Introduction

Everyday we learn about new stories, events, natural disasters. As academic writers, we have a platform to speak on these events: both good and bad. Some authors would argue that academics (college students) have an obligation to write about these news events. Now it is your turn to share your voice on topics that matter to you. Now, you will write your own editorial that showcases a problem and offers a solution.

Remember, you will write your editorial as an Argumentative Essay. Remember what you read in this module’s introduction and this module’s discussion activity. Your argument should be carefully constructed and supported with evidence.

In this activity, you will construct an editorial in the form of an Argumentative Essay (Links to an external site.) about a topic in which you feel inspired to take a stance. Make an argument and prove your stance to your audience using evidence from The New York Times.

When preparing your topic, consider the following to derive inspiration and passion: What have you seen that has made you upset? Proud? Appreciative? Scared? What is your argument? How do you support it? How is it relevant to your life and the world?

There are so many topics you can choose from! To brainstorm argumentative topics, consider The New York Times’ list of argumentative writing topics.

Instructions

1.  Consider contemporary, on-going world issues that impact our every day lives. Make an argument about (take a stance on) one of these issues. Use evidence from The New York Times database (not website) to support your argument and stance.
2. In the previous Discussion Activity, you were asked to research a New York Times article from the Valencia Library Database Collection that helps prove your stance. Use this article for your evidence. That should pretty much open the whole world to you, as The Times publishes hundreds of articles a week on topics like politics and pop culture, sports and science, food and fashion, travel and technology.
   • You have free access to The Times through the Valencia Library Database Collection. You need to search through this database collection to avoid website fees. 
3. Write an Argumentative Essay that takes a stance on your chosen topic. Support your argumentative thesis with evidence from your NYT article.
4. Follow the guidelines below

Note: This essay will be read and peer reviewed by 2 classmates in the next learning module. After the peer review, you will edit and revise your essay and resubmit the essay for final grading.

Guidelines

1. 500 words, minimum
2. MLA8 format. In grading, I will be looking for the exact format taught in this linked lesson on the MLA8 Formatting Guide
3. Argumentative Essay structure. In grading, I will be looking for the structure and development taught in these linked lessons on Basic Argumentative Structure  (Links to an external site.)
   • Introduction with argumentative thesis
   • Body paragraphs (3 minimum), each with evidence and in-text citation 
   • Conclusion
4. Works Cited and in-text Citations. In grading, I will be looking for the exact format taught in this linked lesson on New York Times Citations Links to an external site.