Potential Argument Topics

FOR THE FOLLOWING, PLEASE ELECT ONE PERSON IN YOUR GROUP TO RECORD ANSWERS (EITHER IN AN EMAIL OR ON PAPER), INCLUDING THE NAMES OF GROUP MEMBERS.

PART I

Let's begin by taking a look at the Sample Argument Papers on this blog. Especially look at the first couple papers and, working in groups, do the following:

1) assess the strengths and weaknesses of the introduction
2) decide if the thesis statements are strong enough
3) skim through the paper and identify any strategies being used for the incorporation of sources
4) evaluate the validity of those sources

PART II

After we finish our documentaries, we'll have touched on quite a few potential topics for your paper (sweatshops, CEO salaries and corruption, propaganda, military industrialism, etc) but here's an additional list of 50 potential topics, most of which would work fine for this assignment.

As a test run, get back into groups and choose THREE topics from this list. Then, for each topic, do the following:

1) identify the problem
2) propose a solution
3) play Devil's Advocate, identifying any potential problems with your solution
4) identify why your solution is still the best one
5) brainstorm a list of potential research sources (at least 3)