ENGL 1101 - Abbott (Cartersville): Assignment

Topics

1.   Do you believe that banning certain books from public and school libraries is justified? Discuss.

2.   Evaluate the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010." Is it good for Americans? Why or why not.

3.   There is growing support to replace our current income tax system with "The Fair Tax." Would this be good for America? Why or why not?

4.   Should all U.S. cities become "Green Cities." Why or why not?

5.   Should public agencies be required to inform parents if their minor children (those under 17) seek birth control? Discuss.

6.   Is the trend toward distance learning, also know as eLearning, a "good move" for higher education? Why or why not?

7.   Should psychics, paranormal investigators, and others in the paranormal professions be forced to cease and desist? Why or why not?

8.   Should college athletes be paid? Why or Why not? Consider the effects on collegiate sports.

9.   Should companies be allowed to market items to children?

10.   Should exams like the MCAT and GRE be part of the application to a graduate program? Are they accurate predictors of success? Why or why not?

11.   Many corporations now have "wellness" programs for employees that offer everything from T-shirts to bonues to discounts on insurance premiums for participation. These places are replacing the junk food in their vending machines with healthy snacks, declaring themselves smoke-free workplaces, forcing smokers to leave the property to light up, and charging smokers more for their health insurance. Some have instituted non-smokers-only hiring practices. Should such practices be legal? Are they ethical?

12.   Should minor children be allowed to have Facebook pages? If there is an age cut off, what age should that be? Why? 

13.   Chose a topic of your own. This topic MUST be emailed to the instructor for approval before proceeding.

Format: MLA format, Times New Roman, size 12, no cover page
Length: 3-4 pages

Use of Outside Sources: You MUST make appropriate use of at least three background sources.  All of your sources should be scholarly and credible sources, and at least two must be from Galileo or a scholarly database. NO ordinary dot com sites or wikipedia pages. 

Checklist:  

• Have I incorporated an MLA style author block, title, and pagination?
• Is my essay double-spaced?
• Does my introduction contain a hook and enough development to interest the reader?
• Is my thesis clear?  Have I stated and defined my term clearly and concisely?
• Do my body paragraphs contain evidence and reference to research materials?
• Have I used in-text citations for all paraphrased and quoted research material?
• Have I used the appropriate persuasive appeals (logical, ethical, and/or emotional)?
• Have I avoided the fallacies of argument such as the argument ad hominem, non sequitur, etc.?
• Does my conclusion adequately and forcefully complete my discussion of the topic?  Does it leave the reader thinking about the essay?
• Have I included an MLA style Works Cited Page with at least THREE credible, scholarly background resources?
•  Are all of my sentences stated as clearly and concisely as possible?
• Is my writing free of grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors?
• Have I submitted my final draft to turnitin.com?