DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN FACT AND OPINION

If a statement can be proved, it is a fact. If a statement tells what someone

thinks or feels about something, it is an opinion. Facts can be proved. Opinions
cannot. When you figure out if a statement is a fact or an opinion, you
are distinguishing between fact and opinion. A fact is something that is true. It
can be proved. It can be checked. An opinion is based on how someone
feels. It cannot be proved.

 Facts are statements that can be checked or proved.

 Opinions are statements that cannot be proved. They tell what someone
thinks or feels.
 Opinions often contain clue words such as think, feel,
believe, and seem. Other common clue words are always, never, all,
none, most, least, greatest, best, and worst.

Questions about facts and opinions ask you to find which statements are fact
statements and which statements are opinion statements. Remember, a fact is
something that is true. An opinion tells how a person feels about
something. Facts can be proven. Opinions cannot. Statements that are
opinions often contain key words such as most, best, nicest, and greatest.

A. Fact
 A fact is a statement of actuality or occurrence which is based on direct evidence, actual
experience, or observation.
 A statement of fact describes the world without interpreting it.
 To test whether a fact is accurate or not, you can observe or make an experiment.
Examples:

1. The Nile is the longest river in the world.

2. Jakarta has 7.500.000 population.
3. UKI is an Indonesian private university.
4. Pollution can kill fish and plants that live in rivers.
5. English is the most interesting language in the world.
B. Opinion
 An opinion is a statement that expresses an attitude, a belief, or a point of view.
 It reveals an author’s personal feelings, beliefs, attitudes, or judgments on a particular subject. It
tells you not only what was seen but how it was seen by the author as well.
 Since opinions depend on the personal experience, history, culture, and training of the people who
hold them, though they are sometimes supported by facts, they cannot be judged true or false,
right or wrong.
Examples:

1. The Nile is the most beautiful river in the world.

2. Teenagers are too moody to be trusted.
3. Young people think they’ll live forever and can’t be hurt.
4. Monas is the most wonderful tower in Asia.
Justified and unjustified Opinion
 A justified opinion is the one supported by a number of convincing and relevant facts. It is
worthy of one’s serious consideration and could be take to enrich his knowledge.
 Unjustified opinions lack of factual support. To take them seriously, one needs to do further
reading on the subject.

Look at the following paragraph!

People in Southeast Asia are living in both traditional and modern culture. In this region,
cities of more than one million people—such as Bangkok, manila, Singapore, and Jakarta
with Western-style high rise buildings and automobile-clogged streets—spread into rise-
growing countryside where peasants still plow with water buffaloes and live in little wooden
house on stilts. Jet airliners take off from big municipal airports and in a few minutes are
flying over mountains inhabited by tribesmen who wear almost no clothes and still hunt with
poisoned darts. The king of Laos lives in a French-style palace with western décor, but for
official ceremonies he dons the baggy panung, the pantaloons worn by his ancestors for a
thousand years. On the Indonesian island of Bali, barefoot men and girls perform elegant
traditional dances in dusty village squares and then go see an American movie at the local
theater.

Explanation:
The idea expressed in the topic sentence, that “People in Southeast Asia are living in both
traditional and modern culture” is supported by a number of convincing and relevant facts.
Thus it is justified.

What about following paragraph?

People of different ethnic backgrounds just can’t live harmoniously in the same
neighborhood. A mass chaos can easily occur due to ethnic difference. The disputes
between ethnic differences are common in the world history. In addition, almost everyone
I’ve talked to thinks the same way. So we must always be cautious when living with people
of different ethnic backgrounds in a neighborhood.

Explanation:
The idea expressed in the topic sentence, that “People of different ethnic backgrounds just
can’t live harmoniously in the same neighborhood” is truly supported by some supporting
details. However, they are not convincing facts. Thus the idea is unjustified.