Write a paper formatted in MLA style of five pages in length (use Times New Roman 12) that addresses the topic below. As always, you may not turn in an essay that you have written for another course.
Following the directions given in lecture and the examples provided by our discussion of the sample essays, write an essay that defines a subject and analyzes its effects on other things. You must take a position on a subject of your choosing that involves some issue that a person might dispute. You may choose the topic of your paper, but it may not be about smoking, marijuana, gay marriage, abortion, or religion. Some of those topics have been rehashed in the media to the point that it would be difficult to find an original argument that would allow you to sharpen you skills in development and presentation. Others are often more based upon belief than rationality; that makes it difficult to present objective arguments. (If you feel that you can make credible, persuasive arguments regarding one of those topics, please contact me at least two weeks prior to the deadline to discuss a variance.) Other than that, you are free to choose a topic about which you think you can argue well.
Remember to include an explanation of what your subject is (your definition or characterization of the subject, its characteristics, the way it relates to the things around it). You must also present your arguments in favor of your side of the analysis, and you must have some discussion of counter-arguments. Where it is appropriate, you may anticipate counter-arguments both from audience members who disagree with the way that you define the subject and from those who agree with the way that you present the subject but who disagree with your conclusions about it. 5 pages
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