Paper 4: Argument

Length: 2-3 pages. Pages should be double-spaced, with 12 point font.

Paper 4 argues a position about an important social issue. You should choose an issue that you feel strongly about. However, your argument should support a position that you do not believe yourself. For example, if you feel strongly about the death penalty, and you support the death penalty, then you should write a paper against the death penalty.

This paper will help you practice thinking about arguments in support of ideas that you don't agree with. Too often we refuse to think about people who don't agree with our ideas.

It's not necessary to mention in the paper that you don't really believe the argument that you make; you don't have to write, "I actually support the death penalty, but in this paper I will argue against the death penalty." You can just write a paper supporting the abolition of the death penalty.

The introduction should name the topic and provide a thesis statement. "The death penalty is the state's right to execute a criminal who commits a heinous crime" introduces the topic. "The death penalty is wrong because no state should have the authority to execute its citizens" is a thesis statement.

The body should be an attempt to prove your argument. "If the state kills a person because that person killed someone else, the situation essentially argues that 'two wrongs can make a right.' If killing is wrong, then the state shouldn't execute a criminal." "It would be wrong for a family member of a victim to kill the person who murdered the victim; there is no argument that could support that it is okay for the state to execute a criminal if there isn't a situation in which a private citizen could execute a criminal." "It is true that a criminal killing someone and the state executing the criminal are two different things. The criminal murders; the state punishes. However, even if the state is doing something less bad than what the criminal did, it is still wrong because the execution is still a form of killing, and homicide cannot be supported except when someone is in immediate and imminent danger."

The conclusion should be an attempt to show why the subject that you chose is important. Why should people care about the death penalty? "The death penalty determines a society's general attitude toward death. If it is okay to kill sometimes, then society's attitude toward killing will change. We value life less any time we accept a homicide or death."

Avoid boilerplate. Don't write, "People have been arguing about the death penalty for a long time." Most people already know this, and if they don't, you have no reason to tell them.