation: Abortion is a Social Failure

Mealey, Misty. "Abortion Is a Social Failure." The Abortion Controversy. Ed. Emma
Bernay. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Legal
Abortion Has Only Added to Society's Woes." Roanoke Times 24 Jan. 2006: B-7.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 25 July 2015.
1

Identify the principal issue

presented by the source.

Identify any examples of bias

presented by the author. Explain
your reasoning.

Identify any areas that are vague

or ambiguous. Explain your
reasoning.

Do you find the source credible?

Explain your reasoning.

Identify and name any rhetorical

devices used by the author.
Explain your reasoning.

The main point of this article is to tell readers that what

was promised when abortion became legal was never
put in place. It was said that it would make families,
women, and overall society stronger. It also says that
every child would be wanted and child abuse would
decrease as well as crime rates.
I think the author is bias. I believe the author is trying to
say that abortion is wrong. The last sentence of the
article, But given the overwhelming evidence of this
social experiment's failure, abortion proponents need to
stop hiding the truth and admit to what abortion really is
an empty promise that continues to choke the life out
of our great nation ( Mealey, 2007), shows that the
author is against abortion.
The word I found ambiguous that the author used is
crime. For some reason, the plan to reduce crime by
eliminating the potential victims just didn't pan out
(Mealey, 2007). There is a variety of crime, so what
specific crimes could be reduced?
I find the source credible because I have the same
belief that abortion is wrong. It does not help out
society, crimes, or child abuse. There are people in the
world who want a child so bad, but are unable to
conceive, so instead of killing the child give it to
someone who so badly wants a child to raise the child
that will not be abused, nor cause crimes.
The author used dysphemism by telling the readers the
negatives about abortion and the effects on people and
how it does not help out society like promised. I think a
little bit of guilt tripping is done when the author talks
about how legal abortions are in the top five leading
causes of deaths in women inside the U.S.

Critical Analysis Forms

CRT/205 Version 9

Identify and name any fallacies

used by the author. Explain your
reasoning.

State one argument made by the

author.

Identify the premises and

conclusion of the argument.

Is the authors argument valid or

invalid, sound or unsound, strong
or weak? Explain how you
determined this.

10

Does the author use moral

reasoning? Explain how you
determined this.

The authors argument is that everything that was

promised when abortion was legalized is actually false.
The child abuse rates did not decrease nor did crime
rates.
The premises is that the true facts are hidden about
abortions and the conclusion is that people need to
know the true facts, not lies, and stop abortions
because if the promises were true, then everything
would have actually happened not increased over the
decades.
I saw the authors argument as valid, strong, and sound
because he supported his argument with facts.

I think the author did in fact use moral reasoning. Why

would he give the facts and basically say stop aborting
unborn children because it was not helping society,
women were dying after abortions were performed, etc
if this not fall on his or her moral reasoning?