Your second paper should be an argumentative essay (a position paper) on a controversial ethical issue of real interest to you. Your main job in the paper is to take a strong stand on the issue and defend your view with as many ARGUMENTS as you can provide. This paper is an opportunity for you to present your OWN arguments instead of simply critiquing someone elses
Which topic to choose? Consider writing on the issue that you are scheduled to debate in class, since youll already be preparing for that anyways. However, feel free to choose one of our other debate topics (or other topics we considered for our debates) for your paper instead
If you are interested in a controversy that is not one of the topics we considered for our class debates, make sure to contact me first to make sure it is an appropriate topic for your essay
Controversial means there are reasonable people arguing on both sides of the debate
The key here is to choose a topic that you personally find important and interesting, and perhaps on which you have strong convictions already. Choosing a topic you are interested in will make the pages easier to write, and you will likely enjoy the process much more than if you write on a topic that you find uninteresting
In an argumentative essay, you typically should try to do four main things:
Present your position on the issue (the thesis of your paper) clearly and thoroughly in the Introductory Paragraph
Be sure to take a firm stand on the issue!
Try to engage your reader with an interesting opening sentence. Try to get your reader to believe that this is an important and relevant issue to consider
The last sentence of your Introduction should clearly state what side of the issue you will be defending; it is important to give your reader a preview of whats to come in your paper
Next, you should present your arguments (reasons) in defense of your position one by one; this will take up most of the Body paragraphs of the essay
Try to defend your position as strongly as possible with the best arguments you can think up Really try to persuade your reader that your position on the issue is stronger than the opposing position
Whenever possible, try to use concrete examples, thought experiments, news items, or case studies to explain, illustrate and support your points
Towards the end of your essay, try to reply to one or more objections (counterarguments) from the opposing side, and thereby further defend your position. This will take up the last paragraph or two of the Body of your essay.
In your Conclusion: restate your thesis, preferably in a somewhat different way than you did in the Introduction, and briefly summarize the arguments you presented earlier on in the Body of the essay. The conclusion need not be a long paragraph, but you want to end on a satisfying note for your reader
You dont need to do the above things in the order specified; feel free to get creative in your approach, perhaps consider writing your paper in the form of a dialogue or even a short story, if that is something you are comfortable doing. Just make sure you present a strong and clear position on the ethical issue that you adequately explain, support, and defend
Strive to write this in your own voice as much as possible, but CITE very carefully ANY information or ideas taken from outside sources!!! Make sure to CITE whenever necessary, and make it crystal clear exactly what information came from which source! CITE!!! Otherwise, it is plagiarism
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|