The Argumentative (Persuasive) Essay
Things to start considering…
For this essay:
2012 Released Prompt
Consider the distinct perspectives expressed in the following statements.
If you develop the absolute sense of certainty that powerful beliefs provide, then you can get yourself to accomplish virtually anything, including those things that other people are certain are impossible.
William Lyon Phelps, American educator, journalist, and professor (1865–1943)
I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn’t wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine. Bertrand Russell, British author, mathematician, and philosopher (1872–1970)
In a well-organized essay, take a position on the relationship between certainty and doubt. Support your argument with appropriate evidence and examples.
2011 Released Prompt
The following passage is from Rights of Man, a book written by the pamphleteer Thomas Paine in 1791. Born in England, Paine was an intellectual, a revolutionary, and a supporter of American
independence from England. Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay that examines the extent to which Paine’s characterization of America holds true today. Use appropriate evidence to support your argument.
If there is a country in the world, where concord, according to common calculation, would be least expected, it is America. Made up, as it is, of people from different nations, accustomed to different forms and habits of government, speaking different languages, and more different in their modes of worship, it would appear that the union of such a people was impracticable; but by the simple operation of constructing government on the principles of society and the rights of man, every difficulty retires, and all the parts are brought into cordial unison. There, the poor are not oppressed, the rich are not privileged. . . . Their taxes are few, because their government is just; and as there is nothing to render them wretched, there is nothing to engender riots and tumults.
Released Prompt 2012
In his 2004 book, Status Anxiety, Alain de Botton argues that the chief aim of humorists is not merely to entertain but “to
convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” Because society allows humorists to say things that other people cannot or will not say, de Botton sees humorists as serving a vital function in society.
Think about the implications of de Botton’s view of the role of humorists (cartoonists, stand-up comics, satirical
writers, hosts of television programs, etc.). Then write an essaythat defends, challenges, or qualifies de Botton’s
claim about the vital role of humorists. Use specific, appropriate evidence to develop your position.
We will come back to these prompts…
The Five Canons of Rhetoric
Invention
Arrangement
Style
Examples
Delivery
In Summary