1.  Choose a contemporary issue and create your own “modest” argument.  Your argument must include all four types of propositions, and all four types of appeals.  This will be presented in class on Friday or Monday (depending).

2.  These days all we hear is that we don’t have enough money to properly fund schools. Is this really important? For years our schools have underperformed and our students have underachieved and no one has seemed to care until we attached more money to salaries and student attendance.

3.  Perhaps we focus on the wrong thing. The law only states that we provide an education to all children – but it doesn’t say where we have to educate them.  It sounds ludicrous, but our schools rank 33 rd in the world while Belgian schools rank 1 st ; therefore I propose that we send our children to europe.

4. PRO  Students receive a great education.  Are better prepared to enter the “world’ as they have lived overseas  will have more life experience  Will learn foreign language in immersion progam  Parents don’t pay for housing, groceries, clothes.  Government won’t have to worry about: student performance, school performance, or teacher performance because the will be no school in the US.  Empty schools can be repurposed or sold.

5. CONPRO  Parents hate being away from kids  Kids like being around family  But isn’t this like bussing?  Won’t this create more unemployment?  Is that fair to the good teachers?  But they don’t have to listen them  But this way their parents can’t tell them what to do  No, because they will fly to Europe – not ride a dirty bus across town that spits smoke.  Yes, but with kids gone there will be appropriate low paying jobs for those bad teachers  Yes, they can go to Europe with the kids.

6.  No Dress code to enforce  No behavior issues  Since skinny styles are “cool” in Europe, no one will have to worry about “sagging’  With no high school football teams, there will be no concussion danger.  No expensive athletic equipment to purchase because soccer balls are cheap.

7.  They owe us. We bailed them out of World War 1, World War 2, The Cold War and two global economic depressions. Not only do they owe us, they’re afraid of us - because they know that we’ve recently gone to war for things less important.  Nothing is more important than educating our children.

8. Define the following  Synecdoche  Metonymy  Hyperbole  Cacophony  Feminine rhyme  Masculine rhyme  Assonance