October 23, 2007 Archives

Present a case for why something is true, good, or useful (or false, bad, or useless). You could try to persuade your reader to have (or skip) a second donut. Convince me to start wearing contacts, ditch my fanny-pack, or get a puppy. Avoid black/white hot-button issues, and avoid any topic where there is only one rational or permissible answer ("Was Hitler evil?" "Is the oppression of women a bad thing?") Choose a topic that a rational person might actually disagree with. ("Emphasis on Hitler's hatred of Jews inappropriately obscures the economic and political causes of World War II." "The full-time mommy track, which has been rejected as oppressive by many educated women who could choose to stay at home with their children, is a romanticized goal of many poor working women, who cannot."

Note that this is not a research class, so I am not asking you to look up facts and statistics; but if they are necessary to your argument, you will need to cite them accurately and properly. (I would prefer that you choose a subject that does not require outside research.)