argumentative essay

Argument Topics for Kathryne TafollaYoung’s WR121 class

EDUCATION

 Should principals be allowed to censor school newspapers?

 Should drug dogs be allowed on high school campuses?

 Should girls be allowed to play on boys’ sports teams if no girls’ team exists for that sport?

 Should the words, “under God” remain in the Pledge of Allegiance? In what contexts?

 Should students be “tracked” by academic ability?

 Should there be mandatory drug tests for high school athletes?

 Currently, many colleges give preference to “legacies”—that is, people whose parents attended the school. To what extent is this good policy?

· Should SAT scores be a factor in college admissions?

· Are “early action” application practices to college

a good policy?

 At what level should school curriculums be set? Federal? State? District? School? Teacher?

FREE SPEECH  Should the KKK be allowed to march in a city-wide parade?

 Should the Internet be regulated by the government? If so, to what extent?  South Carolina’s state flag—should it be illegal?

 Should it be legal to burn an American flag?

 Should students (while at school) have more restrictions on their freedom of speech than other people?

 Where should the limits of individual free speech begin? To what extent are current laws fair and effective?

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

 Should valid evidence be excluded from a court case because police made a minor procedural mistake?

 Should criminals get added punishment for a crime if they committed it as part of a gang?

 Should prostitution be legal?

 Should the prison system be privatized?

 Three-strikes law: is it a good policy?

 Should minors convicted in adult court of committing capital crimes be eligible for the death penalty?

 Has the application of the death penalty been racist?

 Is the death penalty an effective deterrent?

 Jury system—fair, or is there a more ideal alternative?

 Should juvenile offenders be tried, sentenced, and jailed as adults?

 Should prisoners be allowed to accumulate “good time” credit?

 Should the FBI be able to use racial profiling in terrorist cases?

WAR AND HISTORY

 Was the US justified in military action against Iraq?

 Was the draft in the Vietnam War fair?

· Should the U.S. government be able to declare American citizens “enemy combatants?”

· Did the US know ahead of time that the Japanese

were going to attack Pearl Harbor?

 Should “conscientious objectors” to war be allowed to avoid the draft?

 Did the war on Iraq unjustly compromise civil rights? Of Americans? Of Iraqis? (Pick one)

 Analyze the efficacy of the Patriot Act in combating terrorism thus far

 Who blew up the USS Maine?

 Was it ultimately in the best interest of the Soviet Union for Stalin to sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact?

 Historically, has the U.S. government been forthcoming with its citizens about what it’s doing around the world? What do people have a “right” to know?

LOCAL

 Should Oregon impose a sales tax schools?

 Is OSU currently making financial decisions that are in the best interest of the school as a whole?

 Does OSU unjustly favor science and engineering departments?

 Should OSU have required classes?

ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT

 Is there too much corporate consolidation in the United States (for example, AOL Time Warner)?

 Should the States government force its citizens to attend school until age 16?

 Should states pay for social services to illegal immigrants?

 Should the government have the right to establish a minimum wage?

 Should state Supreme Courts have to follow federal Supreme Court decisions?

 Should the US government hold American companies with factories in other countries to US legal standards (in terms of wages, child labor, etc.)?

 Should the U.S. Supreme Court have gotten involved in the 2000 presidential election?

 Should extra taxes be imposed on cigarettes?

 Should SUV’s be illegal?

DISCRIMINATION AND CIVIL RIGHTS

 Should women be allowed to be drafted by the U.S. military in wartime?

 Should English be made the “official national language” of the U.S?

 Which is the most difficult prejudice to surmount in America: gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation?

 To what extent, if at all, is television responsible for our concepts of female beauty standards?

 Is race-based affirmative action done serving its purpose?

 Should college admissions practice affirmative action based on economic class?

 Should schools be required to offer the same sports opportunities for women as for men?

 Should a landlord be able to deny someone housing based on sexual orientation (as is allowed in the city of Albany)?

 Is pornography harmful to women?

 Should homosexual couples be allowed to adopt children?