Essay

Voting is a privilege that many Americans don’t take advantage of. Choose one

of the two options below as a topic for your essay. Support and defend your argument by drawing on your reasoning ability, general experience, and any necessary research. You may want to review Chapter 10 , “Exemplification,” Chapter 12 ,

“Cause and/or Effect,” and Chapter 13 , “Comparison and/or Contrast,” to help you

focus your support. If you need to incorporate research, you will want to review

Chapter 22 , “Writing a Research Paper.”

OPTION 1:

Since jury duty and taxes are compulsory, voting should also be required.

OPTION 2:

Persuade your audience of the importance of voting in all elections.

PREWRITING

a. Take a few minutes to think about the two options and decide which one you

would most like to write about. Use a prewriting technique of your choice and

write out as many ideas as possible about your chosen topic.

b. On a sheet of paper, organize your prewriting into a brief outline of support

for your position. Preparing the outline will give you a chance to think further

about your position.

c. Next, decide how you will develop each of your supporting points. Make brief

outlines of the supporting paragraphs. If you need to generate more ideas for

support, use the prewriting technique you have chosen.

d. Determine the order in which you want to present your paragraphs. Emphatic

order (in which you end with your most important reason) is often the most

effective way to organize an argument. Your reader is most likely to remember

your final reason.

e. Now write the first draft of your essay.

REVISING

Use the suggestions for revision that follow Writing Assignment 1