Do Now: “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” Consider this quotation about adversity from the Roman poet Horace. Then, write an essay that defends, challenges or qualifies Horace’s assertion about the role that adversity (financial or political hardship, danger, misfortune, etc.) plays in developing a person’s character. What is the position you are being asked to respond to? Why is it important? List reasons why this issue is complicated. Why do people both agree and disagree? Follow this form: On one hand _________, but on the other hand, __________. In the end, how do you feel about this issue? What would you argue?

Argumentative Essay

Argumentative prompt will ask you to do any of the following: Defend, challenge, or qualify a quotation. Evaluate the pros and cons of an argument and indicate why you find one position more persuasive than another. Take a position on a debatable statement.

Sample #1 Defend, challenge, or qualify a quotation. 2009: “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” Consider this quotation about adversity from the Roman poet Horace. Then, write an essay that defends, challenges or qualifies Horace’s assertion about the role that adversity (financial or political hardship, danger, misfortune, etc.) plays in developing a person’s character. Support your argument with appropriate evidence from your reading, observation, or experience.

Sample #2 Evaluate the pros and cons of an argument and indicate why you find one position more persuasive than another. 2008: Some people argue that corporate partnerships are a necessity for cash-strapped schools. Others argue that schools should provide an environment free from ads and corporate influence. Using appropriate evidence, write an essay in which you evaluate the pros and cons of corporate sponsorship for schools and indicate why you find one position more persuasive than the other.

Sample #3 Take a position on a debatable statement provided. 2010: In his 2oo4 book, Status Anxiety, Alain Botton argues that the chief aim of humorists is not merely to entertain but to ‘convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossble 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. Then write an essay that takes a position on de Botton’s claim about the vital role of humorists. Use specific, appropriate evidence to develop your position.

What you are being asked to do: Determine what you are actually being asked to write about. Think through what your position is, based on the examples you generate (unlike rhetorical analysis and synthesis questions, what you say and how you defend your claim comes entirely from your own knowledge). Write a response that recognizes and addresses the complexity of the question.

Practice Debatable statement: Laws which protect citizens from themselves are justified. What is the position you are being asked to respond to? Why is it important? List reasons why this issue is complicated. Why do people both agree and disagree? Follow this form: On one hand _________, but on the other hand, __________. In the end, how do you feel about this issue? What would you argue?

Defend Debatable statement: Laws which protect citizens from themselves are justified. Our forefathers determined that it is the business of the government to provide all that shall affect our “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Democracy works because the people have entrusted that power to their elected officials. It is government’s right, yes, and its duty to enact laws that best protect and preserve the lives of Americans. Therefore, the government, through our elected officials, has the right to protect citizens and to make judgments regarding how best to protect citizens from themselves. Because society will have to pay (through health and mental care) for a person who harms himself, society has the right to limit a person’s rights when he tries to harm himself.

Challenge Debatable statement: Laws which protect citizens from themselves are justified. All human beings are distinct entities, possessing a spirit, soul, and body. The right to make private decisions affecting one’s life is a precious one. Any government, even in its best intentions, never has the right to impose its will on its citizens, even when it proposes to protect them from themselves. According to the values of our country, people should have the “liberty” to choose “life” or “happiness” on their own terms.

Qualify Debatable statement: Laws which protect citizens from themselves are justified The Declaration of Independence states that all Americans have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Therefore, it can be argued that our right to “life” sometimes hinges on the government protecting us from ourselves. Thus we have laws such as those prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors and requiring us to wear seat belts in automobiles. Sometimes city, state, or national governments go too far, however, in determining just how Americans should be protected. Some cities have banned trans fats in restaurants, for instance. When a law crosses over the line from protecting Americans’ lives and begins to interfere with their liberties, then that law has gone too far. Laws which protect citizens from themselves are justified as long as those laws do not infringe upon individual liberty.

Concession An expression of concern for those who do not agree with you. Good way to develop your ethos, or your credibility and character with your audience; shows you are fair-minded and recognize two sides of an issue. Example: Civil libertarians might argue that the right to make private decisions affecting one’s life is a precious one, one that government has no right to intrude upon. They would say that any government, even in its best intentions, never has the right to impose its will on its citizens, even when its purpose is to protect them from themselves. Yet, society will have to pay (through health and mental care) for a person who harms himself. Therefore, society has the right to limit a person’s rights when he tries to harm himself.

Supporting Evidence Use knowledge in any of the following subject areas to support your argument: literature history current events science technology music sports human behavior

Prompts have focused on the following subjects: Education Language/ Power and limits of speech Democracy/ Role of government Consumerism/ Wealth & responsibility

Do Now: “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” What argument did you create in response to Horace’s quotation? What evidence (from “Preparing Evidence for the AP Argumentative Essay”) could you use to support your argument?

Introduction: Begin with two or three sentences describing the issue. End with your thesis. Avoid using “I” as a thesis or asking a question.

Student #1 introduction: An old proverb states, “Character is what you are in the dark,” and it is in the darkest of times that who we are sometimes shines through. Nelson Mandela, Stephen Hawking, Lance Armstrong; our society loves to hear of a man who triumphs through adversity. But would these talents and achievements have arisen anyway – or more easily – if there had been no adversity? Possibly, but I agree with the Roman poet Horace in that adversity has a way of rousing talent from slumber. Adversity can stimulate, force, and sharpen a person in ways prosperity cannot – there is, then, value in hardship.

Student #2 introduction: Hard times make people stronger. Roman poet Horace states that, “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” From personal experience as well as from reading the novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, I absolutely agree with this statement.

Body paragraphs: Respond to, refute or attack some other argument Concede a point to the opposition and explain why your overall thesis is still correct Illustrate or demonstrate an idea Distinguish between two related ideas Establish credibility; justify an action/decision Create an emotional response Establish a fact

Student #1 body paragraph: Biology teaches us that a stimulus will elicit a response. Newton taught us that one force provokes another, in opposition to it. While various life experience might “elicit” a response, adversity might analogize better with physics than biology. It does not simply request a response – it demands it. Otherwise, the adversity will never be lifted and hardship will prevail. Hamlet’s tragic flaw was indecision, and Shakespeare no doubt understood that those in adversity must learn to be capable of a response if they are to survive.

Student #1 body paragraph: Survival, of course, is a powerful motivator. Evolution runs on it; in this sense every organism on the planet works due to adversity. This survival imperative is so powerful, it has been used beyond the biological creatures it is hard-coded into. Computers now make us of genetic algorithms, where competing solutions to a problem – say, the correct shape of an aircraft wing – are selected, mathematically “bred,” and mutated into a new generation. Adversity, it seems, elicits talents in more than humans.

Student #1 body paragraph: Prosperity, on the other hand, does not always engender growth. The prosperous man has no pressing needs or emergencies that require him to develop talents to counter. Brave New World provides a literary example. The people in this “utopia” are always fed. They are always happy. There is infinite entertainment, in all imaginable forms. But there is no growth. When the leader of this society asks an outsider if he truly wants pain, death, and hardship, the “savage” simply replied “I claim them all,” and took with him all the good things the “prosperous” lacked – love, family, Shakespeare, and much more.

Student #2 body paragraph: Spoiled children never learn how to do anything themselves. I have a few friends that are extremely spoiled and never work for what they receive. Their parents pay for cleaners to clean their room and they get brand new cars for their 16th birthdays. One friend in particular has been struggling lately. Her mother has recently become ill and she has been forced to take care of her siblings. Her father is always working, therefore, she is expected to drive everywhere and make dinner. Through her mother’s sickness, she has been able to see how much she truly loves her family. She has also realized that she loves cooking. She loves mixing crazy foods and getting a great result. Had it not been for the difficult time, she would have never realized her talent for cooking and her love for her family.

Student #2 body paragraph: The Grapes of Wrath is an extremely touching book that shows the difficulty of life in the 1930s. In this book, there is a young woman named Rose of Sharon who miscarries her baby due to lack of healthy food during the Depression. She was absolutely crushed that her baby had died, but through this experience she became stronger. She was able to grow up and mature much more quickly than she would have had it not been for her miscarriage. She was able to save a poor man from dying with her breast milk despite her insecurities. She had a talent for helping people. She possessed an extreme nurturing nature that would never have been discovered had it not been for adversity.

Conclusion: Confirm your position. Write two or three sentences discussing how this position might also apply to other things and circumstances.

Student #1 conclusion: In fiction, a character often ends a story realizing far more than he did when he began. The conflicts and resolutions he has been through have forced it on him. Character development is not merely a literary construct – it exists in life. We cannot live and we cannot grow without the realization that we are not living perfectly and that we have ideals to grow towards, and revealing these is the true value of adversity.

Student #2 conclusion: People are spoiled and need to experience adversity in order to be compassionate and caring individuals. People are most vulnerable and most receptive when enduring difficult circumstances. Adversity is a part of life that everyone deals with one time or another. It may not be fun at the moment, but looking back, lessons were learned and talents discovered.