Reference no: EM133836691

Assignment: Writing

Tasks Argumentative

I. Choose a topic that relates to your Unit 3 Essay or a recent topic or issue that interests you or that you feel passionate about (see the Unit 4 Essay Assignment Preview for ideas). Explain why this topic intrigues you and why you think it's important to discuss.

II. Explain your current knowledge of or experience with the topic, and your current position on this issue. You can describe what the issue surrounding the topic is, why it is important, how it came to be an issue of importance, who the decision-makers are around this issue, and what position you'd like others to take.

III. Then, describe how and where this topic is currently being discussed. What is said about it in the news? By the government or politicians? In legal circles? In your community? In organizations?

IV. Next, describe what you would like to learn about the topic from reliable sources in order to develop a strong and effective response to this issue. This can include confirming facts or events; learning more about the viewpoints or tactics taken by specific parties, organizations, or communities; learning more about the impact this issue is having on a group or community; discovering what differences changes to this issue could cause; or learning more about the parties who have the power to make changes or prevent changes from being made.

V. Finally, develop your research question! Write a question that will guide your research and allow you to explore the topic further. Remember, your research question should be specific, focused, and narrow enough to fall within the scope of this class. For example, if you want to argue about global overpopulation being an issue, that's arguable. However, if you argue that global overpopulation is an issue and the solution is mandatory fertility management, that's going to end up being far too complex a topic to address effectively in this class. Instead, you'd want to zoom in on one aspect of your potential argument; perhaps one political issue, one social issue, or one medical issue.

Topics to Avoid

Very few topics are out of bounds here, but there are a number of essay topics that tend to be driven by conviction rather than research and which are overly-emotive and under-supported because of this. This means essays on these topics often receiving a failing grade. As a result, we ask that you do not write on the following issues:

1. Legalization or criminalization of marijuana or tobacco;
2. Legalization or criminalization of the death penalty or euthanasia;
3. Legalization or criminalization of abortion or birth control;
4. Legalization or criminalization of homosexuality, trans persons, gender-affirming care, or gay marriage;
5. Legalization or criminalization of prostitution or pornography;
6. Lowering or raising the drinking age, voting age, driving age, age of majority, or speed limit,
7. Implementation of gun control.