Essay

• Length: 1500-2500 words
• Value: 300 points
• Format: MLA
• Outside Sources (other than Mistakes Were Made): Required, at least 4

For essay 2, you will critically analyze both sides of an issue for examples of cognitive bias. Choose one of the following issues:

• Abortion
• Gun control/safety
• Same-sex marriage equality
• Climate change
• Immigration
• Intelligent Design/Creationism

The model for this kind of analysis is what authors Tavris and Aronson do on Debra and Frank’s relationship issues in Chapter 6 of Mistakes Were Made. Notice, for example, how the authors never try to conclude whose position is right or wrong. Likewise, your own essay should:

• fairly and accurately summarize both sides’ positions (approximately 1/3 of your essay’s total word count); your summary here should be as neutral as possible;
• identify and analyze examples of at least three kinds of cognitive bias on each side(approximately 2/3 of your essay’s total word count);
• conclude by pointing out possible strategies for resolution or by noting what would have to change—how the biases might be overcome—before resolution is even possible.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Your essay’s task is NOT to adjudicate the issue itself or to argue for one side or the other of these controversial topics. Instead, your essay should analyze each side’s positions for examples of cognitive bias. Ideally, a reader of your essay will not be able to tell what your own personal position is on the issue.

For your required sources, you should select credible, authoritative examples to represent each side; aim to avoid the most extreme, rhetorically inflammatory expressions of one side or the other. You can find more information on finding credible sources at this very helpful ARC Library Research Tutorials link.