English
1A |
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Purpose: To practice the techniques for creating and evaluating a strong argument |
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Overview: All your journals and discussions so far have been about some aspect of American culture or identity. Take a look back at what you've written and read, and choose one issue about which you have some strong feelings. Write a persuasive essay presenting your point of view, using research to back it up. |
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Directions: 1. Choose a topic. If nothing from the reading or discussions so far has caught your interest, consider some other issue about which you feel strongly. Your topic should reflect your feelings about life in America, or some aspect of American culture or identity. Other students have written essays about such diverse topics as pet ownership, animals rights, religion, cell phones, celebrity-worship, racism, sex and gender roles, censorship, labor trends, taxes, single parenthood, obesity, bilingual education, college and high school education, preschool, gambling, domestic violence, marriage (both gay and straight), child custody issues, violence in the media, foreign policy, the environment, gangs, pornography, immigration laws...the list goes on and on. If you choose a topic like abortion, the death penalty, assisted suicide, gun control or medical marijuana, please keep in mind that I’ve read dozens of papers on each one of these topics. I am always interested in your point of view, but I tend to scrutinize papers on these topics more than others, because of the greater likelihood of plagiarism, and because of the risk of logical fallacies. Also, I encourage you to pick something different because it’s refreshing for me. Incidentally, you could use the same topic that you chose for the analysis essay, as long as you write a substantially different essay. The remaining steps are discussed in more detail in the Classroom chamber, under Research 2. Ask a series of questions to expand your ideas. |