Examples that show the thinking.
534 examples and lessons to explore. Find an approach, follow the thinking, and try it in your own writing.
Can We Connect Current Events to the Past in Time to Act?
A model argument that reflection on the past matters, but that decision-makers can and must learn from history while events are unfolding.
Should Schools Do More to Reduce Food Waste?
Schools should measure what is uneaten, prevent avoidable waste through better planning, and manage unavoidable scraps responsibly. A phased policy can make progress while accounting for meal access, student needs, and the costs of implementation.
College Access Is More Than an Admissions Offer
An explanatory essay on why college opportunity depends not only on admission but also on enrollment, affordability, and the consequences of borrowing.
Why Learning About Other People's Everyday Lives Matters
An explanatory essay on how asking about everyday foods, objects, and relationships can unsettle assumptions while respecting the limits of any one person’s account.
Digital Connection and Real-World Belonging Can Support Each Other
An evidence-based explanation of how online contact can strengthen relationships while remaining an incomplete substitute for meaningful social connection.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Utterson’s Search for the Truth
An essay on how Utterson’s measured investigation, Lanyon’s refusal, and Jekyll’s concealed life shape Stevenson’s treatment of knowledge and denial.
Financial Literacy in Everyday Life: Why Understanding Credit Matters
An explanatory essay about how credit reports and scores inform consumer choices, what they can and cannot show, and why careful review matters.
Economic Change and Federal Involvement, 1865–1940
Reconstruction-era struggles over land, labor, and economic independence elicited sharply different responses from freedpeople and white Southerners. Later, Depression-era unemployment helped expand federal action, including government employment programs.
Ocean Warming and Marine Heatwaves: Why Local Data Matter
An explanatory essay distinguishing an isolated warm reading from a persistent marine heatwave, and showing how reference periods and monitoring scales shape interpretations of U.S. coastal conditions.
Learning from Opposing Views: When Disagreement Teaches More
An argumentative essay on when people learn more from those who challenge their views, emphasizing trust, openness, and the quality of disagreement.
Walkable Communities and Public Health: Why Everyday Access Matters
Walkable routes may make routine activity and everyday contact more feasible, but national health guidance and survey findings do not establish that street design improved outcomes in a particular city. A responsible case for walkability recognizes both its potential and the need for local evidence.
Can Unpredictable Research Outcomes Justify Limiting Research?
An argumentative essay evaluating whether uncertainty about research outcomes justifies restricting research, with attention to potential benefits, foreseeable risks, and public oversight.