Detailed Instructions:
Select only two (2) position statements from the five possible topics listed above, and write one short essay on each of the two possible topics (two essays total). Each of your two short essays is worth 50% and must be between 500 and 750 words (a minimum of two, to a maximum of three pages for each essay, not including the Works Cited list). Thus, the total length of your entire two essays should be no less than 1000 words (four pages minimum, not including your two Works Cited lists), and no more that 1500 words (approximately six pages maximum, not including your two Works Cited lists). You may include both essays on one Microsoft Word document, or one PDF document. Your essay answers should take definite, argumentative positions in agreement, disagreement, or agreement up to a point but not entirely with your chosen statements. Your essay answers should contain a thesis paragraph, at least two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Because the possible essay topics are “current events” related, each essay will need to reference at least one secondary source on the topic you are writing about as a source of facts (a newspaper article is a good option). The purpose is not to test your secondary research skills, but to test your ability to quickly reproduce the structure, methods, and essay writing skills that you have been taught over the course of the semester in an accelerated timeframe (in other words, quickly). That said, you are welcome to use as many secondary sources as you think is necessary to adequately and appropriately back up your claims. You must use correct MLA style citations and formatting.
Position Statements:
– Climate change is not as serious an issue as some scientists and environmentalists are making it out to be.
– Now that marijuana use is legal in Canada, any Canadian citizen who has a criminal record for possession of that drug should have their record expunged.