Let’s read the following note to know more about ‘Facts and Opinions’.
Note
Facts and Opinions
An important part of reading comprehension is determining (ঠিক করা) a fact and an opinion in a text. The difference between facts and opinions is essential, especially when working to support (পক্ষাবলম্বন) an argument (যুক্তি) in an essay. Facts are statements that can be objectively proven( প্রমাণিত), while opinions reflect personal and subjective (বিষয়ী) feelings. For instance (উদাহরণ), when writing about a story someone might write something like: ‘The author did an awesome job writing about the main character.’ However, this statement would be an opinion because the idea that the author’s job was ‘awesome (অসাধারণ)’ is subjective and may vary depending on the reader. Instead, the same person might write something like: ‘The author used several metaphors (রূপক) to describe the main character effectively.’
This would be a fact because the writer would be able to point out metaphors (রূপক) in the text that prove this. When we read a text, it is not always easy to distinguish (প্রভেদ করা) between facts and opinions. To identify them, we need to read the passage sentence by sentence and ask two questions:
1. Can the statement be proven (সপ্রমাণ) to be true or false?
2. Does the statement express the author’s personal beliefs (বিশ্বাস), ideas or emotions (আবেগ) about the topic? If the answer to the first question is ‘it cannot be proven’, and the answer to the second is ‘it does’, then the statement is an opinion. On the other hand, if the answer to the first question is ‘it can be proven’ and the answer to the second is ‘it doesn’t’, then the statement is a fact. You can also look for certain cues to distinguish (প্রভেদ করা) between facts and opinions in a text:
Authors often use the following ways to write a fact:
ইকবাল খান, প্রভাষক, বীরশ্রেষ্ঠ মুন্সী আব্দুর রউফ পাবলিক কলেজ, ঢাকা