Before you start researching and writing your paper, it's important that you brainstorm ideas of debatable topics that you may want to explore further. This means that you need to allocate some of your time to exploring news websites to learn more about current events, humanitarian issues, and controversial topics. To help you get started, check out the list of sites below, but please don't feel limited to these.
Choosing an Argument Topic that Works:
DO
| |
Choose a topic you are interested in learning more about
|
Choose a topic you’ve already made up your mind about
|
Choose a topic with some urgency—something that needs to be argued now
|
Choose a topic that is dated, unless it has pressing importance now
|
Choose a topic where there is something at stake that has important implications for people
|
Choose a topic that is an either/or proposition, or that simply compares and contrasts
|
Choose a topic that allows you to find information from a variety of stakeholders
|
Choose a topic for which you can only identify pro/con positions
|
Choose a topic that provides an opportunity for primary research and analysis
|
Choose a topic for which you can’t think of any site for primary research and analysis
|
By the end of class, you should have educated yourself about the facts and background of three specific issues or conflicts. It's best to first read "objective" news articles. Remember, you don't want to formulate an opinion JUST YET. AVOID JUDGEMENT!!!
What's due by the end of class:
- Post your three issues/conflicts/controversies that you are interested in exploring further.
- For each issue, you need to include the sources you've looked at thus far.
- Lastly, write down questions you have about each topic. What are you most curious about? Of course, you are going to have many, many questions, but limit it to a few per topic. Your peers will read your questions and will help you out with suggestions. They may even know some of your answers and can therefore respond to your questions.
NOTE: Write your post on Google docs first so you don't lose your work!
