A Workbook for Arguments

Objective: To give you practice applying the skills learned throughout A Workbook for Arguments.

Instructions: Read Chapters I–VI (and optionally Chapter IX) before completing this activity. When you are ready, follow these steps:

1. Form a group of about five people. Find our from your instructor whether you may choose you own groups or whether you will be assigned to a group.
2. Pick one of the conspiracy theorists' claims from the list below. Some people argue for "conspiracy theories" about the events of September 11, 2001. Typically, these conspiracy theorists claim that the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were actually perpetrated by "the government" or the George W. Bush administration, rather than by al-Qaeda. Conspiracy theorists sometimes make one or more of the following claims to support their version of the day's events:
   1. In the "official version" of the story, the Pentagon was hit by a Boeing 757. But in the only video that the public was allowed to see, whatever hit the Pentagon looks way too blurry and small to be a Boeing 757.
   2. The hole in Pentagon was too small to fit a plane; also no plane wreckage was found in the rubble.
   3. On its final approach to the Pentagon, that plane made a tight, aerobatic turn and then swooped in only feet above the Pentagon lawn. This is an extremely difficult maneuver for a 757 (if it is possible at all), whereas the alleged suicide pilot had never flown a 757 before and could hardly fly a small Cessna airplane.
   4. President George W. Bush was notified of the attacks on the World Trade Center while on a highly publicized visit to a Florida elementary school. However, he was not immediately whisked away, despite the fact that he would be an obvious target in any attack on the United States.
   5. The Pentagon just happened to be holding terrorist-attack drills on the very same day, imagining the very same kinds of attacks—including the possibility of hijacked planes being used to attack government buildings.
   6. The World Trade Center towers collapsed at "free fall velocity." This is physically impossible if, as the "official version" of the story has it, the bottom floors of the tower fell because they were struck by the upper floors as they collapsed. (A building that falls in the way the towers were alleged to have fallen would "pancake" on the way down.) The only way the towers could have fallen at "free fall" velocity is if there were explosives detonated at the bottom of each tower.
   7. There were explosions in the towers, both before and after the planes hit, some of which are visible on videos of the event. Also, there were explosions right before the collapses. You can even see spouts of molten metal emerging from the lower parts of the towers just before the collapse.
   8. Building 7 of the World Trade Center—the 47-story building next to the two main towers—collapsed seven hours after the initial attack, also seemingly demolition-style. It was not hit by a plane. It had been damaged by the main towers' collapse, but only on one side. (And yet, it fell straight down, not to the side!)
3. Identify one other claim by 9/11 conspiracy theorists. Use the Web to find one other claim, besides those on the list above, made by some 9/11 conspiracy theorists. You can find such claims on 911truth.org and similar sites.
4. As a group, answer the following questions for the claim you picked in Step 2 and the claim you picked in Step 3:
   1. Is the claim true?
   2. If the claim is true, is it hard for the "official version" of the story to explain? That is, is it hard to see how the claim could be true if the "official version" of the events of 9/11 were true?
   3. If the claim is true and it's hard for the "official version" to explain, does it support a conspiracy theory? Pay particular attention to the question of whether the conspiracy theories can explain the otherwise inexplicable event and explain everything else that happened on 9/11.
5. As a group, prepare a short report with your findings. Write a two- to three-page report that presents and justifies your answer to the questions from Step 4.
6. (Optional) Have one member of your group share your report with your class. Remember what you learned in Chapter IX about making oral presentations!

Final Product: The final product of this activity should be a two- to three-page written report stating and justifying your answers to the questions from Step 4.