English 102


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English 102: Possible Topics for Opinion Paper

Education, Learning, Experience

  1. Agree/disagree: Teaching has failed.
  2. Argue for/against school prayers.
  3. Argue for/against private/charter schools.
  4. Argue for/against censorship of certain kinds of books.
  5. Argue for/against a university education.
  6. Argue for/against busing of students to promote integration.
  7. Who should be permitted to serve on the school board?
  8. Who should have the responsibility (and authority) for educational policy?
  9. What is the limit, if any, of academic freedom?
  10. Does American history as it is taught in school tell the truth?
  11. Does science as it is taught in school tell the truth?
  12. Does philosophy have a real place in the world? Should it occupy as an important a place as it does in educating us?
  13. Argue for/against federal spending for education.

Law

  1. Argue for/against open meetings.
  2. Argue what should be done about spouse abuse.
  3. Argue what should be done under the law about noise pollution.
  4. Argue what should be done under the law to regulate charity organizations.
  5. Argue for/against lie-detector tests.
  6. Argue for/against the 55-mph speed limit.
  7. Argue what should be done about drugs.
  8. Argue what should be done about drug pushers.
  9. Argue for/against adoption by single parents.
  10. What should be done to protect patients in nursing homes?
  11. Argue for/against a certain hunting or fishing law.
  12. Argue for/against treating adolescents as adults are treated under the law.
  13. Argue what should be legally done to punish a foreign nation that has committed a crime against the United States.
  14. Argue for/against the jury system as it is.
  15. Argue the point whether illegal acts by a president are excusable.
  16. Argue whether violent acts in self-defense are defensible.
  17. Argue for/against smoking in public places.
  18. Argue for/against the right to die.
  19. Argue for/against gun control.
  20. What laws should there be about kidnapping?
  21. Argue whether there should be a maximum age for drivers.
  22. Argue for/against capital punishment as seen only from the concept of justice.

 Government, Politics

  1. What should be the restrictions on public funds used by politicians?
  2. Argue for/against a certain position taken by a president.
  3. Argue what the United States can do to control treatment of foreign peoples in their countries.
  4. Argue for/against military government.
  5. Argue for/against the Constitution.
  6. Discuss argumentatively the opinion that those who are behind the president are the ones who really should be watched carefully.
  7. Discuss argumentatively what should be the prime target of government reform.
  8. Argue what the government can do to help the homeless.
  9. Argue what the government can do to help the mentally ill.

War and Peace, Strife, Violence

  1. Argue for/against a certain kind of warfare.
  2. Argue for/against a certain kind of warfare.
  3. Argue which is more threatening to the human race: nuclear war or ground war.
  4. Argue what is necessary for peace in the Near East.
  5. Argue for/against the neutron bomb.
  6. Argue whether TV violence relieves the dark side of people. Do people unconsciously need violence through entertainment to displace their own disposition to violence?
  7. Discuss argumentatively the violence in sports, to include violence in the grandstands among sports spectators.

Eating, Health

  1. Argue for/against exercising.
  2. Argue for/against dieting.
  3. Argue for/against a certain diet.
  4. Argue for/against the claims of the health food adherents.
  5. Argue for/against the effectiveness of Vitamin C for controlling colds.

Medicine

  1. Argue for/against donation of human organs.
  2. Argue for/against treatment with herbs.
  3. Argue for/against natural childbirth.
  4. Argue for/against stricter qualifications for the medical doctor.

Science and Progress

  1. Argue for/against recycling.