Arkansas State Communication Association

Oral Communication Units and Activities

THE ROBBER

Unit(s): Communication Process,Reasoning Skills

Purpose:

The purpose of this activity is to introduce students to the characteristics of facts and inferences and to stimulate class discussion of the differences between fact and inference. It also illustrates the necessity of careful reading.

Objectives:

Students will understand the differences between fact, inference and judgment.

Students will examine assumptions and their significance in making inferences.

Materials:

Copy of Fact Quiz

Hand-out on Statement of Fact and Statement of Inference

Copies of the story "The Robber" and list of statements

Procedure:

Give students "Fact Quiz" orally and discuss answers according to primary and secondary sources.

Hand out the material over the differences between fact and inferences (optional, may write on over-head or board) and discuss in class.

Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5 students to work on "fact/inference" activity )You may wish to have students work individually).

Hand out the story, "The Robber," and list of statements and instruct students to mark each statement as true, false, or questionable (not definitely true or false) on the basis of the statements in the story. It is assumed that the incidents in the story are correctly reported.

When the task is completed the entire class goes over the answers, deciding which are correct.

As a homework assignment, assign the "Market Basket Game," Students are to write a paragraph or two describing a shopper, based on the contents of his or her grocery cart. Paragraphs are discussed in class the following day, considering the degree of probability of various inferences.

The cart contains the following items: six TV dinners, two bags of potato chips, two bottles of cream soda, one six-pack of beer, three boxes of cookies, two loaves of bread, one large jar of peanut butter, six candy bars, three frozen pies, two cans of pork and beans, one frozen salad, one quart of ice cream, five cans of chow mein, one tin of aspirin, six cans of diet cola and one copy of TV Guide.

Fact Quiz

Who was the first American President?

George Washington was the first under the Constitution, but under the Articles of Confederation, it was John Hanson. Washington addressed Hanson as "Mr. President."
During the Civil War the ironclad Monitor fought who?

Our schoolboy history books say "The Merrimac;" but the Merrimac had been a Northern Navy ship that had been burned and sunk. The Confederate Navy raised and rebuilt it as an ironclad and re-named it. The ship fought under it's new name, "The Virginia." Alliteration won out over historical fact.
Who invented the electric light?

The electric light was invented by Sir Humphrey Davy (not Edison) in 1802.
Who invented the telephone?

Workable telephones (2) were invented in Europe 5 years before Alexander Graham Bell came up with his.
What is "Big Ben?"

Big Ben is really the name of only the bell in the tower.
Who made the first American flag?

There is no evidence that Betsy Ross made our first flag.
What is the cause of most forest fires?

Despite Smokey Bear's propaganda, most are caused by lightning, not careless people.
Who discovered the Pacific Ocean?

The Pacific Ocean was "discovered", not by Cortez or Balboa, but by a Portuguese sailer named Antonio d' Abreu, who sailed in from the West.
Who commanded the "Rough Riders?"

Theodore Roosevelt did organize the group, the First Regiment of U.S. Cavalry Volunteers in the Spanish-American War, but its command went to Leonard Wood, who had military experience. The horses had to be left in Florida and the "Rough Riders" fought mainly on foot.
Who coined the phrase "Iron Curtain?"

Widely regarded as a phrase originated by Winston Churchill, it is anything but. There have been several instances of its earlier use, with substantially or exactly the same meaning, ranging from Queen Elizabeth of the Belgians in 1914 ("Between [Germany] and me there is now a bloody iron curtain which has descended forever!") to Josef Goebbels, who used the phrase "iron curtain" with reference to the USSR in February 1945. Churchill employed it in an address at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5 , 1946, when he said, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent."

Questions and answers taken from Tom Burnam's book,
The Dictionary of Misinformation(Ballantine Books, 1975)

Misinformation or the lack of all the facts can result in inaccurate inferences:

I tell them the story of Charles Drew, a Black physician who invented a new way to handle blood transfusions, thus providing a tool that would save many lives, Black and White. In 1950 Dr. Drew was in a car wreck in North Carolina. He was taken to a whites-only hospital in Burlington, North Carolina where he died, unadmitted. The story got out that he was allowed to bleed to death outside the hospital because of his race.

The story appeared in The New York Times and also in Time magazine. It was mentioned on a tv episode of MASH. Civil Rights activists repeated the ironical story in speeches all over the country. But historian Charles Wynes, University of Georgia, researched the incident. Three outstanding physicians had labored furiously to save Dr. Drew in the emergency room. But his vascular system was too badly damaged. But it is true they did not take time for the paperwork for "admission."

STATEMENT OF FACT

Made after observation or experience.

Confined to what one observes; cannot be made about the future.

Limited number possible.

High probability (not certainty--perception may be faulty).

Brings people together; furthers agreement.

STATEMENT OF INFERENCE

Made anytime--before, during or after observation.

Goes beyond what one observes; may concern the past, the present, or the future.

Unlimited number possible.

Represents some degree of probability

Creates distance between people; likely to cause disagreement.

THE ROBBER

The businessman had just turned off the lights in the store when a man appeared and demanded money. The owner opened the cash register. The contents of the cash register were scooped up and the man sped away. A member of the police force was notified promptly.

Based on this story determine if the following statements are fact or inference.

A man appeared after the owner had turned off his store lights. ________________
The robber was a man. _______________________
The man who appeared did not demand money. ________________
The man who opened the cash register was the owner. ___________________
The store owner scooped up the contents of the cash register and ran away. _________________________
Someone opened a cash register. ________________________
After the man who demanded money scooped up the contents of the cash register, he ran away. ____________________________
While the cash register contained money, the story does not state how much. __________________________
The robber demanded money of the owner. ______________________
The robber opened the cash register. _______________________
After the store lights were turned off, a man appeared. ___________________
The robber did not take the money with him. _____________________
The robber did not demand money of the owner. _____________________
The owner opened the cash register. _________________________
The age of the store owner was not revealed in the story. ___________________

Arkansas State Communication Association

Teaching Guidelines

Arkansas Guidelines

Oral Communication Units and Activities

THE ROBBER

Fact Quiz

STATEMENT OF FACT

STATEMENT OF INFERENCE

THE ROBBER