Description
Thought Essay #1
Thought essays are designed to provide students with an opportunity to work with the course material outside of the context of the class lectures and discussions. For this thought essay, you will be asked to identify and explicate the Stock Issues concerning a proposition.
Directions:
First, choose one of the topics below. You must take the Affirmative position on the issue.
- Resolution: The US federal government should make voting mandatory.
- Resolution: The US federal government should have stricter laws against animal testing.
In a 3-4 page essay, answer the following questions:
- What is the ill? Discuss the significance of the ill. What is the problem in the status quo that you feel needs to be addressed? How many people/animals are affected by this problem? How are they affected by the problem?
- What is the blame? What causes the problem? What is the current policy regarding this problem? Why does this current policy fail or not work?
- What is the cure you propose? What specific action are you proposing? How does it directly address your ill? What grounds/support do you have that the proposal will reduce the problem? (Shouldn’t be a hypothetical cure; You should research and look for a cure that has been proposed by a representative or large organization. Suggestion: look at other countries to see if they have implemented a cure)
- What are the potential costs to the cure you propose? How can we address those costs?
