This section of the website provides the topics for the prepared essays you will be writing this semester.  Since these assignments must be done in the proper sequence (Essay #2 must not be written until you have received the corrected Essay #1 back for revision), the links to the later essay topics will only appear here as they become due.  Simply click on the appropriate link above and the topics for that particular assignment will appear.

    The keys to success in these essays are: a) address the specific issue raised in the topic rather than write a general, unfocused essay expressing your ideas about the overall unit (for example, in topic #3 of the topic sheet for Essay #l, express your ideas about the validity of the views of critics of hunting who have never gone hunting rather than your views about hunting),  b) carefully select the two essays you will be using for support, making sure that they are really relevant to the topic, and c) be sure to include relevant details to help make your points.  Do not move from one over-generalized abstraction to another without providing specific, clarifying  examples and supporting reasoning and details.