Research paper

Pick one of the following topics, write a research paper in MLA format arguing both sides of an issue. Follow the instructions given.

· The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice (M.L.K., Jr.) / it bends toward chaos (T.N. Coates).

· The new education model wherein the instructor is a "guide on the side" facilitating student-student interactions is superior / inferior to the old "sage on the stage" model wherein the instructor lectures as subject matter expert.

· The classroom should be an intellectually safe space where students are given trigger warnings (notified ahead of time) about distressing content so they can choose to leave the room / the world is not a safe space, so the classroom must expose students to new ideas and coping skills, even if those ideas are controversial or upsetting.

· Sopranos / Mad Men is the greater TV series.

· The National Rifle Association does / does not meet the definition of a homegrown terrorist organization.

· Gentrification resuscitates downtrodden areas / drives out locals and wipes out neighborhood identity.

· Corporations are beholden only to shareholders and profits / corporations also have an ethical duty to country, environment, and employees.

· In-N-Out: one could eat there every meal and still hunger for it! / 'Tis overrated and weak gruel.

· The poor / rich are kinder and more generous.

· "Stairway to Heaven" does / does not rip off "Taurus."

· The advice "just be yourself" is terrible / timeless.

· Verifiably insane murderers should not be executed, for they are not competent to stand trial / are exactly the type of irredeemable criminals who should be put to death.

· Desire is the root of suffering / drives progress.

· Korean / Vietnamese cuisine is tastier.

· A high-end home is an appreciating asset in which one can live / is a money pit whose mortgage and maintenance moneys would be better invested in index funds.

· A man and woman can / can't be "just friends."

· A benign dictatorship is / is not more effective than a democracy.

· Dreams do / do not have meaning.

· Dodgers / Angels.

· Adolescence is more hellish for boys / girls.

· Family is there for you in good times and bad / is overrated and foists its insecurities on the defenseless young.

· Teams build collaboration and allow ideas to be shared / individuals are more likely to get things done and are more accountable for quality.

· K-12 ed system favors girls / boys.

· A best friend confides that he or she committed a violent crime against a known criminal. The confidante should go to the police and report this information, for no one is above the law / should conceal this information so as not to "dime" or snitch on the best friend, law notwithstanding.

· Family members of a victim of homicide should / should not be granted five minutes alone in a room, unsupervised, with the convicted killer.

· In five hundred years, students in world history courses will learn that the U.S. was Rome to England's Greece / will learn that the U.S. was uniquely instrumental to the growth of technology, culture, the arts, pluralism, etc.

· In five hundred years, twentieth-century pop music will be defined by The Beatles / by Dylan.

· ESP does / does not exist.

· Younger siblings are better / worse than older siblings.

· Education makes people liberal by broadening their perspectives / makes people conservative by helping them become financially secure.

· IQ is more important than work ethic OR networking is more important than work ethic OR IQ is more important than networking (etc.--contrast just two).

· A man crying in public is endearing / is pitiful.

· Cosmic justice (karma) does / does not exist.

· Abolishing grades would / would not benefit students academically.

· Grade inflation is a real problem for students as it compresses both excellent and mediocre performers into the same grade categories, masking true quality / grade inflation benefits students' mental health; they're under intense pressure to survive a hyper-competitive educational system and job market.

· International free trade benefits American consumers as it leads to a multitude of low-cost goods, meaning a dollar goes farther / protectionism is the answer; free trade harms the American work force because blue-collar (middle and working class) jobs are outsourced overseas, leading to a bimodal upper class vs. lower class chasm.

· Pick a conspiracy theory and assert that it's true / not true.

· Where should the best teachers be placed: math / reading?

· The father / mother should be the head of the household and ultimate decision-maker.

· Older workers should make way for younger, tech-savvy workers / older workers are more dedicated, loyal, and reliable than younger workers.

· People who know they have a terminal illness should / should not have children.

· Prom is overrated / is a magical night that will never be forgotten.

· Guys should pay for first dates / girls should pay for first dates. (No "going dutch" here!)

· The Bible gives us rules for life and is the inspired word of God conveyed by human prophets and disciples / is a compelling collection of ancient tales describing customs sometimes incompatible with modern life.

· Alternative medicine (holistic herbal treatment) / Western medicine is preferable.

· Depression is "all in one's head" / is a sickness that must be treated like any other.

· Richard Marx / Bryan Adams: King of '90s m.s. and h.s. dances?

· The aliens have landed. See: pyramids, Stonehenge / we humans are all the intelligent life there is--so far.

· Open marriage is / is not one solution for reducing divorce rates.

· Bullfighting is a dignified tradition that should be respected / is barbaric.

· Freud was a genius and was mostly right / has been debunked, and his ideas should be consigned to the dustbin of psychology.

· Pete Rose has paid his dues--let him in the Hall / his gambling on baseball sullied his reputation forever.

· Metallica / Guns and Roses reigns supreme over '90s hard rock or metal. [I knew I was old when the music of my youth became classic rock!]

· Morality is absolute / is relative.

· Armed officers should / should not patrol particularly violent high schools.

· The colonization of sub-Saharan Africa led to needed infrastructure improvements and governmental order / led to egregious exploitation and centuries of instability and civil war.

· Improvements in medicine and life expectancy have the counter-effect of overpopulating the planet and rapidly reducing scarce resources / are an irreversible part of progress and improve quality of life for all.

· In five-hundred years, we will / will not have colonized other planets.

· We have become so politically correct that we can no longer speak honestly without fear of offending / politically correct speech has made us more careful with language and more aware of our unconscious biases.

· Barack Obama will be remembered as a transcendent leader who raised the U.S., kicking and screaming, to first-world standards / expanded presidential power and undermined Congress's authority.

· Yoko Ono was / was not the undoing of the Lennon and McCartney partnership.

· Only whites, or whichever prevailing race has hegemony, can be racist / racism is endemic to the human species, regardless of "tribe."

· Widespread use of public transportation in SoCal will happen / is a pipe-dream.

· Asperger's should be its own diagnosis / should be absorbed into the autism spectrum.

· High school seniors should / should not take a gap year before starting college.

· Knowledge is / is not more desirable than happiness OR It is better to believe a happy lie than to know a sad truth / vice versa.

· The U.S. was right / wrong to escalate the Vietnam War OR Korean War OR to begin the Iraq War.

· Prostitution should / should not be legalized and regulated.

· D.A.R.E. does / does not effectively reduce adolescent drug use.

· Got milk? / dairy products cause heart disease and obesity, and their costs outweigh their benefits.

· Your English teacher should / should not ask the family border collie to bite the towel attached to the fridge door, tug open the fridge, remove a canned beverage, and bring it to said teacher while he works online. [Just checking whether you were paying attention.]

· Hamas is a legitimate political and military organization / promotes terrorism.

· Vegans are conscientious, disciplined, and adhere to a code that many omnivores secretly admire / are sanctimonious and undermine their own cause.

· Affirmative action is a social corrective that admits under-represented students who contribute to the diversity of thought and experience on a college campus / the "mismatch theory" is true: affirmative action actually harms students who are admitted to competitive universities for any reason other than their academic qualifications.

· Criticism of Israel's policies is / is not a cloak for antisemitism.

· Spain committed genocide against / civilized the indigenous South Americans.

· Feminism has / has not lost its purpose in the twenty-first century.

· Fox News provides oft-overlooked political perspectives / is infotainment.

· The media is generally left-biased and subtly promotes a progressive agenda / for the most part reports fairly and accurately.

· The primary purpose of college is the following (select two to contrast): to earn a certificate OR to gain knowledge OR to socialize OR to sort people by their socioeconomic class OR to create indebtedness to lenders and thus indentured servants in the capitalist system OR to meet someone / someones OR to party OR to serve as a placeholder for the directionless OR to brainwash students OR to sustain itself by funding an over-educated yet unemployable faculty and administration.

· SoCal is a rad place to live with much to do / SoCal has low quality of life for most people outside the upper class.

· Home schooling is better / worse for kids than standard public schooling.

· Teachers' unions improve / harm education.

· Atheists are more / less moral than the religious.

· Speed limits should be revised to "according to conditions" so officers can spend more time pursuing real criminals / clearly posted limits are necessary for safety.

· For-profit colleges are a scam / identify a demand (higher ed) and smartly pursue it.

· Pornography is / is not harmful to adult viewers.

· Students and faculty should / should not be able to carry guns openly on college campuses.

· The U.S. stabilizes the world via Pax Americana, even if that means sacrifices such as being the global police force / the U.S. wastes resources on fruitless international adventuring, resources that should go to its citizens.

· Min wage increase to $15 will improve the lives of the working class / will lead to a reduction in jobs and hours.

· Playing "first-person shooter" video games does / does not desensitize players to violence.

· As a first-world country, the U.S. should / should not go to a single-payer (universal healthcare) system to reduce costs and improve access.

· YouTube should continue to allow streaming of licensed music / should automatically remove all licensed music.

· Bathroom access should be based on gender identification / biology.

· Sanctuary cities lead to improved crime reporting / lead to havens of illegal immigration.

· Birth control should / should not be issued anonymously for free at high schools.

· Police officers should be commended for risking their lives to take on criminals / are part of larger societal problems with gun violence and racism.

· Sad / happy songs are better.

· The U.S. obesity epidemic does / does not necessitate federal action in the form of laws or sanctions.

· Daylight Savings Time / Standard Time.

· Majoring in liberal arts / STEM (science, tech, engineering, math) is the better long-term decision.

· Profanity is part of free speech and is no big deal / should be restricted so that only people eighteen years and older are exposed to it.

· Airport screenings are necessary / a waste of time.

· Racial profiling is expedient and statistically valid / violates due process and civil rights.

· The U.S. destabilized the Middle East and should fulfill its word to take more refugees, as did Canada and the EU / has no responsibility to take M.E. refugees, some who might be embedded terrorists.

· Occasional handgun murders are the price we pay for freedom and protection / Americans have a sick obsession with firearms.

· Or choose your own two antithetical topics to advocate!

· Exceptions: no dissoi logoi about abortion, pot, vaccines and autism, same-sex marriage, and climate change! (We're all tired of these topics. Merci!)

· Keep in mind that there should be evidence and a seed of truth to both sides of any dissoi logoi topic.

· Try to keep your personal opinion out of your paragraphs. Be as objective and impartial as possible.