Assignment 5: Case Study III or IV

Week 8, INTL 3410

Read Case Study III or IV at the end of Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence, then complete the
relevant questions below.

Case Study III, "The End of the Era of Aircraft Carriers"

Questions from Chapter 19, "How do I present my message in the most compelling way?"
1. Does the title of the article effectively capture both the “what” and the “so what”?
2. Is the article organized according to the inverted pyramid model, which orders the analysis from
the most important concept, thought, or idea to the least critical information?
3. Do all the paragraphs begin with good topic sentences?
4. Is the key message clearly stated?
5. How well does the format – a What if? Analysis – work for communicating the basic message?
6. What percentage of the sentences is in active voice? Should more sentences be in active voice?
Which ones?

OR

Case Study IV, "Financial Crisis in the United States"

Questions from the end of Chapter 16, "Is my argument persuasive?"
1. What was the primary thesis or argument of the paper?
2. How does the author establish credibility in making this argument?
3. Which schools does the author suggest provide the most useful insights in explaining what
caused the financial crisis of 2008? Which of the five techniques does the author rely on the
most to make the argument?
4. To which of the seven challenges discussed in the chapter is the author most susceptible?