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Your task: First, choose a controversial issue that you would like to explore. However, be careful of the œbig issues, like abortion, legalization of marijuana, the legal drinking age, etc. These issues have been around a very long time and have been argued hundreds if not thousands of times. You would need to narrow the issue down to one particular aspect of it to make your research task manageable. Choosing a smaller, more recent, or less œhot-button issue would make your job easier and more fulfilling. Look for an issue that is either small or able to be narrowed considerably. Think of your audience as people with higher education but bear in mind that they are not experts on the topic of your paper.
Once you have your issue, you are ready to begin your investigation of it. What you are going to do is look for every argument that has been expressed on this issue. To help you focus your search, phrase the issue in the form of a question. Find a focusing question and examine the main arguments offering answers to it. Try to avoid simple œyes-no questions that would lead you into two oversimplified pro-con arguments. Instead, phrase your question so that it opens the possibility for multiple answers. For example, instead of asking, œDoes the U.S. need to drill for oil in the Alaskan wilderness? take this perspective:
œWhat would be the effects of drilling for oil in the Alaskan wilderness on the economy and on the environment? The second question would help you find more complex answers on the Alaskan oil issue and put you in a better position to make your own well-informed argument later.
After you have researched your issue, you are going to present your findings in an essay, in which you examine and analyze each of the viewpoints. At the end of this essay, you will explain which viewpoint you find most credible and why. As you examine each viewpoint, make sure that you give it a fair presentation of the arguments and their supports. However, make sure the essay is your ownin other words, you are not going to stitch together a bunch of quotes or paraphrases. You are going to present these arguments in your own words, using quotes and paraphrases where appropriate to illustrate the arguments. You will need to analyze as well as present, so use quotes or paraphrases to illustrate strong points and flaws in the argument as well. Remember the rules of using sources: use them only to 1) illustrate, 2) clarify, or 3) provide examples to analyze or refute.
You will need to use MLA documentation in this paper. You must also be able to provide photocopies of your source material. You must also use a minimum of six separate sources in your essay. A minimum of four of these sources must come from scholarly sources you found in the librarybooks or articles. The rest may be a mixture of internet sources, interviews, or more print sources, as you require for your essay.
