Argumentative Essays

“It is better for children to be educated in single-sex classes.” Student A: Think of an argument against this point of view. Student B : Think of an argument to support this point of view. As diplomatically as you can, present your arguments to each other. Defend your own position and provide rebuttals for your partner’s points.

What is the main point being made in this introduction? Where can you find it? What do you expect to find in the rest of the essay? What background information is given as a starting point for the discussion:

Should the USA send a manned mission to Mars? Group A: Read the essay on page 151 of Oshima & Hogue. Group B: Read the essay on page 154 of Oshima & Hogue Prepare to give a presentation on the content of your essay. To help you, make simple notes on separate pieces of paper divided into BACKGROUND INFORMATION, MAIN POINTS, and CONCLUSION. For every MAIN POINT, make notes in your own words on the support provided by the writer.

Further practice

Marriage 1."A man is only as faithful as his opportunity." (Chris Rock)Chris Rock 2."Any intelligent woman who reads the marriage contract, and then goes into it, deserves all the consequences." (Isadora Duncan)Isadora Duncan 3."Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same." (Oscar Wilde)Oscar Wilde 4."I don't think it's the nature of any man to be monogamous. Men are propelled by genetically ordained impulses over which they have no control to distribute their seed." (Marlon Brando)Marlon Brando 5."It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages." (Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche)Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche 6."The easiest kind of relationship is with ten thousand people, the hardest is with one." (Joan Baez)Joan Baez 7."When a girl marries, she exchanges the attentions of all the other men of her acquaintance for the inattention of just one." (Helen Rowland)Helen Rowland

Many men make excuses for being unfaithful, but some give detailed reasons. The actor Marlon Brando accounts for male infidelity with a scientific explanation. He argues that since men are genetically ordained to spread their seed, it is against nature for them to be monogamous. For Oscar Wilde, monogamy is “one wife too many” and therefore simply a waste of time, while Chris Rock questions whether faithfulness really exists at all among men. He claims that “a man is only as faithful as his opportunity”, meaning basically that if a man has the chance to cheat, he will.

Education 1."Education is a vaccine for violence." (Edward James Olmos)Edward James Olmos 2."Education must have an end in view, for it is not an end in itself." (Sybil Marshall)Sybil Marshall 3."Genius without education is like silver in the mine." (Benjamin Franklin)Benjamin Franklin 4."He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches." (George Bernard Shaw)George Bernard Shaw 5."I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I understand." (Confucius, 551 BC-479)Confucius 6."I've never let my school interfere with my education." (Mark Twain)Mark Twain 7."If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way." (Mark Twain)Mark Twain 8."No one wants a good education. Everyone wants a good degree." (Lee Rudolph)Lee Rudolph 9."In large states public education will always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad." (Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche)Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche 10."You are rewarding a teacher poorly if you remain always a pupil." (Friedrich Wilhelm NietzscheFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche