What is a good argumentative, not TOO serious, topic for a 2 or 3 page essay?
Asked by
smile1 (
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September 14th, 2010
I need a argumentative topic that I write about for english class! This is part of what my teacher gave me:
“This essay asks you to take make an argument, talk about something that means a lot to you (students shouldn’t be treated like prisoners, people should think more about how they treat the environment, vegetarians are annoying to me) and back it up with experiences you’ve had (the time when a teacher yelled at me, the time when I saw someone dump oil on a blackberry bush, the time when a vegetarian gave me stink eye for munching on a Krusty Burger).
The major aspect of your writing I want to emphasize is showing versus telling. Always be wary of your writing when you say something like The party was awesome. Look for places to insert specific, concrete details that can be touched or set on fire or show through a cannon. At the party, Joe kept exposing his bellybutton and slapping his jiggly paunch with his yellow cowboy hat. Moreover, I’m looking for you, who you are, so take a few risks and show me. Remember O’Brien’s advice about infusing your writing with elements of imagination and story.”
It can be funny, serious, or in-between, any ideas will help! (I dont want anything TOO serious though….)
Thansk!
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22 Answers
What is the best child focused breakfast cereal. Lots of people will definiteley have their own opinion about breakfast cereals. It is entrenched with their inner child. Their will be factions that jump together. It will be the lucky charms crowd, versus the golden grahamers….I think that should do it.
Tastes great or less filling…to steal a tag line from an old beer commercial.
New York vs Chicago style pizza. To breastfeed or not to breastfeed (or really, any of the Mommy Wars topics).
Why thin crust pizza is better than deep dish. :]
Should chili have beans or no beans? .45 or 9mm? Should NASA’s funding be cut, or left alone?
FILM OR DIGITAL.
@papayalily swear i didnt take your idea, pizza is always on my mind, unfortunately lol
@deni Hey, people get really uptight about their pizza. It’s a good idea.
It sounds like the main idea is to pick something you really care about or feel strongly about, and part of the point is that no one can tell you what that is. It’s got to be something you choose. The teacher wants your own character and personality to come across. Don’t play it for laughs. Don’t pick a trivial topic for this one. You say “not too serious,” but your teacher says “something that means a lot to you.” The examples from your teacher are fairly serious.
Think of anything that has two (or more) sides to it, preferably something that you think is important, and support your point with illustrative examples in which you try to make your reader see what you saw and feel what you felt.
For example, let’s say you really love animals and are bothered when you see people who don’t (in your opinion) deserve to have pets—they leave a dog in a hot car, they shut the cat out on stormy nights, whatever. So then you make an argument that people should have to prove themselves worthy to keep pets or else should lose the right, and you cite the cases you know of that will help you make your point.
Capitalism vs. Communism.
Barefooting.
Plastic bags.
Bottled water.
Tattoos.
Exotic pets.
Playing music with your dog in the car.
Indoor vs. Outdoor cats.
I don’t think that it’s possible to have a wholly neutral topic.
Why Star Trek is better/worse than Star Wars.
Wny Star Wars (Original Trilogy) is better than The Lord of the Rings.
Why Star Wars (Original Trilogy) is better/worse than Star Wars (Prequels).
Why the Star Wars Special Edition was helped/harmed by the new footage and extensive (and controversial!) editing of the scene where Han Solo shoots Greedo in the Mos Eisley cantina.
The philosophical differences between Jedi and Sith, and why one is better than the other.
The geek phenomenon and its role in society.
Why science fiction seems to be a proving ground for people’s social, theological, economic, and cultural ideas and theories.
The pros and cons of how we communicate today (email, cell phones, twitter, IM, etc.)
Why I think music is better or worse than it used to be.
Buying something made in America vs China.
@crazyivan Wouldn’t that require recalibrating everything? It wasn’t such a big deal during the Gregorian changeover, but now we have massive industries that require a universally-accepted date system to function. Unnecessary expense, if you ask me. And you can bet that The Powers That Be would take that opportunity to force everybody to use CE and BCE.
Not going to happen before we even accomplish the change from English to metric systems of measure in the U.S.
How’s that for a topic of controversy?
@Jeruba Actually, we did technically switch to the metric system. The Federal government now has a tendency to reckon in meters and provide English equivalents, instead of the other way around.
Beyond that, it only really caught on in the soft drinks industry, and that only after Dr. Pepper announced that, with their new 2-liter bottles, you were getting more soda for the same price.
Personally, I think that we should keep things like they are. Sure, it’s easier to work with a base-10 system, but beyond that, there’s no benefit. And I rather like the English system. It’s quaint, it’s a bit funky, and it’s a heckuva lot easier to pace off feet than meters, and most guys can measure inches with their thumbs. It was built around the things that a person could reasonably be expected to have in his vicinity (like a hogshead or rod) or about his person (like a thumb)
Excellent example.
Isn’t it funny that they don’t use the English measurement system in England any more than they use arabic numerals in Saudi Arabia?
Oh, crap… I’m thread-jacking. My bad.
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