For this assignment, you will be given a chance to write and to research.  You will write a five-to-seven-page paper (typed, double-spaced) that persuades your audience to take a stand on a subject (human rights, stopping excessive land development in your community, something of that nature). Research is a must with any persuasive essay, so you should consult at least three or four sources. 

Because a good argument is fair and balanced, you must present BOTH sides of the issue. 

Please avoid the following hot-button topics:  euthanasia, capital punishment, gun control, and abortion.  Hot-button topics aren’t the best.  Since these topics are so emotionally charged, your audience likely has its minds made up beforehand, and nothing you can write will likely change their views.

On the banned list:  lowering the drinking age to eighteen, the Trump Administration, testing on animals, legalizing marijuana, driving and cell phones and texting, the “perils” of elderly drivers.  Think outside the obvious.  I have received so many papers on these topics that they sound alike and feel predictable to me.

Avoid resorting to fallacies, and always treat your audience with respect (members of your community and myself, in this case).