In this weekly writing, you will argue for one side in response to the following question: Is it acceptable to use pseudoscientific claims to achieve some societal good?
You must make a compelling argument to support your answer to this question. Your argument must state your position on this issue, provide evidence to serve as the basis of your argument, and interpret the evidence to support your position. Your audience for this essay is a skeptical reader who may not agree with your answer to this question.
While you may by conflicted in your answer to this assignment’s prompt, your essay should argue strongly for one side or the other. That does not mean you need to dismiss opposing views; you are trying to convince the reader, not shame them for disagreeing with you. If you would like an extra challenge, you may choose to argue against the position you actually support.
If you would like to see a reasonable example of this form of writing, you can often find it on the opinion pages of newspapers such as The Washington Post or The New York Times.
Your final written work should be 1–2 pages of text in an 11pt serif font (e.g. Times New Roman) with 1.5 line spacing and one inch margins. You should include a title (be creative), your name, and the subtitle “Weekly Writing 1” on the first page of your writing.
As with all work for this course, you are required to cite your sources. You may use the course texts, but I encourage you to find additional sources. Use a citation format you are comfortable with, such as Chicago, MLA, or APA. Please include both inline references and a list of references at the end of the document; this will make it clear what sources you used and which ideas come from others’ work. If you have questions about how or whether to cite a source, please contact me or make an appointment during office hours.
Your writing assignment is due next Tuesday. You must submit your work in two forms:
Please remember to submit both an electronic and print version of your work!